Most small shops I talk to in Sri Lanka don't need an "app". They need three boring things to work: customers can find them, customers can order without a phone call that gets missed, and the owner knows what sold and what's left at the end of the day.

You can get all three without a big upfront bill. Here's the order I'd do it in, with free options first.

Disclosure: I build two of the tools mentioned below (goko.lk and webdev.lk) with my team at KDJ Lanka. I've listed other options next to them, and every step works without my tools.

Step 1: Be findable on Google (free, about 30 minutes)

Before a website, before anything, claim your Google Business Profile. Google says it plainly: "creating a Business Profile and listing your business on Google is free."

What to fill in properly:

  • Exact name and category. "Perera Hardware, Kirillawala", not "Best Shop".
  • Opening hours, including poya days and holidays. Wrong hours lose trust fast.
  • Photos: shop front (so people recognise it), inside, your top products.
  • Phone number that someone actually answers, or your WhatsApp number.
  • Products or services with rough prices, if you're comfortable sharing them.

Then ask your regular customers for a review. Don't buy reviews and don't write fake ones. A few honest ones are worth more.

Step 2: Take orders on WhatsApp, the proper way

Your customers are already on WhatsApp. The mistake is running a business from a personal account where orders get buried between family chats.

The WhatsApp Business app is built for this. From Meta's own product page, it gives you:

  • a business profile with your details in one place,
  • a way to showcase your products and set prices so customers can browse before asking,
  • greeting and away messages so people get a reply even when you're busy at the counter.

A simple routine that works:

  1. Add your top 10–20 items first, not all 500, with prices if you can.
  2. Set an away message with your hours and "we'll confirm your order by [time]".
  3. Keep a simple list or a notebook for New order → Confirmed → Ready → Paid.
  4. Pin a short message: what areas you deliver to and how payment works.

If a customer pays by bank transfer, check the money in your bank app before you hand over goods. Never trust a screenshot alone. Payment fraud in Sri Lanka is growing, and fake slips are the easy version.

Step 3: Stop guessing your stock: get a simple POS

This is where most shops lose money quietly: an item runs out and nobody notices, or credit customers ("naya") pile up in a book that only one person can read.

You have three realistic options:

Option Upfront cost Good for Watch out for
A notebook or spreadsheet Rs. 0 Very small shops, a few dozen items Easy to skip a day; no live stock count
One-time licence POS software Goko's own pricing guide lists Rs. 27,900–89,000 for typical licences Shops that want to own a licence Updates, backups and support terms vary; ask before you pay
Cloud POS with a free plan Rs. 0 to start Shops that want to try before paying Needs internet; check what the free plan limits are

The cloud option I build is goko.lk. Its free plan covers real billing, stock and customer records at Rs. 0, with no credit card and no trial countdown. The Pro plan adds things like a custom domain and 24/7 email support. Whatever you pick, look for these four things:

  • Low-stock alerts, so you reorder before you run out.
  • Daily sales report you can read in one minute.
  • Customer / credit records that are not in one person's head.
  • Staff permissions, so not everyone can delete bills or give discounts.

Start by entering only your fast-moving items. You can add the rest over a month.

Step 4: A small website, only when you're ready

You don't need a website on day one. Google Business Profile plus WhatsApp covers most of what a small shop needs. A website starts to make sense when you want:

  • a page you fully control (Facebook pages can get hacked or restricted),
  • a price list or menu you can update in minutes,
  • something professional to share with suppliers, banks or bigger customers.

Your options range from free builders where you drag and drop sections yourself, to a freelancer or agency, to AI builders.

Full disclosure again: my team built WebDev LK for this. You describe your business out loud in Sinhala, Tamil or English, and it builds and publishes a site to a free yourname.webdev.lk address with SSL. The free plan allows 5 AI changes a day, and Pro is LKR 1,000/month or LKR 5,000/year if you want a custom domain. Whatever tool you use, keep it simple: one page with what you sell, where you are, your hours, and a WhatsApp button.

A one-week plan

Day Task Time
Mon Claim and fill your Google Business Profile 30 min
Tue Install WhatsApp Business, set profile, greeting and away messages 30 min
Wed Add your top 10–20 products in WhatsApp Business 1 hour
Thu Pick a POS option; enter your fast-moving items 1–2 hours
Fri Ask 5 regular customers for a Google review 10 min
Sat Check your first week's sales report; note what ran out 20 min
Sun Decide if you need a website yet (often: not yet) 10 min

The honest bottom line

Going digital isn't about buying the most features. It's about not losing customers you already have: the ones who couldn't find your hours, whose WhatsApp order got buried, or who left because the item they wanted had quietly run out.

Do steps 1 and 2 this week. They cost nothing. Add a POS when counting stock starts eating your evenings.

If you run a small shop in Sri Lanka, what's the one thing that wastes the most of your time right now? Tell me in the comments.

— KD Jayakody