How to start an online store in India: a step-by-step checklist

Maybe you’ve been selling on Instagram and taking payments by UPI screenshot. Maybe you’re on Amazon or Flipkart and want a channel you control. Or maybe you’re starting from scratch. Either way, a store of your own means customers can pay by UPI, card or cash on delivery without a DM back-and-forth, and you keep the customer relationship.

This checklist covers what to sort out, in the order that saves you the most rework. It isn’t legal or tax advice. For GST and business registration, a chartered accountant (CA) is worth the fee.

Step 1: Decide what you’re selling, and to whom

Before any tech, get clear on three things:

• Your products and prices, including what you’ll charge for shipping (free above a threshold, flat rate, or actual cost).
• Where you’ll ship. All of India, or only certain pincodes to start?
• How you’ll handle returns and exchanges. You’ll need to write this down as a policy anyway (Step 7), so decide it now.

These choices drive your shipping setup, your policy pages and your margins.

Step 2: Sort out the business basics

Business structure. Many small brands start as a sole proprietorship; others register a partnership, LLP or private limited company. The right choice depends on your plans and liability; ask your CA.

A bank account. Payment gateways settle money into a bank account and check that it matches your KYC details. Set up an account in the name your gateway will verify.

GST registration. This is the question everyone asks. Shopify’s GST in India FAQ summarises when registration is generally mandatory, including when:

• Your turnover exceeds Rs 20 lakh (Rs 10 lakh in north-eastern and hill states)
• You make inter-state supplies of goods (selling to customers in other states)
• You sell through online marketplaces

Shopify itself notes this isn’t a complete list and suggests speaking to a tax consultant. The underlying law is Section 24 of the CGST Act, which lists the categories that must register regardless of turnover. If you plan to sell across India, talk to your CA about GST before you launch, not after.

You apply for GST online on the GST portal (Services → Registration → New Registration).

Online selling rules. The Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules, 2020 set out what online sellers must tell customers, such as contact and grievance details and return and refund terms. Read them, or ask your CA or lawyer what applies to you.

Step 3: Choose your platform

For most first stores, the choice is between:

• Shopify: a hosted service with a monthly fee. Shopify runs the hosting and security. Basic is ₹1,994/month paid monthly or ₹1,499/month paid yearly, per its India pricing.
• WooCommerce: free software on a WordPress site. No platform fee per order, but you pay for hosting and look after updates.
• A custom build: for unusual product flows that neither handles well.

I’ve compared the first two in detail in Shopify vs WooCommerce in India, and broken down every rupee of Shopify’s costs in Shopify website cost in India.

Step 4: Set up payments: UPI, cards and COD

Online payments. Indian stores take UPI, cards, netbanking and wallets through a payment gateway such as Razorpay, PhonePe PG or Cashfree. Each one runs KYC on your business and reviews your website before turning on live payments, so apply as soon as your store and policy pages are ready.

Razorpay, for example, lists a 2% fee per successful domestic transaction plus 18% GST on the fee. If you’re on Shopify, Shopify adds its own third-party transaction fee (2% on Basic).

The full setup, including what Razorpay checks on your website, is in my Razorpay Shopify setup guide.

Cash on delivery. Plenty of Indian shoppers prefer to pay on delivery. You can offer COD on both Shopify and WooCommerce. On Shopify, manual payment methods like COD don’t attract Shopify’s transaction fee.

The catch with COD is returns to origin (RTO): when a customer refuses the parcel, you usually pay shipping both ways and get the stock back later. Ways to manage that:

• Confirm COD orders (by WhatsApp or call) before you ship
• Set a maximum COD order value
• Offer a small prepaid discount, if your margins allow it

Step 5: Set up shipping

Unless you have your own delivery, you’ll ship through couriers. A shipping aggregator like Shiprocket lets you compare and book multiple couriers from one dashboard, print labels and track parcels. It integrates with Shopify, so orders flow in automatically.

Things to set up:

• Your pickup address and packaging (weigh a packed parcel; couriers charge on actual or volumetric weight)
• Shipping rates in your store that cover your real costs. Get current courier rates from Shiprocket’s pricing page or your courier, using your actual parcel size
• Serviceable pincodes, especially for COD
• Order notifications so customers get tracking updates

Step 6: Get GST right in your store

If you’re registered for GST, your store needs to charge the right tax and you need GST-compliant invoices.

On Shopify, the GST FAQ explains the key points:

• Shopify can’t show separate CGST and SGST lines, so you set the combined rate for in-state orders and IGST for out-of-state orders
• Add HSN codes in the product’s HS tariff code field
• Shopify doesn’t create GST-compliant bills, so you’ll need a GST invoicing app or service

GST rates for many products changed from 22 September 2025, so make sure your rates are current. Your CA can confirm the right rate and HSN code for each product.

Step 7: Write the pages customers (and gateways) look for

Payment gateways check for these, and customers look for them before trusting a new store. Razorpay’s website requirements list:

• About us
• Contact us (real email, phone and address)
• Prices shown on products
• Terms and conditions
• Privacy policy
• Cancellation and refunds policy

Add a shipping policy too, with delivery timelines and COD terms. Write these to match how you actually work; generic templates often promise things you don’t do.

Step 8: Build pages that sell

• Product photos: clear, well-lit, several angles, and at least one showing scale or the product in use.
• Product descriptions: sizes, materials, care instructions, what’s in the box, delivery time.
• Trust details: your story, real contact details, and policies linked in the footer.
• Mobile first: many of your shoppers will visit on their phones, so check every page on your own phone before launch.
• Speed: compress images and avoid piling on apps you don’t need.

Step 9: Test, then launch

Before you announce anything:

1. Place a test order with each payment method (gateway test mode, then one real small payment you refund).
2. Place a COD order and book a test shipment.
3. Check order confirmation emails and SMS or WhatsApp notifications.
4. Check your GST invoice for a test order.
5. Open the store on a phone, on mobile data, and buy something.

Then launch to the people who already know you: Instagram followers, WhatsApp contacts, existing customers. Put your store link in your Instagram bio and WhatsApp Business profile.

Step 10: After launch

• Watch your first orders closely for payment, shipping and invoice problems.
• Track where orders come from with analytics, so you know what’s working.
• Add features only when you need them. Reviews, loyalty and upsell apps can wait until you have steady orders.

Want it done for you?

At The Webcrafters, milestone 1 is a store that’s live and able to take orders within 24 hours, with UPI, Razorpay or PhonePe payments working, for everything in my control (gateway approval follows the gateway’s own timeline). Then I build it out fully in milestones we agree in writing upfront.

It’s ₹30,000 for full delivery, paid in milestones. Later changes are ₹2,500/day, with no retainer. Third-party costs like your Shopify plan, apps and gateway fees are paid by you, and I provide a GST invoice. See pricing, look at my work, or book a short call to get your online store, and I’ll map out your first milestone with you.