Starting an Online Shop in Bangladesh: Complete Website Che…

You have products, you have a Facebook page that sells sometimes, and now you want a proper online shop. Good decision. But launching an Ecommerce Website in Bangladesh involves more than buying a theme and uploading photos. Payments, delivery, legal papers and Customer trust all need attention. This checklist walks through everything in order, so nothing gets forgotten between “great idea” and “first real order”.

Phase 1: Business Foundations (Before Any Website Work)

Skipping this phase is the most common mistake. The website is the easy part if your business basics are ready.

[ ] Trade licence from your city corporation or union parishad
[ ] Bank account in the business name
[ ] TIN certificate if required for your size of operation
[ ] Decided product list with final prices including delivery costs
[ ] Clear policy decisions: returns, refunds, exchange, delivery time promises

Payment gateways and courier companies will ask for documents, so having these ready saves weeks later.

Phase 2: Domain, Hosting and Platform

[ ] Buy a .com domain in your own name (about BDT 1,500 per year)
[ ] Choose hosting that matches expected traffic; budget BDT 8,000 to 25,000 yearly for a store
[ ] Pick your platform. WooCommerce on WordPress covers most Bangladeshi shops well
[ ] Install SSL so the site shows https:// and the padlock icon

Phase 3: Store Setup Essentials

This is where the actual shop building happens:

[ ] Product pages with clear photos, honest prices and stock status
[ ] Product variations set up correctly: sizes, colours, weights
[ ] Delivery charge logic by zone: inside Dhaka, outside Dhaka, inside your own city
[ ] Order confirmation email or SMS working
[ ] Customer order tracking page
[ ] About page with a real address and phone number
[ ] Refund and privacy policy pages (customers and gateways both look for these)

Photography deserves special mention. Phone photos taken in good daylight beat dark studio attempts. Consistent backgrounds make a small shop look professional.

Phase 4: Payments

Before this phase, review our domain and hosting cost guide so your yearly bills hold no surprises.

Decide how customers will pay you:

Method	Setup Notes	Typical Fee
Cash on delivery	Standard in BD, no setup needed	Courier COD fee ~1%
bKash merchant	Apply with trade licence	~1.5–1.85% per transaction
Nagad / Rocket	Similar application process	~1–1.5%
Card gateway (SSLCommerz etc.)	Longer approval, bank paperwork	~2–2.5%

Cash on delivery will dominate your orders at first; that is normal in Bangladesh. Still set up at least one mobile payment option, because it reduces fake orders and speeds up your cash cycle.

Phase 5: Delivery Partners

[ ] Register with one or two courier services such as Pathao Courier, Steadfast or RedX
[ ] Connect the courier to your site so orders flow automatically, or start with manual entry
[ ] Decide your packaging; damaged goods kill repeat business
[ ] Set realistic delivery promises per zone and display them on product pages

Phase 6: Marketing Setup (Do This Before Launch, Not After)

[ ] Facebook Pixel installed to track visitors who come from ads
[ ] Google Analytics and Search Console connected
[ ] Google Business Profile created with matching address
[ ] WhatsApp or live chat button on every page
[ ] Your first discount code ready as a launch offer
[ ] At least three blog posts drafted so Google sees fresh content early

Phase 7: Testing Before You Announce Anything

Spend two days pretending to be a customer:

Place a test order using each payment method
Check the confirmation message arrives
Test the site on a cheap Android phone over mobile data
Try to break the checkout: wrong postcode, zero quantity, expired card
Confirm you receive order notifications somewhere your team actually checks

Only announce your launch when all five pass. A broken checkout announced to 50,000 Facebook followers is a disaster; found in testing, it is five minutes of fixing.

Phase 8: After Launch

[ ] Respond to every order within one hour during business hours
[ ] Ask happy customers for reviews
[ ] Watch which products get views but no sales; usually price or photo issues
[ ] Backups running automatically and tested once
[ ] Review your delivery charges after one month of real data

For what all of this costs end to end, read our ecommerce cost breakdown.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I start selling without a trade licence?

Informally on Facebook maybe, but a proper website with payment gateway and courier integration needs documents. Get the licence first; it is inexpensive and unlocks everything else.

How many products do I need to launch?

Quality beats quantity. Twenty well photographed products sell better than two hundred poor listings. Start focused and grow.

Do I need a mobile app?

No. In Bangladesh most buyers arrive from Facebook and Google on mobile browsers. Make the website excellent on phones before ever considering an app.

Final Word

An online shop succeeds when the boring checklist items are done properly: documents, payments, delivery and testing. Print this list, work top to bottom, and you will launch ahead of most competitors. If you want a team that has launched Bangladeshi online shops before and handles the technical side end to end, contact Proper Way Solution today.