Iraq's digital payments market hit strong regional growth in 2025 and is growing 19.7% a year (Statista). The merchants winning right now have stores that work on a phone, in Arabic, with cash-on-delivery as a first-class option. We build those stores.
Stores scoped after discovery ZainCash + FastPay + COD + cards in one checkout. Delivered in 4-8 weeks.
Who builds e-commerce stores for Iraqi merchants?
Ijjad builds conversion-optimized e-commerce stores for Iraqi merchants in Baghdad, Erbil, and Basra. Ijjad ships stores scoped after discovery with cash-on-delivery, ZainCash, FastPay, and AsiaHawala integration, multi-currency plan, Arabic-first checkout, and governorate-level shipping — delivered in 4-8 weeks, backed by case studies of 200+ monthly orders for GCC clients.
Anonymised store results
Client names withheld under NDA. Every figure is verifiable through the linked anonymized case study.
Here's the reality: cash-on-delivery still dominates — most Iraqi merchants tell us 60–70% of orders close in cash at the door. ZainCash hit 1.2 million app downloads with 10,000+ agent outletsnationwide. FastPay, NassWallet, and NeoPay are catching up fast. Card payments via Q-Card and Mastercard local issuance are climbing, especially after the Central Bank's e-payment push. The merchants making real money are the ones whose checkout handles all of these in one flow, in Arabic, on a phone.
The Iraqi payment stack
Iraqi merchants don't pick one rail — they enable the ones their actual buyers use. Below is the working matrix we use to scope every store: what each rail is, when to enable it, and roughly how long the integration takes.
| Rail | Type | When to enable | Lead time | Ijjad ships it? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cash-on-Delivery (COD) | In-person cash | Every Iraqi store — 60-70% of orders still close in cash. Reconciliation dashboard + per-governorate routing. | Day 1 (built in) | Yes |
| ZainCash | Mobile wallet | Mass-market consumer stores, especially Baghdad + south. 1.2M+ app downloads, 10,000+ agent outlets nationwide. | 1-2 weeks (API onboarding) | Yes |
| FastPay | Mobile wallet | Growing among younger urban buyers in Erbil + Baghdad. Strong UX, growing merchant network. | 1-2 weeks | Yes |
| NassWallet / AsiaHawala | Mobile wallet | Adjacent reach in specific governorates. Lower volume; enable if your buyers ask for it. | 2-3 weeks | Yes |
| Q-Card / Mastercard local | Card | B2B, KRG retail, hospitality. Central Bank push has lifted card volume materially since 2024. | 2-4 weeks (gateway approval) | Yes |
| PayTabs / Stripe | International card | Cross-border buyers, diaspora, KRG hospitality. Useful for Erbil hotels and diaspora-facing brands. | 2-3 weeks | Yes |
Source mix: OsousTech Iraq mobile-payments report · Central Bank of Iraq e-payments push.
How Iraqi buyers actually pay
Iraq e-commerce scope
Pick the tier whose includes match your catalog scale and payment mix. Final scope is fixed in writing before the build starts.
New Iraqi merchants launching their first online store with COD + 1 wallet.
3-4 weeks
Mid-market retailers running heavy COD with governorate-level shipping.
4-6 weeks
Established retailers offering COD + ZainCash + FastPay + cards in one checkout.
5-8 weeks
Marketplaces, multi-vendor stores, B2B catalogs, distributor portals.
8-14 weeks
Every tier includes Arabic + English catalog, mobile-first checkout, foundational SEO, GA4 + e-commerce events, and 30 days post-launch monitoring. You own the codebase and the storefront data on day one.
How we launch Iraqi stores
COD reconciliation is built first. Wallets and cards added in parallel. Operational hand-over is the step most agencies skip — we don't.
We map your catalog scale, target governorates, courier setup, and payment expectations. If you already use a courier or wallet, we audit their APIs before quoting integration time.
Deliverable: Discovery doc + 24-hour proposal.
Product taxonomy, attributes, Arabic + English copy, photography brief, and SEO product schema. We don't copy-paste vendor descriptions — every product page is built to rank.
Deliverable: Catalog blueprint + content workflow.
Wire up COD reconciliation first (it's the default flow), then add ZainCash/FastPay/cards in parallel. Courier API integrations run alongside — manual fallback for couriers without APIs.
Deliverable: End-to-end checkout & shipping tested in staging.
Train your team on the dashboard: marking orders shipped, partial-pay splits, return-to-warehouse states, and daily settlement reports. This is where most Iraqi e-commerce projects quietly break — we don't leave it to documentation.
Deliverable: Hand-over session + recorded Loom walkthroughs.
