You launched the Shopify store on Tuesday. You got your first order on Wednesday. By Friday you have 7 orders, your kitchen table has become a packing station, and you have no idea how to actually ship. You don’t need a 12-month logistics strategy — you need to send order #1 today and order #100 without quitting your day job. This playbook is for that specific stage: zero to 100 orders, from a kitchen, with one carrier, manual labels, and the cheapest packaging that doesn’t embarrass the brand.
To ship your first 100 D2C orders: register for GST if you’re over the ₹40 lakh threshold (or voluntarily for input tax credit), pick one Indian courier with home pickup (Delhivery, DTDC, Bluedart, Shadowfax, or a multi-carrier aggregator), stock cardboard mailers and bubble wrap from a local stationer, print labels from the Shopify or carrier dashboard, schedule a daily 5 PM pickup, and use a simple Google Sheet to track AWBs, refunds, and returns.
Day 1 Decisions: GST, Business Name, Bank Account
Three legal-setup decisions you make once and carry forward:
- GST registration. Not mandatory below ₹40 lakh annual turnover for goods (₹20 lakh for services). Many founders register voluntarily to claim Input Tax Credit on packaging, advertising, and courier — improves margin from order 1. If you plan to sell on Amazon/Flipkart, GST is mandatory regardless of turnover.
- Legal structure. Sole proprietorship is the fastest to start. LLP or Pvt Ltd can wait until ₹50 lakh+ annual run rate; the compliance overhead of a Pvt Ltd before that point usually outweighs the benefit.
- Current account. Open one with HDFC, ICICI, Kotak, or Axis — needed for Shopify Payments, Razorpay, or Cashfree settlement. Current accounts (not savings) are required because Indian payment gateways flag savings-account settlements for review.
For the broader business courier overview, see the business courier solutions India pillar and the startup shipping guide.
Pick ONE Carrier for Your First 100 Orders
Decision fatigue is the enemy. Pick one carrier on day one and iterate at order 100, not order 10:
| Founder profile | Best first carrier | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Light parcels under 500g, urban metros | Bluedart Express | Best surface TAT + tracking; pickup widely available |
| Heavier parcels 500g-2kg, COD-heavy | Delhivery | COD reconciliation, ~17,500-pin coverage |
| Fragile parcels, premium positioning | Bluedart Air | Premium carrier perception lifts brand |
| Hyperlocal Tier-1 only | Dunzo / Porter / Shadowfax (same-day) | Speed > everything |
| Multi-carrier from day 1 | CourierBook / Shiprocket / Pickrr | Compare per order; no fixed contract |
The single-carrier approach works because at 0-100 orders your time is more valuable than the ₹5-10 per parcel a multi-carrier aggregator might save you. Cross the 100 threshold first; optimise rate after.
The First Pickup: Schedule, Packaging, Label Printing
Schedule a daily fixed-time pickup. 5 PM is the most common slot for early founders — it gives you the day to pack everything that came in overnight.
Packaging stack to buy from a local stationer:
- Corrugated cardboard mailers, 3-ply, around ₹15-25 per piece for 250 × 200 × 80 mm
- Bubble wrap, 5m roll, ₹150-250
- Brown packing tape, ₹30-50
- Permanent marker, ₹20
- Cutting blade, ₹50
Label printing options:
- Manual: write AWB on a sticker. Works for 1-5 orders/day, not scalable.
- Carrier dashboard: print on A4, cut to size, paste with tape. Free, works to ~30 orders/day.
- Shopify shipping app: prints carrier label directly. Best workflow.
- Thermal printer (TSC, Honeywell, Citizen) at ₹6,000-12,000 — worth it from order ~30 onwards.
Packing for the Brand (Without Spending Crore on Unboxing)
Five cheap-to-implement brand touches that lift the unboxing experience without breaking margin:
- Branded sticker at roughly ₹2 per piece from a local printer for 1,000 quantity
- Hand-written thank-you note (“Order #34 — thank you, [name]”)
- Tissue paper wrap at ₹50 per 50 sheets
- QR code sticker linking to your Instagram (boosts reviews)
- Discount code card for the next purchase (boosts repeat rate)
Total cost per order for the brand touch: ₹10-15. The unboxing video the buyer posts on Stories pays this back many times over. For the macro free-shipping math, see how to offer free shipping profitably.
Cost of Shipping per Order: The Founder’s Math
Worked example — single-SKU D2C, ₹599 product, ₹50 packaging, ₹70 ad spend per order, ₹70 shipping:
| Line | Amount (₹) |
|---|---|
| Product price | 599 |
| Cost of goods | 180 |
| Packaging | 50 |
| Customer acquisition (ads / influencer) | 70 |
| Shipping (incl. GST) | 70 |
| Payment gateway 2% | 12 |
| Gross profit per order | 217 |
| Gross margin % | 36% |
Three rules of thumb:
- Below 30% gross margin per order, you can’t scale ads profitably.
