A kirana store app is your shop's own online store and app, in your name, that customers order from and you run from your phone. Start with the 50 items your regulars ask for most, two delivery slots your helper can keep, and one order board for app, WhatsApp and phone orders. Then add items weekly.
At a glance
| Step | What to do | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| First items | List the 50 items from your last two weeks of orders | Fast launch, and they cover most daily orders |
| WhatsApp orders | Share your store link instead of taking typed lists | Orders arrive with items, prices and address |
| Phone orders | Create them yourself in the same order board | Nothing lives only in your memory |
| Credit customers | A credit limit per customer, settled on a set date | Khata without the notebook |
| Delivery | Two slots a day, capped at what your helper can drop | Promises you can keep |
| Daily routine | Check orders, stock and dues at fixed times | Ten minutes, three times a day |
What changes when a kirana moves orders to an app?
Most kirana owners already take orders on the phone and on WhatsApp. The app does not replace your regulars; it replaces the typing, the guessing and the notebook.
| WhatsApp list | Your store app | |
|---|---|---|
| Items | Typed by the customer, often unclear | Picked from your list, with the size |
| Prices | You work them out and reply | Shown before ordering |
| Address | Sent separately, sometimes missing | Saved with every order |
| Payment | Cash, or a UPI screenshot to check | UPI, cards, wallets or cash on delivery, recorded |
| Stock | You check the shelf for every message | Items marked out of stock cannot be ordered |
| History | Lost in the chat | Every order saved against the customer |
You keep WhatsApp as the way you talk to customers. The order itself moves into the app.
How to pick your first 50 items
Do not try to list the whole shop. Do this instead:
- Tally two weeks of orders. Go through your WhatsApp chats and phone order notes. Make a mark next to each item every time it is ordered.
- Sort by marks. The top 50 are your launch list. For most kiranas these are milk, curd, bread, eggs, atta, rice, dal, oil, sugar, tea, a few biscuits and snacks, soap and detergent.
- Drop what you cannot keep in stock. If an item runs out more than one day a week, leave it off until supply is steady.
- List each size as a variant. Oil in 1 litre and 5 litres is one item with two sizes.
- Price loose items per kilo. Sell rice and dal by weight in steps your helper can weigh quickly, such as 500 g. Odd weights slow packing.
Take photos on your phone against a plain wall. A clear photo of the actual packet you sell beats a perfect stock image of a different size.
How to handle phone, WhatsApp and walk-in orders in one place
The goal is one order board, whatever way the order came in.
- WhatsApp: reply to an order message with your store link. The customer picks items and the order arrives with the address. Pin the link in your WhatsApp Business profile and status.
- Phone: some regulars will always call. Create the order yourself for that customer in Nadi while you talk, so it joins the same board and their history.
- Walk-in: counter sales go through your billing. If your billing shares stock with the app, the shelf count stays right for both.
A message to send regulars
Copy this, change the details, and send it to customers one by one rather than as a broadcast:
Namaste, this is [your name] from [shop name]. You can now order from us here: [store link]. You will see our prices and pick a delivery slot, morning or evening. Delivery is free above ₹[amount]. You can still call us if you like.
Personal messages get read. A broadcast from an unknown number often does not.
After a month, look at which customers still call. Send them the link once more with their usual items already in mind. Many switch when they see their order is quicker to repeat.
Credit customers: running khata without the notebook
Many kiranas give credit to trusted families and collect at the start of the month. You can run this in the app instead of a notebook.
Ordrio supports a credit wallet with a limit for each customer: they order now and settle later. You can send a payment link for any amount due by SMS, WhatsApp or email, and schedule reminders for due and overdue payments.
Worked example: setting a credit limit
The figures below are an illustrative example with round numbers, not data from any shop.
A family spends about ₹3,000 a month with you and pays on the 5th. Set their limit at one month of spend plus a margin:
| Amount | |
|---|---|
| Normal monthly spend | ₹3,000 |
| Margin (20%) | ₹600 |
| Credit limit | ₹3,600 |
If they have not paid by the 5th, the limit stops new credit orders at ₹3,600, not at whatever the notebook reaches. Twenty such families at ₹3,600 is ₹72,000 of credit out at once. Know that number, because it is cash you are not holding.