DNS cutover, GA4 + e-commerce events, post-launch Search Console monitoring, daily WhatsApp for the first two weeks. Optional growth retainer stacks on top for ad spend management and SEO.
Deliverable: Live store + 30-day delta report.
Typical end-to-end timeline: 3-14 weeks depending on scope
From storefront design to payment, logistics, and post-launch growth.
Your website has 3 seconds to convince a visitor to stay. We design websites that make those seconds count - visually sharp, fast-loading, and built to turn visitors into customers across Jordan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and the GCC. Every design starts with research into your market, your competitors, and how your actual customers behave online. The result is a custom, mobile-first website that looks professional, loads fast, and converts visitors into leads.
Learn moreA pretty design means nothing if the code behind it is slow, fragile, or invisible to Google. So we build on React and Next.js — sites that load fast, rank well, and scale without rewriting half the codebase a year later. SEO-ready architecture from line one. Real API integrations (payment, CRM, ERP). A CMS your team can actually use without calling a developer. And 90+ Google PageSpeed on every build. That is the bar, not the goal.
Learn moreSaudi Arabia's e-commerce market hit strong regional growth in 2026 and Jordan's digital economy is growing at 16% annually. If you're not selling online, your competitors are capturing your customers. We build online stores that actually generate revenue.
Learn morePage 2 of Google is where websites go to be forgotten. We get your business on page 1 for the keywords your customers actually search - across Jordan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and the GCC.
Learn moreSaudi Arabia's app market is racing toward growing quickly through 2033 and mobile is the primary internet access point across the GCC. We build iOS and Android apps that your users will actually want to keep on their phones.
Learn more"Near me" searches have grown 500% in 5 years. When someone in Amman or Riyadh searches for your service, your Google Business Profile determines whether they call you or your competitor. We make sure they call you.
Learn moreHave an idea for an AI-powered product? We turn concepts into working MVPs in weeks, not months. From ChatGPT-integrated tools to custom AI workflows - we build the products that give your business a competitive edge in the age of artificial intelligence.
Learn moreNot ready for a full build? We create interactive AI prototypes that look and feel like the real thing - in days, not weeks. Perfect for investor pitches, user testing, and validating ideas before committing scope to development.
Learn moreWe've built stores for the GCC region and we know what makes Arab shoppers buy — and what makes them bounce.
Tell us about your store and we'll respond within 24 hours with an honest assessment and a tailored proposal.
Straight from clients
“Ijjad completely transformed our online presence. Our new website generates 3x more inquiries than the old one, and we finally rank on the first page of Google for our main keywords. The team understood our market and delivered exactly what we needed.”
“We needed a website and mobile app on a tight scope. Ijjad gave us enterprise-quality work at a scope that made sense for a startup. Karam personally oversaw every detail. Couldn't recommend them more.”
“Our online store went from barely making sales to processing 200+ orders per month after Ijjad rebuilt it. The storefront, Mada integration, and mobile experience are exactly what our customers wanted.”
“We launched our online catalog with cash-on-delivery and ZainCash in one checkout. The reconciliation dashboard alone saved us a person on the team. Orders are up materially since the rebuild, and the Arabic checkout actually feels native — not like a translated template.”
“Discovery on Monday, scoped proposal Tuesday morning, signed Wednesday. The trilingual MVP shipped on time and Sorani Kurdish was a first-class language from day one — not an afterthought. Our diaspora users in Frankfurt and Toronto stayed engaged because the page weight is small.”
“We needed governorate-level shipping rules, RFP-friendly service pages, and a site that loads fast on 4G in southern governorates. Ijjad delivered all three in five weeks. Their COD ops walk-through was the difference between launch and a half-built dashboard.”
Further reading
Expert comparison of the best e-commerce development companies in Saudi Arabia for 2026. Shopify, WooCommerce, custom builds, Mada/STC Pay integration, and scope compared.
Read the guide→Honest comparison of headless commerce platforms for Saudi retailers - Shopify Plus, Saleor, Medusa, custom Next.js, Salla, and more. Mada/STC Pay/ZATCA support, scope, and which platform fits Riyadh vs Jeddah retail.
Read the guide→Saudi Arabia's e-commerce market is still growing in 2026. Get a concrete growth roadmap, channel comparison, and quick wins for growing your business online in KSA and Jordan.
Read the guide→Expert comparison of the best e-commerce development companies in Saudi Arabia for 2026. Shopify, WooCommerce, custom builds, Mada/STC Pay integration, and scope compared.
Read Article Case StudyHow Ijjad rebuilt a Jeddah e-commerce store that went from near-zero sales to 200+ monthly orders. Mada integration, mobile-first UX, 340% conversion rate increase.
Read ArticleFree consultation — no obligations, just an honest conversation about your store.