Collecting the money is the biggest gap
Most small businesses selling online get stuck in the same place.
The site is done, the products are up, the order comes. Then? You have to give the customer a number in the inbox and say "send money to this number", then ask for a screenshot, then match it up.
This works, but every order takes ten minutes, and a customer who wants to order at eleven at night does not wait.
Without a gateway: bKash, Nagad and Rocket numbers
No gateway account? You can still end the days of asking for screenshots. On the site manager page, in the "Business and look" tab, just under the shop details, add your number under "bKash, Nagad and Rocket numbers" and save. A Rocket number has 12 digits: one more digit after the 11 digits of a mobile number.
Then on the page where orders are taken, a payment box appears just above the send button of the order form: your number, a "Copy" button next to it, a line saying whether it is Send Money or Payment, and a place to write the TrxID. When the customer sends the money, writes the TrxID and places the order, that TrxID arrives in your inbox together with the order, and if the order goes to WhatsApp, together with the message. You only have to match that TrxID in the bKash app.
This is free on every plan, and needs no AI or Token. The steps are in the guide. If you want to take cards, or want to take the customer straight to a payment page instead of sending them to a number, then use the gateway way below.
Who does what
One point needs to be clear here, because there is confusion about it.
The money is yours. The payment gateway account is in your own name, and the customer's money goes straight there. It does not pass through our site, we do not hold it, and we take no share.
The gateway's charge is yours. The rate that bKash Merchant or SSLCommerz cut on each transaction is a matter between them and you.
Our job is only to give the place to put it. Your payment link goes into a button on the site, and when the customer presses it they go there.
This is deliberate. Someone else in the middle of the money means one more place where there can be delay, and for a small business's cash, delay is the biggest enemy.
What you will need
A gateway account. bKash Merchant or SSLCommerz, either of the two. You have to get it from them, and business papers are needed.
Business or Commerce hosting. The box for putting in a payment link is in these two plans.
The link. Take the payment link or checkout link from the gateway's panel, put it in the box on the site manager page and save.
After that one step is left, and many people skip it: go to the builder and ask it to add an online payment button at checkout. Saving means the link is stored; the button appears on the site after the next build. Many people save, go to the site, do not see the button, and think it did not work.
Which to take
| bKash Merchant | SSLCommerz | |
| What it takes | bKash | Card, bKash, Nagad, Rocket, bank |
| Good for | Small shops, most customers on bKash | Larger businesses, cards needed |
| Getting started | Easier by comparison | A bit more paperwork |
For most small shops in Bangladesh it is reasonable to start with bKash, because that is what is on the customer's phone.
You only need card payments when orders come from abroad or the amounts are large.
Do I still need cash on delivery
Yes. In Bangladesh a large share of customers still want to pay when they have it in hand, and that is not distrust, it is habit.
So the good arrangement is to keep both: a button for those who want to pay online, and cash on delivery for those who want to pay on delivery.
One trick helps: give a discount on the delivery charge for online payment. That way customers willing to pay upfront do so, and fewer parcels come back from the courier.
Orders and payment records are separate
One thing is easy to mix up, so let me say it separately.
The order details, meaning who wanted what and where to send it, come from the site's form and are stored in the site inbox. That is covered in detail in the post on the order inbox.
Payment records stay in the gateway's panel, in their own records.
Two things in two places, and matching them is your job. In a small shop this is no problem, but with fifty orders a day you need a rule: once a day, sit down and match the two. If you take money through the bKash, Nagad or Rocket payment box, the customer's TrxID stays with the order, so matching is easy.
What not to do
Do not put in someone else's payment link. The link has to be from your own account, or the money will go to someone else.
Do not send the product without matching the TrxID. Whether it is a personal number or a merchant one, match the TrxID the customer wrote and the amount in your own bKash, Nagad or Rocket app, and then ship the order. People sometimes type a wrong TrxID, by mistake or on purpose; checking in the app catches it.
Do not let the customer get lost on the payment page. Write next to the button what happens after the money is paid, and how soon the product will go.
Which hosting plan has what is in the post on hosting plans, and for order paperwork you can see the post on cash memos and invoices.
To start building a shop site, open the page for building an e-commerce website.
Questions and answers
Where does the money go? Straight to your own gateway account. It does not pass through our site, we do not hold it and we take no share. The payment accounts are between you and the gateway.
Do I have to pay any commission to you? No. The only cost is what the gateway cuts on each transaction at its own rate, and that is theirs. We take nothing on transactions.
Which plans can have a payment link? Business and Commerce hosting. The box is on the site manager page. After saving, you have to go to the builder once and ask it to add an online payment button at checkout; saving means the link is stored, it does not mean the button is placed.
bKash Merchant or SSLCommerz, which should I take? If most customers pay on bKash, starting with bKash Merchant is easier. If you must take cards, bank payments or money from abroad, choose SSLCommerz, because it offers many payment methods at once.
What do I need to get a gateway account? Business papers are needed, and they check them themselves. It is better to ask them what is needed, because they change their rules.
Can I keep cash on delivery too? You can, and in Bangladesh you should. Keep the two side by side: a button for those who want to pay online, and cash on delivery for those who want to pay on delivery. If you give a discount on the delivery charge for online payment, many people pay first.
Does the order come into the inbox by itself after the money is paid? Not when it is a gateway link, the two are in different places. The order details come from the site's form into the inbox, and the payment records are in the gateway's panel. So the habit of sitting down once a day to match the two helps. But if the customer writes the TrxID in the payment box and places the order, that TrxID comes with the order.
Can I use a personal bKash number? Yes. On the site manager page save the number with the type "Personal", and on the order page the customer will see that they must use Send Money, and will write the TrxID and place the order. Most small shops start this way. If you take a Merchant number later, add it with the type "Merchant", and the customer will then use Payment.
How do I get the customer's TrxID without a gateway? If you enter a bKash, Nagad or Rocket number in the site manager, a place to write the TrxID appears on the order page. When the customer sends the money and writes the TrxID there, it comes with the order into the inbox or the WhatsApp message, and you do not have to ask for a screenshot separately.
In short
- With no gateway, enter bKash, Nagad or Rocket numbers in the site manager: a payment box and TrxID on the order page, free on every plan
- Save your own bKash Merchant or SSLCommerz link in the site manager
- Then tell the builder once to place the button; saving alone is not enough
- The money goes straight to your account, we are not in the middle and take no share
- The box is in Business and Commerce hosting
- The gateway account and its charges are your own
- Keep cash on delivery alongside, in Bangladesh that is the reality
- Orders come to the inbox, payment records are at the gateway; match them once a day