WooCommerce development services
WooCommerce development services cover everything needed to build, extend or fix a store on WordPress. I am a freelance developer, not an agency, so the person you talk to is the person who builds the store. The work covers:
- New store builds: design, shop, product, cart and checkout pages, built on staging.
- Payment gateways: Razorpay, PayU, Cashfree or PhonePe for UPI and cards, PayPal for overseas buyers, and cash on delivery rules.
- GST and invoices: tax classes, CGST, SGST and IGST by shipping state, and invoices with your GSTIN and HSN codes.
- Shipping: zones, weight-based or free-shipping rules, courier or aggregator connections and tracking emails.
- Product import and catalogue setup: categories, attributes and variations, imported from your spreadsheet.
- Migration: moving products, customers and orders from Shopify or another platform, with redirects for old URLs.
- Custom features and fixes: checkout changes, plugin conflicts, slow stores and broken order emails.
- Speed and maintenance: a light, fast checkout on phones, and updates tested with a test order afterwards.
Hire a WooCommerce developer: what to check
- Live stores they built, which you can open and try on your phone.
- A written scope with exclusions and a fixed price, not just a day rate.
- Test orders with the gateway in test mode before launch, including failed payments and webhooks.
- The domain, hosting, gateway account and plugin licences in your name.
- Who looks after updates after launch, and how a broken update is rolled back.
WooCommerce store setup in India, step by step
An Indian online store has more moving parts than a business website: payment gateway approval, cash on delivery rules, GST and couriers. This is how I set up a WooCommerce store, from your first message to your first real order.
- Free review and a fixed quote. Tell me what you sell, roughly how many products, how you want to be paid, where you ship and whether you are GST-registered. You get a written scope, a fixed price and a timeline.
- Payment gateway application. You apply to a gateway such as Razorpay, PayU, Cashfree or PhonePe in your business name, because the money settles to your bank account. Approval depends on the provider's KYC checks, so it is worth starting early.
- Catalogue plan. Categories, attributes and variations are agreed before any products go in.
- Design and build on staging. Shop, product, cart and checkout pages are built on a private staging link and kept light and simple for phones.
- Products, shipping and tax. Products are added or imported from your spreadsheet, then shipping zones, COD rules and GST settings are configured.
- Test orders. With the gateway in test mode, I check prepaid and COD orders, failed and cancelled payments, order emails, invoices and stock levels.
- Launch. Live keys go in, and a real low-value order confirms the whole flow works.
- Training. On a video call I show you how to process orders, issue refunds, update stock and add products, including from the WooCommerce mobile app.
Payments, COD, GST and shipping for Indian stores
UPI, cards and net banking
A gateway like Razorpay or Cashfree gives shoppers UPI, cards, net banking and wallets in one checkout. WooCommerce adds no transaction fee of its own; you pay only the gateway's charges. Webhooks are set up and tested so that a paid order is marked as paid even if the shopper closes the browser before returning to your site. An international option such as PayPal can be added for overseas customers. Choosing a payment gateway lists what to compare.
Cash on delivery
COD still matters to many Indian shoppers, but every refused delivery costs you shipping both ways. COD can be limited by order value or pin code, a COD fee can be shown clearly at checkout, and COD orders can be confirmed by phone or WhatsApp before dispatch. Offering COD without losing money covers the options.
GST and invoices
Tax is calculated on the customer's shipping state, with CGST and SGST for orders within your state and IGST for the rest. Each GST rate gets its own tax class, and an invoice plugin adds your GSTIN, HSN codes and consecutive invoice numbers. Business buyers can enter their GSTIN at checkout. Your CA should confirm the rates and invoice format; WooCommerce GST setup shows each step.
Shipping across India
Shipping zones usually run from your city to your state to the rest of India, with flat, weight-based or free-above-a-threshold rates. Accurate product weights matter, and a courier or shipping aggregator can be connected for labels and tracking emails. A pin code checker on product pages shows delivery dates and COD availability before checkout. See WooCommerce shipping setup for India.
Ecommerce website development company in India, or a freelancer?
If you are looking for an ecommerce website development company in India, a freelancer is a real alternative for most small and mid-sized stores. Samverse is one developer, not an agency: you deal directly with the person building your store, there is no account manager in between, and the fixed quote carries no agency overheads. A larger company makes sense if you need design, photography, catalogue entry and marketing handled by one team at once. For what a store costs either way, see ecommerce website cost in India.
WooCommerce, Shopify or a marketplace?
| WooCommerce store | Shopify | Amazon or Flipkart | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Platform cost | Free plugin; you pay for hosting, the domain and any premium plugins | A monthly subscription, plus paid apps | Commission and fees on every sale |
| Payment fees | Only your gateway's charges | Gateway charges, and an extra transaction fee may apply if you do not use Shopify's own payments | Taken from your payouts along with the marketplace fees |
| COD rules | Yours to set | Supported | Set by the marketplace |
| Customer relationship | Yours, including your email list | Yours, within Shopify | Mostly stays with the marketplace |
| Design, content and SEO | Almost unlimited, with a full WordPress blog | Good, within the platform's limits | A listing template |
| Upkeep | You or your developer handle updates | Handled by Shopify | Handled by the marketplace |
| Traffic | You bring it: search, ads and social | You bring it | Shoppers are already there |
Many brands use both: a marketplace for reach, and their own store for margin and repeat customers. WooCommerce vs Shopify in India and own website vs marketplaces go into the costs in more detail.
What is included, and what is not
The store features are listed near the top of this page. These sit outside the build:
- Gateway, courier and premium plugin accounts, which are opened in your business name, with their fees paid to the providers.
- Product photography and writing every description. I set up the product template and import what you have; the photos and product facts come from you.
- Tax and legal advice. GST is configured the way your CA advises, and your returns, refund and shipping policies need your approval.
- Advanced features, such as subscriptions, wholesale pricing for dealers or a multi-vendor marketplace, which are scoped and quoted on their own.
How long a store takes
Usually 2–4 weeks once product details and photos are ready. What moves it:
- The number of products, and whether the data is already in a tidy spreadsheet.
- How many variations each product has, such as sizes, colours or weights.
- Payment gateway approval, which is in the provider's hands.
- Extra features such as a pin code checker, WhatsApp order notifications or dealer pricing.
- Moving from Shopify or another platform, with redirects for the old URLs; see moving from Shopify to WooCommerce.
Who this is for
- D2C brands in food, fashion, beauty or handicrafts that are ready to sell on their own site.
- Shops taking orders on Instagram or WhatsApp that want a proper catalogue and checkout.
- Marketplace sellers who want repeat customers without paying commission on every order.
- Restaurants adding online ordering. For Southern Flavours, a restaurant in the UK, I built a WooCommerce shop and cart alongside a table reservation form.
- Existing stores that have become slow, through WooCommerce speed optimization.
How to prepare
- A spreadsheet of products with name, price, SKU, stock, weight, category and variations.
- Product photos taken the same way, on the same background.
- Your GSTIN if you are registered, and your business bank account and KYC documents ready for the gateway application.
- Where you ship, what you charge, which couriers you use and your COD rules.
- Your returns and refunds policy, even in rough form.
The WooCommerce store launch checklist lists what gets checked before going live.
What you have at launch
- A store on hosting in your name, with your own administrator login.
- A payment gateway account in your business name, settling straight to your bank.
- A training call on orders, refunds, stock and products.
- A full backup taken at launch, with the test orders cleared out.
- The option of a maintenance plan that includes a test order after updates.
Send me what you sell and roughly how many products you have, and you will get a fixed quote after a free review.
