Selling online opens your business to customers far beyond your locality — but a store has more moving parts than a normal website. Here's a practical checklist of what you'll need to launch smoothly in India.
1. Pick the right platform
Most Indian stores run well on Shopify (fast to launch, low maintenance) or WooCommerce (more flexible, built on WordPress). Choose based on your product range, budget, and how hands-on you want to be.
2. Sort out payments
Indian shoppers expect choice. Set up a gateway like Razorpay, PayU, or Cashfree to accept UPI, cards, netbanking, and wallets. Consider offering cash on delivery too, which still drives a large share of orders in many categories.
3. Plan delivery and shipping
Decide how you'll ship. Aggregators like Shiprocket connect you to multiple couriers, handle tracking, and simplify returns. Be clear on delivery times and charges up front — hidden shipping costs are a top reason carts get abandoned.
4. Get your product pages right
Your product pages do the selling. Each needs clear photos, honest descriptions, prices, and variants (size, colour). Well-structured product and category pages also help you rank on Google.
- Clear, well-lit photos from multiple angles
- Honest, benefit-led descriptions
- Visible price, stock, and delivery info
- An obvious add-to-cart button
5. Handle the essentials
Cover the basics that build trust and keep you compliant: GST-ready invoicing, clear return and privacy policies, an SSL certificate for secure checkout, and working contact details. Shoppers won't enter card details on a site that feels unsafe.
6. Make checkout effortless
Every extra step loses sales. Keep checkout short, allow guest checkout, and make it flawless on mobile, where most orders happen. Test the whole journey yourself before launch.
Get these right and you've got a store that's ready not just to open, but to sell. The details — payments, delivery, trust, and a smooth mobile checkout — are what separate stores that convert from ones that don't.