Delivery for a one-shop kirana
Slots your helper can keep
Most kiranas deliver with the shop helper or a family member, between counter work. Offer slots when that person is free, not when customers would ideally like them.
Another illustrative example: your helper can leave the counter from 10 am to 12 pm and from 5 pm to 7 pm. Each drop in your area takes about 12 minutes there and back, plus 3 minutes at the door. That is 15 minutes a drop, so 8 drops in a 2-hour slot.
| Slot | Drops possible | Set the cap at |
|---|---|---|
| 10 am to 12 pm | 8 | 7 |
| 5 pm to 7 pm | 8 | 7 |
| Day total | 16 | 14 |
Cap a little below the maximum so one slow drop does not make the last two late. When both slots fill for a week, add a third slot or offer pickup at the counter.
Area and charges
Start with the streets your helper can reach in a few minutes. Decide one rule for small orders: a delivery fee below a set order value, or free delivery above it. Show it before checkout.
Your daily routine on the phone
| Time | Check | Takes |
|---|---|---|
| Opening | New orders for the morning slot, low-stock items, dues for the day | 10 minutes |
| After the morning slot | Orders delivered, cash collected, the evening slot's orders | 5 minutes |
| Closing | Payments received, credit due tomorrow, items to buy from the supplier | 10 minutes |
When you shut early or take a day off, close the store in Nadi so customers cannot order until you reopen.
Launch in 7 days
Day 1: tally two weeks of orders and pick your 50 items.
Day 2: photograph them and enter names, sizes, prices and stock.
Day 3: set your delivery streets, two slots with caps and your delivery fee rule. Connect a payment gateway if you want online payments, and decide on cash on delivery.
Day 4: place three test orders from a family member's phone: one paid online, one cash on delivery, one pickup. Watch each arrive on your phone.
Day 5: send the link to ten regulars you trust. Ask them to order their usual items and tell you what was hard.
Day 6: fix what they found. Add items they looked for and did not find.
Day 7: put the link on your WhatsApp status, print it on a board at the counter, and give it with every bill.
Common mistakes and how to fix them
- Listing the whole shop on day one. Launch never happens. Fix: 50 items, then more each week.
- Listing items that run out. Customers order, you call to cancel, they stop ordering. Fix: list only what you keep in stock six days of seven.
- Promising delivery whenever the customer wants. Your helper cannot be at the counter and on the road. Fix: two capped slots.
- Keeping phone orders in your head. They miss the board and the history. Fix: create them yourself in the app.
- Credit without limits. Dues grow quietly. Fix: a limit per customer, about one month of their spend.
- Old prices after a supplier change. You sell below cost until a customer notices. Fix: update prices on the day the new rate arrives.
- Not telling regulars. A store nobody knows about takes no orders. Fix: the link with every bill and on your status.
Where Ordrio fits
Nadi is your kirana's own website and app, in your name. It is an online store you own, not a marketplace or a delivery app. For a kirana, the parts that matter:
- Run it from your phone: the merchant app, included in every paid plan, handles orders, stock and payments.
- One order board: orders from web, app and counter in one place, from new to delivered.
- Items: bulk upload when you are ready to add the rest of the shop, weight-based and packaged products, and Catalog Studio to turn an existing product list into a clean catalogue you review first.
- Delivery: delivery zones and time slots by area, with charges you set, and store pickup. Vayu, Ordrio's own riders, delivers in selected Indian cities; Ordrio Ship handles couriers if you send orders further away.
- Payments and credit: UPI, cards, wallets and cash on delivery through your own gateway, payment links by SMS, WhatsApp or email, customer wallets and a credit wallet with a limit per customer. See payments.
- Counter billing: Kadal runs billing on the same products and stock as your app.
- Plans: the free plan includes your online store. Your customers get your own Android app from the Grow plan. See pricing.
What is not included or not stated. Ordrio gives you a store, not new shoppers: your customers come from your shop and your WhatsApp. Wallet and some delivery tools are add-ons, and which ones come with your plan depends on the plan. Vayu runs only in selected cities, with charges shared once your city is confirmed.
When Ordrio is not the right choice. If you get a few WhatsApp orders a week and handle them easily, an app may not be worth setting up yet. If nobody can deliver and Vayu does not cover your city, start with pickup only, or wait until you can.
You start on the free plan. Any paid plan costs ₹1 for the first 30 days.