Build your online store

A store that looks real, loads fast, and turns the traffic you paid for into orders.

What founders use for build your online store, ranked by how many answers lean on it.

  1. A free, structured template covering speed, conversion and theme/app analysis in one place - turns 'audit your apps' from a... ajstehlingco.com Template Shopify Performance Audit Template (Free Download) AJ Stehling & Co.
  2. The budget-friendly, India-headquartered starting point for founders who don't yet need Unicommerce's marketplace depth but do... zoho.com Tool Zoho Inventory - Ecommerce Inventory Management Zoho
  3. An India-headquartered loyalty option worth a look specifically if you're already Zoho-native, since it ties loyalty data into... zoho.com Tool Zoho Thrive - Customer Loyalty Program Software Zoho
  4. Built specifically around a shared WhatsApp inbox for Indian D2C support teams, which is what a lot of founders actually need... delightchat.io Tool DelightChat - Omnichannel Customer Support & WhatsApp Marketing DelightChat

The questions

Choosing your store platform 6

Shopify vs WooCommerce vs the rest, pick once.

Shopify or WooCommerce for my first store in India? 4 → Is Shopify worth ₹1,500+/month when I'm only doing 5 orders a day? 4 → Can I migrate from WooCommerce to Shopify later without losing my SEO rankings? 4 → What platform do most funded, scaled Indian D2C brands actually use? 4 → Headless commerce - do I need it or is it overkill for me? 3 → All 6 questions in Choosing your store platform →
Building & setting up your store 6

A store that looks real and loads fast, today.

Which Shopify theme should I pick for my store, and how much should I customize it? 3 → How do I set up my domain, DNS and a proper business email for my store in India? 3 → What pages does my store absolutely need before I go live - policies, About, contact? 3 → How do I make my store load fast enough to pass Core Web Vitals? 3 → How do I make sure my store actually works well on mobile, not just looks fine on desktop? 3 → All 6 questions in Building & setting up your store →
Store design & conversion (CRO) 6

Turn the traffic you already paid for into orders.

My conversion rate is around 1.2%. Is that good or bad? 4 → I barely get 500 visits a week. What should I A/B test first, and can I even trust the results? 4 → Where should I focus first - homepage, collection pages, or product pages? 4 → Nobody's heard of my brand. What trust signals actually make Indian shoppers buy? 4 → My cart abandonment rate is brutal. What actually brings people back? 4 → All 6 questions in Store design & conversion (CRO) →
Product pages, photography & copy 6

The page is your salesperson, make it close.

Can I shoot good product photos on my phone, or do I need to book a studio? 4 → What does a genuinely high-converting product page actually look like? 4 → How do I write product descriptions that actually sell instead of just describing the product? 4 → Are AI product photography tools like Pebblely and Claid actually good enough to skip a shoot? 4 → Should I add video to my product page, and what kind actually moves the needle? 4 → All 6 questions in Product pages, photography & copy →
Tech stack & apps 6

The right apps; not forty that slow you down.

What's the must-have app stack for a brand-new D2C store on Shopify? 4 → My site feels slow and cluttered - how many Shopify apps is too many, and how do I audit them? 4 → Should I use Klaviyo or a WhatsApp-first tool like Interakt, AiSensy or WATI for marketing? 4 → What inventory/order management system (OMS) should an Indian D2C brand use once it's selling on multiple channels? 3 → Are subscription and loyalty apps worth adding, and which ones should I look at? 3 → All 6 questions in Tech stack & apps →
Payment gateways, COD & checkout 6

Take money smoothly, and tame COD.

Which payment gateway should I actually use, Razorpay, Cashfree, PayU, or just Shopify's checkout? 3 → How do I get more customers to pay online instead of COD, and cut my RTO rate? 4 → What's the best way to verify COD orders and stop fake or junk orders before they ship? 4 → Do I need a one-click checkout tool like GoKwik or Shopflo, or is Shopify's native checkout enough? 4 → How do I optimise UPI at checkout, what's the difference between UPI intent and collect, and why do my UPI payments keep failing? 4 → All 6 questions in Payment gateways, COD & checkout →
AI tools & automation for D2C 6

Put AI to work across ops, support, and content.

Which AI tool should I use to shoot clean product photos without renting a studio? 4 → How do I set up an AI support chatbot that actually resolves tickets instead of just annoying customers? 3 → Can AI actually generate ad creatives that convert, or is it just noise? 3 → How do I use AI to forecast demand so I stop either running out of stock or sitting on dead inventory? 3 → I'm one person running this brand, what's a realistic AI stack, not 50 tools I'll never open? 4 → All 6 questions in AI tools & automation for D2C →
eChai Partner Brands The partnership →