How to start an online business in India (2026 Guide)
Learn how to start an online business in India. From ideas and registration to payments, logistics, and selling internationally. Read here to find out more.
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“Woocommerce’s Cashfree payment gateway for India offers a wide variety of payment options, but users may find it expensive for international payments.”
If you’ve been using Wordpress, WooCommerce is a plugin that allows for easy shopping and payments through your site. While it is a global company, it does have special rules for using payments in India.
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Woocommerce is free to add as a plugin on Wordpress. Cashfree is the payment gateway in India for Woocommerce. It is free to install into your site but there are fees for using the payment gateway.
| Read more: Full guide to Cashfree Payment Gateway |
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The fee is per transaction and can differ depending on the type of transaction. Here is a quick rundown of the Cashfree fees:
| Payment Type | Fee |
|---|---|
| UPI/Rupay | 0% |
| Visa/Mastercard/Maestro | 1.90% |
| Netbanking at 65+ Indian banks | 1.90% |
| Amazon Pay/Google Pay/Phonepe | 1.90% |
| Zest Money/Olamoney | 2.5% |
| Diners Club/American Express | 2.95% |
| Kotak/HDFC/ICICI EMI | 2.5% |
| International Visa card | 3.5% + ₹ 7 |
| International Mastercard | 3.5% + ₹ 7 |
You can also contact Cashfree directly if you require a more customized pricing plan for your type of business. ¹
Woocommerce and it’s preferred Indian payment gateway, Cashfree, are both safe and secure options. Woocommerce is celebrating it’s 10 year anniversary in 2021, and has been a leader in providing open-source online commerce storefronts globally on Wordpress. About 4 million websites around the world use Woocommerce.²
Over 1,00,000+ businesses in India use Cashfree as a payment gateway. It was incubated by PayPal and is currently backed by State Bank of India and the Silicon Valley accelerator, Y Combinator.
Woocommerce and Cashfree have partnered with IndusInd Bank, HDFC, Axis Bank and ICICI in India. And Cashfree offers online refunds and Cash on Delivery for orders which can help make things easy and build trust with your customers. ³
Cashfree is the preferred payment gateway in India for Woocommerce storefronts. Here are the payment options available for customers in India. Head to the next section to learn about international payment options. ⁴
Cards
- Visa
- Mastercard
- Diner’s Club
- American Express
- Maestro
Digital wallets and other options
- Netbanking at 65+ banks
- Google Pay
- UPI
- Amazon Pay
- Phonepe
- Olamoney
- Flexmoney
- Zest Money
- Paypal
- Rupay
EMI options
- HDFC
- ICICI
- Kotak
Woocommerce’s Cashfree payment gateway for India offers a wide variety of payment options, but users may find it expensive for international payments.
Woocommerce is able to support international payments in India through the Cashfree payment gateway.
Cashfree lets you show Indian rupees, but also prices in 30+ local home country currencies. A few of these currencies are:⁵
However, if you opt for local currency pricing, keep in mind that Cashfree will charge for currency conversion to your home currency of Indian Rupee.
The currency conversion exchange rate is typically weaker than the mid-market exchange rate that you usually see on Google. In that difference between the two, Cashfree is able to take a cut of the amount converted as a hidden fee.
You don’t have to show any other currency pricing and still use Cashfree for international payments. Cashfree allows credit cards from outside India to make payments, but it comes with its own upcharge:⁶
| Type of card | Fee per transaction |
|---|---|
| Visa | 3.5% + ₹ 7 |
| Mastercard | 3.5% + ₹ 7 |
| Diner’s Club | 2.95% |
| American Express | 2.95% |
Your customer may also have additional charges on their own end from the credit card or bank.
One last option for receiving international payments is through PayPal. A PayPal extension can be added for free onto your site so you can receive money into your PayPal wallet. But of course, that requires your customer having a PayPal account and comes with PayPal’s own fees as well.
| Read more: Full guide to PayPal Payment Gateway |
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Wise lets overseas customers send money directly to your Indian bank account with the real exchange rate and just one low transfer fee.
| 💸 International transfers are fast, simple, and cheap with the Wise Web/Android/ iOS app |
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Wise offers Indian businesses and freelancers with account details in 8 different currencies to receive payments from abroad. Your clients pay you with a local transfer in their currency, and you receive rupees in your INR bank account — with eFIRC for every transfer. That is truly business without borders. Get started with an account today.
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Woocommerce uses the Cashfree payment gateway in India. Cashfree has a standard settlement time of T + 2 days, where T represents the day the transaction is complete.
So if a purchase is paid for on Monday, you would receive the payment on Wednesday. But in some instances you can receive the funds in 24-48 hours.
But Cashfree also offers a faster instant settlement option where you can receive the funds in your account in 15 minutes. To get Instant Settlement, you will need to complete the form to request the service. ⁷
Woocommerce has multiple methods to get help and support for your online store. It has a unique customer service with 58 engineers around the globe to help you no matter the time zone.
On top of that, they have a largecustomer support section on their website to help you with FAQs, documentation, reference guides and tutorials. You can also get help from a Woocommerce verified agency or freelancer for expertise on how to run and improve your store.
If you have an existing account, you can access the Woocommerce helpdesk through your Wordpress account. You can also drop Woocommerce a message through their site for any specific or unique issues you have.
Lastly, there is a community forumwhere you can troubleshoot problems or issues.⁸
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All sources checked as of 19 October, 2021
*Please see terms of use and product availability for your region or visit Wise fees and pricing for the most up to date pricing and fee information.
This publication is provided for general information purposes and does not constitute legal, tax or other professional advice from Wise Payments Limited or its subsidiaries and its affiliates, and it is not intended as a substitute for obtaining advice from a financial advisor or any other professional.
We make no representations, warranties or guarantees, whether expressed or implied, that the content in the publication is accurate, complete or up to date.
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