Moving from a DM-selling tool to Slaby: products, links and buyers, step by step

Moving a small store is mostly three jobs: getting your products across, setting up payments, and pointing your buyers at the new link. Done in that order, buyers barely notice.

This guide works for any store builder made for Instagram or WhatsApp sellers. Check your current tool's own help pages for how its export works.

Signs it is time to move

• You pay a fee on every order, and it now adds up to more than a flat monthly plan would.
• Refused COD parcels are eating your margin, and your tool has no way to limit COD by value, pincode or buyer.
• You need GST invoices, returns with store credit, or exchanges, and you handle them by hand.
• You want your own domain, or your store to show up properly on Google.
• You sell wholesale as well as retail, and want both from one catalogue.

Before you start

• A spreadsheet export of your products, if your current tool offers one (otherwise a list of bestsellers with prices)
• Your product photos in a folder on your phone or computer
• Your policies: delivery, returns and exchanges, contact details
• Your UPI ID, and optionally a Razorpay or Cashfree account in your own name
• Any open orders finished on the old tool first

The move, step by step

1. 1

   Create your Slaby store

   Start your 14-day free trial (no card needed) and choose the template closest to what you sell. Pick a store name close to your Instagram handle.

   Start free trial
2. 2

   Tidy your export into one sheet

   Make sure each product has a name, price and stock, one row per product. Sizes and colours can be rows that point at their parent product's SKU. Save it as CSV.

3. 3

   Upload and map the columns

   Admin → Products → Import

   Upload the CSV. The import wizard asks which of your columns is the name, price, stock and so on — your old tool's column names do not have to match ours.

4. 4

   Preview, then import

   Admin → Products → Import

   The preview shows which rows will be created, which will update an existing product and which are invalid, before anything is written. Fix the invalid rows, import, then add or check photos on each product.

5. 5

   Set up payments and COD

   Add your UPI ID so UPI payments land in your own bank account (you approve each order against your bank app), connect Razorpay or Cashfree for cards and automatic confirmation, and set your COD rules: limits, pincodes, a COD fee, an advance if you want one, and whether each COD order waits for your accept.

   Payments guide
6. 6

   Copy your policies and delivery charges

   Add your delivery fee, free-delivery threshold, pincodes, an express option if you offer one, and your returns window, so buyers see the same rules as before.

7. 7

   Switch on stock holding

   With stock holding on, units come off stock the moment an order is placed and go back if it is cancelled, so the last piece cannot be sold twice.

8. 8

   Test with a real order

   Buy something small from your phone, pay, and check the order arrives in your admin. Refund it from your gateway, or cancel it if you paid by UPI to yourself.

9. 9

   Switch your links

   Pin your current products on your store's /links page, then change your Instagram bio link, WhatsApp Business profile and story highlights to the new store. Post a story saying where to order now.

Keep the old store open for a week. Old links live on in posts and chats. If your previous tool allows it, leave a notice there pointing to your new store before you close it.

What changes for your buyers

• They pay by UPI to your UPI ID with the amount filled in, or through your own gateway checkout — no screenshots sent in chats.
• They track orders on your store with the order number and their phone, no account needed.
• They sign in with Google in one tap at checkout. Checkout and sign-in with just a phone number and an SMS code is available on stores that switch on mobile sign-in, once Slaby's SMS provider is live.
• They get order updates by email (and on WhatsApp where your store has it switched on), and can message you from any product with the WhatsApp button.
• They can install your store on their phone like an app, and ask to be emailed when a sold-out piece is back.

What Slaby does not do yet, and what needs switching on

Better to know before you move than after. Instagram import is not available: you bring products across by CSV or add them by hand. Three features are built but available only once enabled on Slaby, because they rely on outside providers. WhatsApp order updates (confirmed, payment verified, shipped with a tracking link, delivered with a review link; buyers can reply STOP to opt out) are switched on in Settings → Order alerts; until then, updates go by email. Shiprocket and Borzo booking works from the order screen once you connect your own account in Settings → Shipping → Courier accounts; entering your own courier and tracking number by hand always works. AI product drafts turn 1–4 photos and a caption into a draft name, description, category and tags; they never set prices, and the product is saved inactive for you to review.

Your first week on the new store

1. 1

   Days 1–2: answer every DM with a new link

   Buyers will still message out of habit. Reply with the product link on your new store each time.

2. 2

   Days 3–4: connect your catalogue feed

   Settings → Sales channels

   If your account has Instagram shopping features, copy the feed address into Meta Commerce Manager so you can tag products in posts. Meta reviews it first.

3. 3

   Day 5: check your first COD orders

   Look at the COD to accept list and the failed-deliveries queue, and adjust your COD limits if something looks off.

4. 4

   Days 6–7: close the old store

   Once orders arrive steadily on the new store and nobody has used the old link for a few days, close it.

Common questions

My old tool has no export. What now?

Start with your bestsellers by hand — ten products take an afternoon — or put them into the CSV template from your posts. Add the rest over the following week.

Will I lose my order history?

Past orders stay in your old tool's records, so download or save what you need before you close it. New orders build up in Slaby from day one.

Can someone do the import for me?

If the spreadsheet is more than you want to handle, contact support with your file and we will help you map the columns.

How long does the move take?

A small catalogue can be live the same day, taking UPI to your own UPI ID and COD. Gateway approval for cards and automatic confirmation takes a few working days.

Does Slaby charge commission after I move?

No. Slaby takes 0% commission on every plan, Lite included. Your payment gateway charges its own processing fee.

Compare before you move

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