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. GST registration is mandatory for Indian ecommerce sellers regardless of revenue, and your GSTIN needs to show up on your... indiafilings.com Article GST Registration for eCommerce Business India IndiaFilings
  2. The most detailed free speed-test tool - waterfall view, device simulation, and specific fix recommendations - so you know... gtmetrix.com Tool GTmetrix: Website Performance Testing and Monitoring GTmetrix
  3. This is literally what Google uses to score your Core Web Vitals for ranking - if you only run one speed test before launch,... pagespeed.web.dev Tool PageSpeed Insights Google
  4. NN/g is the most respected independent UX research lab in the world, and mobile checkout is where most D2C stores quietly lose... nngroup.com Article The Mobile Checkout Experience Nielsen Norman Group
  5. The stat that should change how you build your store: Tier 2/3 buyers now drive a majority of new D2C orders in India and many... cloud9digital.in Article E-commerce Statistics India 2026: Growth, Trends & Key Data Cloud 9 Digital
  6. Written by a working freelance Shopify developer in India, so the advice on vetting, pricing and red flags comes from the... priyasinghi.com Article How to Hire the Right Freelance Shopify Developer in India Priya Singhi
  7. Every agency and freelancer here is Shopify-vetted and tiered by track record, which is the closest thing to a safety net you... shopify.com Tool Shopify Partners Directory: Hire Experts, Developers & Designers Shopify
  8. A free, structured course to get a Shopify store from zero to its first sale fast - the cheapest way to test whether Shopify's... shopifyacademy.com Course First Day To First Sale Shopify Academy
  9. The official Shopify documentation for what actually transfers - products, customers, orders - and what doesn't, so you're... help.shopify.com Article Migrate from WooCommerce to Shopify Shopify
  10. The most concrete, step-by-step SEO-preservation playbook for this exact migration - URL mapping, 301 redirects, meta data... dekstech.com Article How to Migrate from WooCommerce to Shopify Without Losing SEO Rankings Dekstech
  11. A real, expensive cautionary tale - a founder who switched platforms twice chasing a prettier storefront and burned real money... programminginsider.com Article Why I Switched from WordPress to Shopify (Then Back Again) - My $8K Lesson Programming Insider
  12. A real merchant forum thread of founders comparing notes on what actually changed - good or bad - when they moved between the... community.shopify.com Thread Shopify vs WooCommerce: Stories & Store Impact community.shopify.com
  13. Video Shopify vs WooCommerce: Which Is Better for Your Store in 2026? youtube.com
  14. Written by a headless-commerce vendor, so read it with that lens - but it's still the clearest explanation of what headless... getmason.io Article Why D2C Brands Need Headless eCommerce Mason
  15. A plain-English head-to-head that captures the real trade-off: Shopify's polish and app ecosystem versus Zoho Commerce's... epoch-techsolutions.com Article Zoho Commerce vs Shopify Review: Battle of the Online Storefront Superstars Epoch Tech Solutions
  16. A running, India-specific pulse on the D2C landscape - useful for tracking which platform, tech-stack and infrastructure... d2cinsider.com Newsletter D2C Insider Digest d2cinsider.com
  17. The benchmark-plus-playbook starting point from the platform most Indian D2C brands actually run on. It sets realistic... shopify.com Article How to Improve Ecommerce Conversion Rates (2026) Shopify
  18. The most rigorous free explainer on running valid tests without fooling yourself with noise - essential reading before you're... cxl.com Article What Is A/B Testing? The Complete Guide: From Beginner to Pro CXL
  19. The closest thing to a structured, practitioner-built curriculum in CRO - 20 courses across research, testing and psychology... cxl.com Course Conversion Optimization Minidegree CXL Institute
  20. A direct, practical answer to 'which heatmap tool should I install' - written by one of the two vendors but genuinely useful... hotjar.com Article Hotjar vs Microsoft Clarity: An Honest Comparison Hotjar
  21. The single best 'install this today' recommendation for a founder who has never watched a real shopper try to buy on their site... clarity.microsoft.com Tool Clarity - Heatmaps Microsoft
  22. NN/g's guidelines come from large-scale usability testing across markets including India, so this is evidence rather than... nngroup.com Article UX Guidelines for Ecommerce Product Pages Nielsen Norman Group
  23. The foundational usability book behind nearly every CRO checklist in this category - if your checkout or navigation makes a... sensible.com Book Don't Make Me Think, Revisited: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability Steve Krug
  24. Names the real reason COD still dominates Indian D2C - it's not payment-infrastructure gaps, it's that paying upfront to a... shopflo.com Article The Indian Consumer and the Paradox of Trust Shopflo

Show the next 24

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? 3 → Should I add video to my product page, and what kind actually moves the needle? 3 → 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 →