How to create an online store in India

1. Decide what and where you'll sell

Before picking any software, write down three things: how many products you'll start with, roughly how many orders you expect in the first three months, and where your customers are. A brand selling to one city can deliver with its own riders and collect cash the same day. A brand selling across India needs couriers and will wait days for COD money. These answers decide most of what follows.

2. Choose a platform

There are three broad routes in India:

If you want to compare in detail, see Shopify vs WooCommerce vs D2 Commerce OS. Shopify prices are from Shopify's India pricing page in October 2026; check it for current rates.

3. Domain and brand basics

Buy a short domain that matches your brand, ideally a .com or .in. Set up a business email on it, because payment gateways and couriers take an email on your own domain more seriously than a Gmail address. Keep your logo as a simple file that works small, since it will mostly be seen on phones.

4. Build the catalogue

Good photos and clear titles sell more than any theme. For each product you'll need a title people would actually search for, three to five photos on a plain background, a price, weight and pack size, variants (size, colour, flavour), and stock. Add the HSN code and GST rate now as well; it saves a messy clean-up later.

5. Set up payments: UPI, cards and COD

Indian shoppers expect UPI first, then cards and wallets, and a large share still choose cash on delivery, especially on a first order. You'll need a payment gateway account; KYC usually takes a few working days, so apply early with your GST, PAN, bank details and a live website.

Plan COD properly from the start. Decide whether you'll charge a COD fee, how you'll confirm COD orders before shipping, and how you'll check that every COD rupee actually reaches your bank. Our guide on what COD really costs has a calculator.

6. Set up delivery

Most new stores start with a shipping aggregator because it gives several couriers through one account. If many of your orders are in one city, your own riders can be faster and cheaper, and they bring COD cash back the same day. Whatever you choose, show customers whether you deliver to their pincode before they reach checkout.

7. Keep checkout short

Every extra field loses buyers on mobile. Ask for phone, name, address and pincode, and let people pay without creating an account. Fill city and state from the pincode so there's less to type.

8. Write your policies

Payment gateways check for these before approving you: shipping policy, returns and refunds, privacy policy, terms of service, and a contact page with a phone number and address. Keep them short and honest about delivery times and how COD returns are handled.

9. Test and launch

Place at least three real orders before telling anyone: one prepaid, one COD, and one you cancel or return. Follow each one all the way: payment received, courier booked, label printed, delivery tracked, invoice correct, refund processed. Then launch to friends and existing followers first, fix what they find, and only then spend on ads.

10. After launch

Send order updates on WhatsApp so customers aren't left guessing. Look at your numbers every morning: orders, COD share, deliveries that failed, and cash still with couriers. And remind happy customers to reorder around when they'll run out. That last one is where most of a D2C brand's profit eventually comes from.

Doing it on D2 Commerce OS

We set up the store, checkout, payments, couriers or riders, GST invoices and WhatsApp updates for you, and it's free forever up to 100 orders a month. If you'd rather start on Shopify or WooCommerce, we can also run delivery, COD and reporting behind those stores.