How to Start an Online Store in Serbia: Steps, Costs and Obligations

Short answer: to run an online store in Serbia you need a registered business (a sole proprietorship or a limited company), a website with clear terms of sale and your company details, at least one payment method (usually cash on delivery), a contract with a courier and a way to issue fiscal receipts. A professionally built custom store usually starts at €1,500, plus yearly hosting and domain costs.

Below we go through each step in order, the same way we do with clients launching their first store.

Step 1: A registered business and an accountant

Selling online is a regular business activity, so you need a registered business — a sole proprietorship (preduzetnik) or a limited company (d.o.o.). Which one suits you depends on expected turnover, the kind of goods and your plans for growth, and it is best decided together with an accountant.

Bring the accountant in from the start. They will tell you how to issue fiscal receipts for orders from the website, how cash-on-delivery sales are recorded and what the receipt in the parcel must contain. Retail sales over the internet in Serbia are generally subject to fiscalisation, so don't leave this part for last.

Step 2: What the store website must contain

Serbia's Electronic Commerce Act and Consumer Protection Act require buyers to know who they are dealing with and on what terms before they buy. In practice, the website should show:

• full company details: name, address, tax ID (PIB), registration number, email and phone,
• terms of sale: prices including VAT, delivery costs, delivery times and payment methods,
• the right of withdrawal: a buyer purchasing at a distance may withdraw from the contract within 14 days, and the site should offer a withdrawal form,
• the complaints procedure and who the buyer should contact,
• a privacy policy, since you collect the buyer's name, address and phone number.

Step 3: How customers will pay

In Serbia, cash on delivery is still the most common choice, especially for customers buying from you for the first time. Offer it from day one, and add other options as sales grow:

• Cash on delivery — the buyer pays the courier on delivery, and the courier transfers the money to your account.
• Payment cards — you need an e-commerce card acceptance agreement with a bank and a connection between your site and its payment system. The bank charges a fee per transaction.
• Bank transfer or IPS QR code — the buyer pays from their mobile banking app, and you ship once the money arrives.

Step 4: Delivery and returns

The largest couriers in Serbia, such as D Express, Post Express, BEX and AKS, offer dedicated contracts for online stores, with lower prices for higher volumes and regular cash-on-delivery payouts. Compare the price per parcel, how quickly they pay out and how they handle returns.

Decide in advance who pays for delivery and whether delivery is free above a certain amount. Show this on the product page and in the cart — a surprise at checkout is the most common reason people abandon a purchase.

Step 5: The platform — Shopify, WooCommerce or a custom store

There is no single right answer, only the one that fits your volume and the way you work:

• Shopify — a quick start and a stable platform, but with a monthly subscription and limits on local payments and customisation.
• WooCommerce (WordPress) — a wide choice of plugins and a cheaper start, but it needs regular updates and attention to speed and security.
• A custom store — the fastest and most flexible option, built around your products, payments and delivery, with a higher initial investment.

How much does an online store cost?

A professionally built custom store usually starts at €1,500. The price depends mostly on how many products need to be added, the number of payment and delivery options, filters and search, extra languages and integration with accounting or warehouse software. Our Shop Start package starts at €1,500 and Shop Pro at €2,800.

Beyond the build, plan for running costs: the domain (around €15–25 a year), hosting, bank fees for card payments, delivery per parcel and website maintenance. We wrote about website prices in more detail in “How Much Does a Website Cost”.

What sells: photos, descriptions and speed

Buyers can't touch the product, so the photos and the description do the selling. Good, bright photos from several angles, dimensions, materials and answers to the questions customers ask most often reduce returns and messages.

Speed matters just as much. Most purchases start on a phone, and a store that loads slowly loses customers before they see the product. Every product should have its own page with a clear name and description, so it can appear in Google search and in AI assistants' answers.

The most common mistakes at the start

• Launching without terms of sale and company details — buyers don't trust a store that doesn't say who is behind it.
• Hidden delivery costs that only appear in the cart.
• No cash on delivery in the first months.
• A long order form and mandatory registration before buying.
• Poor photos and descriptions copied from the supplier, the same as on dozens of other sites.

Conclusion

An online store is not just a website with a cart but a whole system: the business, fiscalisation, payments, delivery and clear terms. When these are settled before launch, the first order goes through without stress — for you and for the buyer.

If you are planning a store, tell us what you sell and how many products you have. Within 24 hours we send a free estimate, with a suggested platform, payment and delivery setup.