How to start an online clothing store in India: a practical 2026 checklist

Starting an online clothing store in India comes down to five decisions: who you sell to, how you show sizes, how buyers pay, how parcels reach them, and what happens when something does not fit. Get those right and the website itself is the easy part.

This guide walks through each one in the order you will meet them. It is written for a boutique or label selling to shoppers, and for a garment maker or wholesaler who wants to take orders from retailers online.

1. Decide who you are selling to

Retail (shoppers), wholesale (shops and resellers), or both. This changes almost everything downstream: retail buyers expect one price, easy returns and cash on delivery; trade buyers expect minimum order quantities, set or pack pricing, and rates that their competitors cannot see.

If you do both, keep one catalogue and vary the price by who is looking, rather than running two websites that drift apart.

2. Paperwork to sort before launch

• A business bank account in the business name — payment gateways settle into it.
• GST registration, if it applies to you. Selling goods to other states generally requires registration regardless of turnover; confirm your situation with a CA.
• A payment-gateway account (for example Razorpay or Cashfree) with KYC completed — this usually needs your PAN, bank details and business proof.
• Your policies written down: shipping, returns and exchanges, cancellations, privacy and terms. Gateways ask to see them during KYC.

3. Build the catalogue around sizes

Clothing has a variant problem: one kurta in four sizes and three colours is twelve stock-keeping units. List each design once with Size and Colour as options, and give every combination its own SKU and stock count so you never sell a size you do not have.

Photograph every colour, not just the hero one — shoppers who pick 'maroon' expect to see maroon. Publish a size chart beside the size selector, with measurements in inches and centimetres, because fit is the biggest reason clothes come back.

• Name products the way buyers search: fabric, garment, occasion ('cotton anarkali kurta for festive wear') rather than internal codes.
• Write the fabric, wash care and fit (regular, slim, relaxed) on every product.
• If you sell to retailers too, record MOQ and pack size (for example a set of S–XL) on the product.

4. Price for shipping and returns, not just cost

Your price has to carry the courier charge, the payment-gateway fee, packaging, and the cost of the orders that come back. Work out what a returned parcel actually costs you — two-way shipping, repacking and the time the stock was unavailable — and price with that in mind.

Decide on a free-delivery threshold deliberately: it should nudge buyers to add one more item, not give away your margin on every order.

5. Payments: online and cash on delivery

Most Indian shoppers expect UPI and cash on delivery. Online payments go through your gateway and settle into your bank account. Cash on delivery widens your reach but brings the risk of orders refused at the door (returned to origin, or RTO).

You do not have to choose all or nothing. Common controls are a maximum order value for COD, COD only in pincodes that deliver reliably, a limit on how much one buyer can have outstanding in undelivered COD orders, and partial COD — a small advance online, the balance at the door.

6. Shipping

Open accounts with one or two couriers or an aggregator, check which pincodes they serve, and tell buyers a realistic delivery window on the product page. Record the courier and tracking number on every order so the buyer can follow it without calling you.

7. Returns and exchanges

Write a clear policy and make it easy to find. For clothing, offering an exchange or store credit for size issues keeps the sale; refunds are better kept for damaged or wrong items.

Ask for an unboxing video for damage claims. It protects you from the occasional false claim and settles most disputes in minutes.

Setting this up on Slaby

1. 1

   Create the store

   Sign up at /start and choose Fashion & Apparel. The store opens with women's, men's, kids', shoes and accessories categories that you can rename or remove.

2. 2

   Add products with size and colour variants

   Define Size and Colour once and generate every combination, each with its own SKU, stock and photos. Upload a size chart once and every product page links to it beside the sizes.

3. 3

   Connect payments and set COD rules

   Connect your own Razorpay or Cashfree account in Settings → Payments, then set COD minimum and maximum order values, COD pincodes, the per-buyer COD limit and partial COD if you want an advance.

4. 4

   Set delivery and returns

   Set delivery fees, a free-delivery threshold and the pincodes you deliver to. In Settings → Returns & cancellations choose the return window, whether an unboxing video is required, and whether returns settle as exchanges, store credit or refunds.

5. 5

   Go live and share

   Preview the store, connect your own domain if you have one, and share product links on WhatsApp and Instagram.

Common questions

Do I need GST registration to sell clothes online in India?

It depends on your turnover and where you ship. Registration is generally required once turnover crosses the threshold, and selling goods to buyers in other states generally requires registration regardless of turnover. Rules change, so confirm with a CA before you launch.

Should I sell on a marketplace or on my own website?

Many sellers do both. A marketplace brings buyers but sets the rules and takes a commission; your own website builds a customer list and brand you keep. See our post on own domain vs marketplace.

How do I reduce returns on clothing?

Accurate size charts, photos of every colour, clear fabric and fit descriptions, and offering exchanges for size issues. An unboxing-video requirement deters false damage claims.

Can I sell to boutiques at wholesale from the same site?

On Slaby, yes: shoppers see retail prices and boutiques you approve sign in to see trade prices, MOQs and pack sizes on the same product pages.

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