- Above 40% gross margin, you can run paid acquisition aggressively.
- Shipping is usually 10-15% of revenue for D2C — anything above 15% is a packaging or rate problem (probably volumetric weight overage on bulky packaging).
Handle the First Return (RTO Is the Silent Killer)
RTO rate for new D2C brands runs 18-35% in COD and 5-12% in prepaid. The single biggest cash-flow leak in early D2C.
Operational fixes that compound:
- Always confirm COD orders via WhatsApp or phone before pickup. Manual at first; automate via Wati or AiSensy template at scale.
- Move customers to prepaid via a 5-10% discount code. Prepaid RTO is roughly half — the discount pays for itself in saved RTO cost.
- Keep a “Returns” bin near the packing table. Reconcile weekly so you don’t lose returns paperwork.
- Refund policy: 7 days from delivery, 100% refund minus pickup cost — or free pickup if margins allow.
- Stock a 5% buffer of returned-but-saleable units.
For deeper returns process design, see the returns management strategy guide.
Hitting Order 100: What to Put in Place BEFORE It Gets Messy
By the time you’re approaching order 100, these need to exist:
- An order tracker Google Sheet with columns: Order #, Date, Customer, Pin, Carrier, AWB, COD/Prepaid, Status, Notes.
- An NDR (Non-Delivery Report) workflow. Review NDRs daily; re-attempt or cancel within 24 hours.
- A WhatsApp Business number for customer queries — separate from your personal number.
- A monthly P&L covering revenue, COGS, packaging, shipping, ads, gateway fees, profit.
- A “what breaks at order 200” list. By the time you finish first 100, you should know whether you need a thermal printer, multi-carrier aggregator, 3PL warehousing, or GST registration if not yet done.
For the post-100 scale-up playbook, see the D2C shipping best practices guide and the multi-channel shipping strategy. Bangalore-based D2C founders are over-represented in our customer base; the Bangalore city page covers pickup if you’re shipping out of the tech hub.
The GSTN portal{target="_blank" rel=“noopener nofollow”} is the source for current GST registration thresholds, and Shopify India’s shipping documentation{target="_blank" rel=“noopener nofollow”} covers the platform side of label printing and rate setup.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need GST registration to start a D2C brand in India?
Not mandatory below ₹40 lakh annual turnover for goods (₹20 lakh for services). Many founders register voluntarily to claim Input Tax Credit on packaging, advertising, and courier — which improves margin from order 1. If selling on Amazon/Flipkart, GST is mandatory regardless of turnover.
Which is the cheapest courier for a small D2C brand in India?
For under 500g urban-metro parcels, Delhivery and DTDC are typically ₹40-70 per shipment. For COD-heavy parcels, Delhivery’s reconciliation is the most founder-friendly. Multi-carrier aggregators (CourierBook, Shiprocket, Pickrr) let you compare rates per order without a fixed contract.
How do I schedule home pickup for D2C orders without a warehouse?
All major Indian carriers (Bluedart, Delhivery, DTDC, Shadowfax, FedEx) offer home pickup with a 24-hour notice. Set a daily fixed-time pickup (5 PM is common) and the rider collects all packed orders at once. No warehouse contract or business address needed beyond your residential address.
Should I print shipping labels manually or buy a thermal printer?
Manual or A4-printed labels work for 1-10 orders per day. A thermal printer (TSC, Honeywell, Citizen at ₹6,000-12,000) pays back from roughly order 30 onwards — it saves 30-60 seconds per order, improves label durability, and signals brand maturity to the buyer.
What’s a good shipping cost as a % of revenue for an early D2C brand?
10-15% of revenue is healthy for early-stage D2C. Above 15% suggests either oversized packaging (volumetric weight overage), the wrong carrier, or a low average order value. Try increasing AOV before negotiating rates — most carriers won’t negotiate below 500 shipments/month.
How do I reduce RTO (Return to Origin) rate as a new D2C brand?
RTO rate for new brands runs 18-35% in COD. Two highest-leverage fixes: confirm every COD order via WhatsApp or phone before pickup, and move customers to prepaid via 5-10% discount codes. Prepaid orders have 5-12% RTO — a 20-percentage-point swing on cash flow.
When should I move from a single carrier to a multi-carrier aggregator?
Move to a multi-carrier setup (CourierBook, Shiprocket, Pickrr) at roughly order 50-100, when you’re shipping to pin codes your single carrier doesn’t serve well, when you want COD reconciliation in one dashboard, or when you want per-order rate comparison without fixed-volume contracts.
Wrapping Up
From order 1 to order 100, the bottleneck is rarely the carrier — it’s decision fatigue. Pick one carrier, one packaging SKU, one label workflow. Iterate at order 100. Book pickup for your first 100 D2C orders and let the multi-carrier shuffle happen behind a single dashboard so you can ship a clean parcel from the kitchen table.