How to Start an Online Store in Bangladesh: 10 Steps From Idea to First Orders

Plenty of people in Bangladesh have a good product and a Facebook page that sells a little. Far fewer have a real online store: a place where customers can see every product, choose a size, see the delivery charge and order at 2 a.m. without waiting for a reply. That gap is where many small sellers stay stuck for years.

This guide shows how to start an online store in Bangladesh in ten clear steps, from choosing what to sell to getting your first 50 orders. It is written for a small seller: one or two people, cash on delivery, a courier like Steadfast, Pathao or RedX, and bKash or Nagad for advances. Every taka amount below is a made-up example — replace it with your own numbers as you go.

What an online store needs before day one

An online store is more than a website. Before you build anything, make sure you can answer five questions:

1. What do I sell, and to whom? One product family and one kind of buyer to start.
2. Where do I get it, and at what cost? A supplier you trust, or your own making.
3. How does it reach the buyer? A courier, a delivery charge, and packaging.
4. How do I get paid? Cash on delivery, an advance by bKash or Nagad, or online payment.
5. How do people find me? Facebook, friends and family, a small ad budget, Google later.

If any answer is "I'm not sure", that is the first thing to fix. The steps below walk through each one.

How to start an online store: the 10 steps

Step 1: Pick one product family and test the demand

Start narrow. "Clothes" is too wide; "cotton panjabis for men" or "three-piece sets for office wear" is something you can photograph, stock and explain. A narrow start also makes your ads cheaper, because you know exactly who to show them to.

Test before you buy a lot of stock. Post 8–10 products on your Facebook page (or a friend's), with clear photos and prices, and count what happens over two weeks: messages, serious questions about size and delivery, and real orders. If 10 posts bring zero real orders, change the product or the price before you build a store around it.

If you are still choosing what to sell, our list of online business ideas in Bangladesh compares several with their start-up needs.

Step 2: Do the numbers for one delivered order

Many new shops look busy and still lose money, because nobody added up the cost of one parcel that actually reaches the customer. Here is a worked example for a panjabi (made-up numbers):

Here the delivery charge is paid by the customer on top of the price, so it is not in the table. If you offer free delivery, add your courier cost as a line too.

৳374 on a ৳1,290 sale is about 29%. If your own numbers leave less than 15–20%, raise the price, find a cheaper supplier or bring the ad cost per order down before launch. Our guide on how to price products shows how to set a price that covers every cost.

Step 3: Sort out the paperwork you need

Requirements change, so check the current rules with the office concerned before you rely on any list. Many small online sellers start with:

• a trade licence from the city corporation, municipality or union parishad where the business is based;
• a TIN certificate, which is often needed for a business bank account;
• a bank account or merchant mobile account in the business name, so business money stays separate from personal money.

Online sellers in Bangladesh can also register for a Digital Business Identity (DBID) with the Ministry of Commerce. Ask about it when you sort out your trade licence, because some partners ask for it.

Keep copies of everything in one folder. Couriers and payment gateways usually ask for documents when you open a merchant account.

Step 4: Choose where you will sell

You have three main options, and most shops end up using two of them together:

A common path is: Facebook page for reach, own website for orders. Your posts and ads send people to a product page where they can choose a size and order without waiting for a reply. For a deeper comparison, read how to choose an eCommerce platform.

Step 5: Build the website

A small online store needs these pages: home, category pages, product pages, cart and checkout, an order tracking page, and short policy pages (delivery, return, privacy). Customers mostly buy on phones, so check every page on a phone first.

When building it, decide:

• The shop name and address. Short, easy to say on the phone, easy to type. You can start on a free address and connect your own .com later.
• The design. Clean, fast and readable beats fancy. Your product photos should be the colourful part.
• Categories. Plan 4–8 main categories before you add products, with sub-categories only where they help a buyer.

With eCommerce Autopilot you choose your shop address and a design while you sign up, and the store is ready in minutes on yourname.ecommerceautopilot.com — every part is open for a 7-day free trial, then the store keeps running on the free Start Free package unless you pick a paid one. Start your store free.

Once the store exists, follow a fixed order for the first day: general settings (name, logo, phone), design, categories and products, delivery charges, payments. Our first-day setup checklist lists it, and how to choose your store address explains the web address.

Step 6: Add your products properly

Product pages do the selling when you are not there to answer. For each product:

• Photos: 3–5 square photos in good daylight — front, back, a close-up of the fabric or material, and one in use. Keep the same background across a category.
• Name: what it is plus what makes it different: "Men's cotton panjabi — maroon, slim fit", not "New item 23".
• Description: size chart, material, care, what is in the box, delivery time you can really keep.
• Sizes and colours as choices, each with its own stock, so nobody orders a size you do not have.
• Price and any old price, shown clearly.

Start with 15–30 good products rather than 200 rushed ones. You can add more every week.

