Launching a Shopify store in India: what to set up before your first order

Most first-time store owners spend their energy on the theme and the product photos. Those matter, but they are rarely what goes wrong in the first month. What goes wrong is a payment that fails at checkout, an invoice the accountant cannot use, a parcel with no tracking link, or a customer who never hears back after ordering. This is the checklist we run through on every store we launch.

Which payment gateway should an Indian Shopify store use?

Shopify Payments, Shopify's own gateway, is not available in India. Indian stores connect a third-party gateway such as Razorpay, Cashfree, PayU or PhonePe. Pick one that supports UPI, cards, netbanking and wallets in a single checkout, and check how quickly it settles money into your bank account.

Two costs to plan for. The gateway charges its own fee on each payment. On top of that, Shopify adds a transaction fee when you use an external gateway, and the rate depends on your Shopify plan (it is lower on the higher plans). Check both current rates before you price your products, because together they decide your real margin.

Test a live payment of a small amount with each method, UPI, a card and netbanking, before launch day. A gateway that works in test mode can still fail on a real transaction because of a pending verification step.

Should you offer cash on delivery?

That is a business decision, not a technical one: it depends on your products, your price points and who your customers are. Many Indian shoppers still expect COD, and many brands find that turning it off reduces orders.

What the store can do is support whichever choice you make. If you offer COD, set it up properly: limit it by order value if you want to, show it clearly at checkout, and confirm each COD order with the customer before it ships. If you want to move people towards prepaid, a small prepaid discount at checkout is easy to set up and test.

How do you handle GST invoices on Shopify?

If you are GST-registered, every order needs a proper tax invoice with your GSTIN, the HSN code for each product, and the right tax split (CGST and SGST within your state, IGST for other states). Shopify's default order confirmation is not a GST invoice.

Set up a GST invoicing app from the Shopify App Store, add HSN codes to every product, and set your tax settings for India before the first order. Then place a test order to your own address in another state and check the invoice with your accountant. Fixing invoices after a hundred orders is far more painful than fixing them before one.

How should shipping and tracking work?

Decide whether you will ship through a shipping aggregator, which gives you several courier partners and one dashboard, or directly with a single courier. For most new stores, an aggregator is simpler to start with.

Before launch, check three things. Your pincode coverage, so customers in areas you cannot deliver to find out before they pay, not after. Your shipping rates at checkout, so they match what you will actually pay. And tracking, so every customer gets a tracking link the moment the parcel leaves.

Why do WhatsApp order updates matter?

Most Indian customers read WhatsApp, not email. An order confirmation, a shipped message with the tracking link, and a delivered message on WhatsApp cut down "where is my order" calls and make a new brand feel trustworthy. If you offer COD, the same channel can confirm the order before you ship it.

These messages need an approved WhatsApp Business setup and message templates. Leave a few days for approval before launch. We cover what else is worth automating in our post on WhatsApp automation.

How fast does the store need to be?

Fast on an average phone on mobile data, not just on office Wi-Fi. Every app you install adds code to your store, so install only what you need for launch and remove anything you are not using. Compress product images before uploading them, and test your homepage and a product page on a mid-range Android phone. Our post on why your website is slow goes deeper.

What can wait until after launch?

Loyalty programs, reviews widgets, upsell pop-ups and most marketing apps can wait. Launch with the five essentials working well, watch your first orders closely, and add tools when you can see what customers actually need. A simple store that takes payments, sends a correct invoice, ships with tracking and keeps the customer informed will outperform a feature-heavy one that breaks.

Your pre-launch checklist

1. 1.Payment gateway live, with a real test payment by UPI, card and netbanking.
2. 2.COD decided, and set up with limits and order confirmation if you offer it.
3. 3.GST invoicing app installed, HSN codes on every product, a test invoice checked by your accountant.
4. 4.Shipping set up, with pincode checks, correct rates and tracking links.
5. 5.WhatsApp templates approved for order confirmed, shipped and delivered.
6. 6.Store tested on a mid-range phone on mobile data, unused apps removed.
7. 7.Policies published: shipping, returns, refunds, terms and privacy.

If you are still deciding on the platform, start with our comparison of Shopify or a custom website, and see what a Shopify store costs in India. When you are ready to build, our Shopify development team sets up all of the above before your launch.