What does an online shop in Morocco need?

Selling online in Morocco takes more than putting photos on a website. Before the first order, an online shop has to answer three questions: how the customer pays, how the parcel arrives, and what the law asks of the seller.

This guide is for Moroccan retailers, craftspeople and brands who already sell on Instagram or WhatsApp and wonder whether it is time for a proper online store. It takes those questions in the order they get decided, then goes through the pages the shop needs.

Social media or an online store: do you have to choose?

Social media is a good place to test a product. It shows quickly whether an offer interests people, with no technical investment. The limit shows up as orders grow: the catalogue gets lost in the feed, every sale runs through a private conversation, prices and stock are repeated by hand, and the relationship with the customer stays with the platform.

An online store solves those points. The customer browses the whole catalogue, sees the price, live stock and delivery time, then orders without waiting for a reply. Each product page can also appear on Google, which a post cannot.

In practice the two work together: social media draws attention, the site takes the order. The move makes sense on the day the time spent answering messages starts costing you revenue.

Which payment methods should you offer?

Three payment methods are on the table, and each one changes how you work.

Card payment. In Morocco, taking card payments on a website goes through the CMI, the Centre Monétique Interbancaire, which offers an online payment platform for merchant websites. It accepts Visa, MasterCard and CMI cards, with 3D Secure authentication.

The merchant gets access by signing an affiliation contract through one of the CMI’s partner banks, and the file includes a merchant questionnaire, a guarantee deposit and a standing debit order. Start this early: the site can be ready before the payment is.

Cash on delivery. It reassures a buyer who is discovering your shop, but it moves the risk to you: refused parcels, cash to collect from the courier, returns to handle. If you offer it, decide from the start who collects the money, how soon it reaches you, and what happens to a refused parcel.

Bank transfer. It suits large orders and business customers, less so everyday online purchases, because the order waits for the funds to arrive.

Whatever mix you choose, show the payment methods before the basket. A customer who finds out on the last screen that their payment method is not accepted has every reason to leave.

How should you organise delivery?

Delivery is the part of the customer experience the site does not control, but it has to state it accurately. Before going live, settle four points:

  1. Zones and times. Do you deliver across Morocco or to a few cities? Give a time per zone rather than one promise for everywhere.
  2. Fees. The customer should know the delivery price before paying, not on the final summary.
  3. Tracking. A tracking number sent by email or WhatsApp answers “where is my order?” before anyone asks.
  4. Returns. Who pays for the return, what condition the product must come back in, and how quickly you refund. These rules get their own page, reachable from every product page.

Carrier, independent courier or your own team: the choice depends on volume. What matters for the site is that the times and fees it shows match what the delivery really achieves.

Two laws protect Moroccan consumers and frame most of an online sale.

Law 31-08 on consumer protection. Its chapter on distance contracts (articles 25 to 44) applies to anyone who offers a product or service to consumers by electronic means. Under article 29, the offer must state, among other things, the main characteristics of the product, your identity and contact details, delivery times and fees, payment terms, how long the offer and price remain valid, and the existence of the right of withdrawal.

That right is central. Article 36 gives the consumer seven days to withdraw from the date the goods are received, without giving a reason or paying a penalty, apart from return costs where they apply. The period becomes thirty days if you did not confirm in writing the information the law requires.

When a customer withdraws, article 37 requires you to refund the full amount paid within fifteen days at the latest. Article 38 sets out exceptions, for example goods made to the customer’s specifications or clearly personalised, and goods that deteriorate or expire quickly.

Law 09-08 on personal data. A shop collects names, phone numbers and addresses. The CNDP, Morocco’s personal data protection authority, states that all processing must be declared to it beforehand, except processing the law excludes.

Its guidelines for websites ask sites to obtain visitors’ consent, with boxes that are not ticked in advance, to get their agreement before setting cookies, and to tell them about their rights of access, rectification and objection.

These obligations show up in the site itself: clear terms of sale, a privacy page, forms that ask for consent, and a confirmation email that repeats the order details. For your specific case, have a lawyer review your terms of sale before launch.

Which pages does an online shop need?

  • Complete product pages: sharp photos, price, availability, sizes or dimensions, delivery time.
  • A basket and a short checkout, with no forced account creation.
  • A delivery and returns page covering your times, fees and withdrawal procedure.
  • Terms of sale and a privacy policy.
  • A contact page with phone, WhatsApp and email.
  • A frequently asked questions page, built from what your customers actually ask.

If your customers read Arabic as well as French, the shop has to work in both languages, including the basket, confirmation emails and error messages. We cover what that involves in our article on a site in French and Arabic.

How much does an e-commerce website cost in Morocco?

The budget depends mostly on the number of templates, online payment, languages, and integrations with your stock, invoicing or delivery. An online store takes more work than a brochure site, because it takes money and has to stay reliable at every step of the order. The variables behind the price are set out in our guide on how much a website costs in Morocco.

Where to start with your online store project?

Before asking for a quote for your e-commerce project, prepare four things: your product list with prices and photos, the payment methods you want to offer, your delivery zones, and your customers’ languages. With those in hand, setting up a shop gets planned instead of improvised.

We handle web development in Morocco, from brochure sites to online stores. You can tell us about your project and we will talk it through from your actual catalogue.