How to Get Your First 100 Orders on a New Online Store

Launching an online store is exciting — and then the silence hits. The hardest orders you’ll ever get are the first hundred, because at the start nobody knows you exist and nobody has bought from you yet. But those first 100 orders are also the most important: they prove your idea works, they generate reviews and word of mouth, and they build the momentum everything else grows from. Here’s a practical, Pakistan-specific playbook for getting them.

Why the first 100 orders are the hardest

A brand-new store has no reviews, no reputation, and no traffic. A stranger who lands on it has every reason to hesitate: they don’t know if the products are real, if the site is safe, or if the order will ever arrive. That’s a lot of doubt to overcome for a business nobody has heard of. This is why the first sales are slow — you’re not just selling a product, you’re earning trust from scratch.

The goal in this phase isn’t to make big profits; it’s to break the trust barrier. Every early order gives you a review, a photo, a testimonial, or a referral that makes the next order easier to win. Think of the first 100 as the seeds you plant so the next 1,000 can grow. Approach them with that mindset and the slow start stops feeling discouraging.

1. Start with the people who already trust you

Your very first customers are almost always people who already know you — family, friends, colleagues, and your existing social contacts. They’re far more willing to take a chance on your new store because they trust you, not a faceless brand. Tell everyone you know, personally and clearly, what you’ve launched and why. A direct WhatsApp message or a heartfelt post announcing your store often outperforms any ad in the first weeks.

Don’t be shy about this — you’re not begging, you’re inviting people to support something you’ve built. Ask them not just to buy, but to share your store with anyone who might be interested, and to leave an honest review afterwards. Those first friendly orders and reviews are what make your store look alive and trustworthy to the strangers who arrive next.

2. Sell where your buyers already spend their time

In Pakistan, an enormous amount of buying starts on Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp. You don’t have to wait for people to discover your website — go to where they already are. Post your products consistently, show them in use, share behind-the-scenes content, and make it effortless for someone to ask a question or place an order. Social proof and visibility on these platforms feed directly into store sales.

The key is to use social media for discovery and your website for the actual, ownable transaction. Every time you turn a social follower into a customer on your own store, you gain a customer whose details and repeat business belong to you — not the platform. If you’re active on a marketplace like Daraz too, use it for reach but gently guide happy customers to buy directly next time.

3. Run small, tightly-targeted ads

Once your store is ready and you have a few reviews, a modest advertising budget can accelerate things. You don’t need lakhs — even a small daily budget on Facebook and Instagram, aimed at a specific, relevant audience, can bring in your first paying strangers. Start small, watch which products and audiences respond, and put more behind whatever works. The aim early on is to learn cheaply, not to scale.

Point your ads at your best product with your best photo and a clear, honest offer. Send clicks to a fast, mobile-friendly page — not a slow one that loses them in three seconds. Remember that a strong return on ad spend still needs healthy margins behind it, so keep an eye on what each order actually costs you versus what it’s worth.

4. Make the first purchase feel risk-free

The single biggest barrier for a new Pakistani store is trust, so remove as much perceived risk as you can. Offer Cash on Delivery so customers only pay when the parcel arrives — for many first-time buyers this is the deciding factor. Use clear, honest product photos, real descriptions, and a visible, fair returns policy. Show a real phone number or WhatsApp so people know a human is behind the store.

Reviews do the rest of the reassuring. Even a handful of genuine reviews from your first customers transforms how a stranger perceives your store. Make it easy and normal to leave one — a quick message after delivery asking how they found the product usually does it. A store that looks trusted gets its next order far more easily than one that looks brand new and empty. Our guide on reducing cart abandonment covers more ways to remove that last-moment hesitation.

5. Turn every order into more orders

The smartest way to reach 100 orders is to make each of your early customers bring you the next one. Delight them — a fast delivery, a small thank-you note in the parcel, a quick follow-up message — and they’ll happily recommend you. Word of mouth is the most powerful and trusted marketing in Pakistan, and it costs nothing. A genuinely great first experience is worth more than any ad.

Encourage it deliberately. Ask satisfied customers to share your store or tag you, offer a small discount for referrals, and repost the photos and messages customers send you. Each of these turns one order into visibility that reaches new buyers who trust their friend’s recommendation far more than they’d trust your advertising.

Keep the momentum going past 100

Once you’ve crossed the first 100 orders, the game shifts from proving your idea to building a repeatable engine. The single most valuable asset you now have is a list of real customers — people who already trust you and have bought before. Staying in touch with them through the occasional message, a new-product announcement, or a returning-customer offer is far cheaper than finding brand-new buyers, and it’s where a lot of your future profit will come from.

This is also the point where paid advertising and content start to pay off properly, because you now have reviews, proof, and data about what sells. Reinvest a share of your early profits into the channels that worked, double down on your best products, and keep the customer experience excellent. Momentum compounds: the reviews and referrals from your first hundred customers make the next few hundred meaningfully easier to win.

The bottom line

Your first 100 orders come from trust, not luck. Start with the people who already believe in you, meet buyers where they already are, remove every scrap of risk with Cash on Delivery and honest reviews, add small ads once you’re ready, and turn every happy customer into your next one. Keep the mindset that this stage is about momentum, not margins, and the numbers build faster than you’d expect. If you’re still setting things up, our full guide to starting an online store in Pakistan covers the foundations.

Frequently asked questions