Step 7: Set delivery charges and connect a courier

Decide your delivery charge before launch and show it at checkout. A common structure:

Open a merchant account with one courier first and learn its panel — booking, labels, cash collection and payouts. When a store is connected to a courier by API, parcels can be booked from the order instead of being typed twice. See how to set delivery charges and how to connect Steadfast courier.

Packaging matters more than people think: a strong poly mailer, the invoice inside, and the phone number written clearly cut down on lost and damaged parcels.

Step 8: Decide how you get paid

Cash on delivery is still what most Bangladeshi buyers expect, so offer it. But COD has a cost: parcels that come back. Protect yourself with three rules:

1. Confirm every order by phone or message before booking it.
2. Ask for a small advance (for example the delivery charge, ৳100–150) by bKash or Nagad on risky orders: far districts, high values, or a phone number with past returns.
3. Offer online payment for buyers who prefer it; a payment gateway can take bKash, cards and more on your website.

Write down where every taka goes: courier payouts, advances, ad spend and supplier payments. A simple cashbook from day one saves a painful month-end.

Step 9: Place a test order from start to finish

Before you tell anyone about the store, buy from it yourself. Use your phone, a friend's address and cash on delivery:

• Can you find the product from the home page in three taps?
• Is the delivery charge right for the area?
• Does the order arrive in your admin panel and do you get the alert?
• Can you book it with the courier and print the invoice?
• Does the customer get a confirmation message?

Then cancel or complete the test order so it does not confuse your reports. Fix every snag now; it is far cheaper than fixing it with real customers.

Step 10: Launch and get your first 50 orders

Your first orders usually come from people who already know you. A simple launch plan for the first month:

• Week 1: tell friends, family and past buyers personally, with the link. Post the launch on your page with your three best products.
• Week 2: start a small Facebook ad — for example ৳300 a day for 10 days, ৳3,000 in all — on your best product, sending people to its product page.
• Week 3: call or message every buyer after delivery. Ask how it went and for a photo review.
• Week 4: look at the numbers. Which product sold, which ad brought orders, how many parcels came back. Put more money behind what worked.

If ৳3,000 of ads brings 20 orders, your ad cost is ৳150 per order — the same figure we used in Step 2. If it brings 8, the cost is ৳375 per order and the product or the ad needs work.

How much does it cost to start an online store?

The biggest cost is almost never the website — it is stock and ads. Here is an example budget for a small clothing store (estimates; your numbers will differ):

Keep at least a month of ad money and some cash for returns aside. Many new shops run out of money not because nothing sells, but because cash is stuck with the courier for a few days while the next stock has to be paid for. When you are ready to compare paid plans, see eCommerce Autopilot pricing.

Online store launch checklist

• One product family and one kind of buyer chosen.
• Cost of one delivered order worked out; price leaves at least 15–20%.
• Trade licence and business account in progress or done.
• Website live with home, category, product, cart, checkout and policy pages.
• 15–30 products with 3–5 photos, sizes, stock and a clear description each.
• Delivery charges set for inside Dhaka, suburbs and outside Dhaka.
• Courier merchant account open; you know how booking and payouts work.
• Cash on delivery on; advance rule written down for risky orders.
• Test order placed, booked, printed and closed.
• Launch message ready for contacts; first ad budget decided.
• A simple cashbook started.

Mistakes new online stores make

• Too many products on day one. Fifty half-finished product pages sell less than fifteen good ones.
• No cost sheet. Prices copied from other pages, then surprise at the end of the month.
• Booking parcels without confirming. Every unconfirmed COD order is a possible return you pay for.
• Ads before the store works. Test the whole order journey first, then spend money on visitors.
• Personal and business money mixed. You cannot see if the shop makes money if the money lives in your own wallet.
• Forgetting the customer after delivery. A thank-you call brings reviews and repeat orders at no ad cost.

Common questions

Can I start an online store without a trade licence? Many people start selling on Facebook before they have one, but couriers, payment gateways and banks often ask for it when you open business accounts. Get it early so it does not hold you back later.

Do I need my own website if I already sell on Facebook? Not on day one, but a website removes the biggest limit of a page: every order needs a person to answer. With a website, buyers can see prices, sizes and delivery charges and order any time, and your Facebook posts and ads have a place to send them.

How long does it take to start an online store? The website itself can be ready in a day. The rest — product photos, supplier, courier account, paperwork — usually takes a few weeks for one person working part time, as in the four-week plan above.

How much should I spend on ads at the start? Start small and measure. A budget like ৳300 a day for 10 days on your best product is enough to learn your cost per order before you spend more.

The one thing to do today

Open a notebook or a sheet and fill in the Step 2 table for the one product you want to sell first, with real prices from your supplier and your courier. If it leaves a healthy amount per delivered order, you have the start of an online store — the website, the courier and the launch are just the next steps.