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E-commerce brand launch kit

From product sourcing to a COD-friendly storefront: the exact checklist a new online brand follows before its first order ships.

12 stepsOrdered by phase · personalized by your co-founder

1Pick the product and prove demand first

  • Choose one hero product with a clear problem it solves — not five random items.
  • Run competitor research: who sells the same thing, at what price, and what do customers complain about in their reviews?
  • Pre-sell before you stock: share the product with 20–50 real people and collect pre-orders or waitlist signups.

2Price for reality (COD is not free money)

  • Build your full landed cost: product + shipping-in + packaging + courier out + payment/COD fee.
  • Decide cash-on-delivery terms: expect 10–20% returns (RTO) in many markets and price the risk in.
  • Set a retail price at 3–5x landed cost so ads, discounts and returns still leave a margin.

3Set up the selling rails

  • Choose your channel mix: marketplace (Daraz/Amazon/Shopify equivalents in your country), Instagram/WhatsApp commerce, or your own storefront.
  • Prepare product photos, a short description that sells the outcome, and a simple pricing page.
  • Line up 2 couriers (primary + backup) and confirm their cash-collection and RTO return process.

4Launch week

  • Announce on your own channels first — warm audience before paid ads.
  • Run one small paid test (7 days) on the single best platform for your country, not all of them.
  • Track the number that matters: cost per order vs. margin per order — not likes.

Don't guess your way through this

Tell your co-founder your idea and country — it will turn this checklist into your personalized Journey, run the market research, and produce the documents for you.

Start free with this template