Your first 100 orders from Instagram: a practical plan for new sellers

The first hundred orders are not won by an algorithm. They come from people who know you, then people they tell, then strangers who see that other people bought. Each stage needs something different from you.

Before any of that, though, buying has to be easy. Sending new people to a shop where they must DM for a price wastes the attention you worked to get.

Ready to sell? Check these first

• Ten to twenty products with clear photos, prices, sizes and real stock counts
• UPI at checkout — to your own UPI ID, through a gateway, or both
• COD rules you are comfortable with: a maximum value, and a fee or an advance if you want one
• A delivery charge and delivery time on every product
• Exchange and returns rules written down in your store policies
• Your WhatsApp number on the store, with +91
• Your store's /links page in your Instagram bio
• One test order placed from your own phone

The plan, stage by stage

1. 1

   Orders 1–10: people who already know you

   Message friends, family and colleagues one by one, with a product link — not a broadcast. Ask them to buy, not just like. Ask each one for an honest photo or a line about the product once it arrives.

2. 2

   Orders 10–30: their friends

   Repost what early buyers share. Create a coupon for the launch — for example ₹100 off a first order above ₹999 — and give each early buyer the code to pass on.

3. 3

   Orders 30–60: content that shows the product in use

   Post reels of the product being made, packed, worn or used. Show the price and say where to buy in every caption. A reel of you packing ten orders also tells viewers that other people are buying.

4. 4

   Orders 60–100: borrow other audiences

   Collaborate with sellers whose buyers overlap with yours but who do not compete with you — a jewellery maker and a saree seller, a baker and a gift-hamper maker. Joint giveaways and collab posts put you in front of people who already buy on Instagram.

If you have a small budget

Spend it on things that improve every post, not on one boosted reel. A plain backdrop and a ₹1,500 ring light lift every product photo you take after. Two or three free pieces sent to collaborators whose buyers match yours can bring more first orders than the same money spent on ads, and the posts they make keep working for weeks.

Content that sells without feeling like an ad

• Making-of: a 15-second clip of the piece taking shape. It shows the work behind the price.
• Try-on or in use: one product, three ways to style it, with the price on screen.
• Packing orders: the parcels, the thank-you card, the courier pickup.
• Answers: turn your most-asked DM into a reel. 'Does it fit a 40 bust?' answered once, publicly, for everyone.
• Restocks and drops: 'Back on Friday at 7 p.m., link in bio' gives followers a reason to come back at a set time.

Run your first drop fairly

Once a few dozen people follow closely, a small drop — eight pieces of a new print, say — brings orders in a burst. Put the pieces on the store with real stock counts and switch on stock holding, so each piece is taken off stock the moment an order is placed. Whoever finishes checkout first gets it, and nobody pays for a piece that is already gone.

Make every order bring the next one

Ask for a review after delivery, reply to every comment, and repost buyers who tag you. A buyer who is thanked publicly often orders again — and their followers see your product on someone they trust.

• A thank-you card in every parcel with your store link and a code for their next order.
• Back-in-stock emails for sold-out pieces: buyers ask to be told, and your store emails them when you restock.
• Reviews only from delivered orders, if you want every review to come from a real buyer who received the piece.

A weekly scorecard

Bio link visits

From your campaign reports

Visits through /links are tagged as Instagram bio traffic

Orders

From your orders list

Orders per 100 visits

Orders ÷ visits × 100

Low? Fix the product page. Visits low? Fix the content.

Refused COD parcels

From the failed-deliveries queue

Rising? Tighten COD limits

Repeat buyers

Buyers on their second order or more

The best sign the first 100 will become 1,000

Measure one thing first: If you track nothing else, count bio visits and orders every Sunday. The ratio tells you whether to work on the store or on the content.

Common questions

Do I need to run ads for my first orders?

Not necessarily. Many sellers reach their first hundred orders through people they know, referrals and collaborations. Ads work better once you know which products and posts already sell.

How often should I post?

Consistently enough that new followers see you are active. What matters more is that each post shows the product clearly and says how to buy.

Should I offer discounts to get started?

A small launch or referral code helps, but constant discounts train buyers to wait. Use coupons for a reason — a launch, a referral, a festival — with a minimum order value and a usage limit.

How do I track where orders come from?

Bio visits through /links are tagged automatically. For more detail, add Google Analytics or a Meta Pixel to your store; Slaby supports both.

What does it cost to start?

Slaby starts with a 14-day free trial, no card needed. After that, the Lite plan is ₹299 a month for up to 20 products, with 0% commission. Your payment gateway, if you connect one, charges its own processing fee.

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