Why Havana businesses are investing in custom e-commerce platforms
Havana is a capital and largest city of cuba, with a population of roughly 2.1 million, and one of the markets in Cuba where we build custom e-commerce platforms.
The local economy is driven by tourism, services, light manufacturing, trade and biotech, and commercial activity concentrates around Vedado, Miramar and Old Havana.
Logistics are supported by José Martí International Airport and the Mariel Special Development Zone, which matters when you promise customers fast delivery.
Cuba’s private shops and MSMEs sell through Revolico, Telegram and WhatsApp, and local wallets like Transfermóvil handle payments. US sanctions block many international card and software services, so stores need local payment and delivery.
Shoppers and trade buyers in Havana already compare options on their phones; a custom e-commerce platform that loads fast, shows accurate stock and accepts Transfermóvil and EnZona (domestic mobile payments) turns that research into orders.
What makes a Havana store feel local
Conversion in Havana depends on small local signals — the right currency, the right words and the right payment and courier names.
Currency and pricing
Everything a Havana shopper sees — price, tax, delivery fee, refund — is in CUP, written the local way.
Language and content
Content can be produced in Spanish and English, so a Havana customer reads the store in the language they use at home.
Local trust signals
We add the payment logos, courier names and policy pages shoppers in Havana recognise: Transfermóvil and EnZona (domestic mobile payments) and domestic bank cards and delivery through Correos de Cuba.
Domain, phone and contact
Using .cu where it suits you signals a local business to shoppers and search engines. Contact buttons are pre-set with +53, so a customer in Havana taps once to call or message.
Talent and partners nearby
With University of Havana and CUJAE (Technological University) close by, finding people to manage catalogues, content and support after launch is realistic in Havana.
A custom e-commerce platform built around your Havana business
Whatever your business sells in Havana, N&T Software designs and develops the custom e-commerce platform and the matching mobile app exactly to your requirements — your catalogue, your prices, your payment and delivery rules.
In Havana we typically work with enterprises with complex catalogues, multi-brand groups, businesses outgrowing SaaS platforms and companies migrating legacy stores, and with sellers in categories such as food, electronics, fashion and home goods that have strong online demand in Cuba.
Before any commitment you get a free requirements meeting, a demo built on your use case and a proposal priced to your budget.
Core modules we build for Havana clients
Each module below is configured — or custom-developed — to your requirements. You choose what launches first and what follows in later phases.
Custom workflows
Product configurators, made-to-order flows, approvals, contracts and industry-specific rules. Couriers such as Correos de Cuba, DHL and TuEnvio delivery plug in alongside your own fleet for Havana orders.
Headless architecture
API-first commerce with a fast front end, so web, app, kiosk and marketplace channels share one backend. Inventory can sit in Havana, in a partner warehouse or across Cuba, with click-and-collect where customers want it.
Multi-entity operations
Multiple brands, companies, warehouses, currencies and tax registrations on one platform. Revenue reports by product, repeat buyer and delivery area of Havana guide stock and marketing decisions.
Deep integrations
ERP, PIM, WMS, CRM, POS, accounting and legacy systems with reliable, monitored data sync. Pages, search filters and wording are tuned to how people in Havana look for products, in Spanish and English if your audience needs it.
Migration
Move from older platforms with product, customer and order history, SEO-safe redirects and parallel runs. Bulk import and sync tools mean the Havana team never re-keys stock, prices or descriptions by hand.
Performance and security
Caching, CDN, load testing, security hardening, audit logs and cloud infrastructure as code. Customers in Havana can pay with Transfermóvil and EnZona (domestic mobile payments), domestic bank cards and cash on delivery, with receipts and refunds handled in the same admin.
Industries in Havana we work with
Popular online categories in Cuba include food, electronics, fashion, home goods, crafts and cigars and building materials. Local demand in Havana is shaped by tourism, services, light manufacturing, trade and biotech, so we often design catalogues and B2B ordering around those sectors. In Havana, we most often build custom e-commerce platforms for:
Enterprises with complex catalogues
For enterprises with complex catalogues, we usually start with headless architecture, then add SAP, Oracle, Microsoft Dynamics and Odoo ERPs once orders are flowing.
Multi-brand groups
Catalogue, pricing and fulfilment rules designed for multi-brand groups in Havana, connected to the systems you already use.
Businesses outgrowing SaaS platforms
Businesses outgrowing SaaS platforms get multi-entity operations plus migration workflows tailored to their operations.
Companies migrating legacy stores
We map how companies migrating legacy stores sell today and digitise it end to end — from enquiry and order to payment, dispatch and repeat purchase.
Regulated sectors
For regulated sectors, we usually start with performance and security, then add search engines (Elasticsearch, Algolia) once orders are flowing.
High-traffic retailers
Catalogue, pricing and fulfilment rules designed for high-traffic retailers in Havana, connected to the systems you already use.
Payments customers in Havana expect
Checkout is where most online sales are won or lost. In Cuba, customers expect to pay with Transfermóvil and EnZona (domestic mobile payments), domestic bank cards and cash on delivery, and many also look for foreign-currency bank cards (MLC cards) and remittance transfers.
We integrate suitable gateways and providers for your business category and merchant eligibility, handle payment status, failed-payment retries and refunds, and keep sensitive card data with the provider rather than on your servers. All amounts are shown in Cuban peso (CUP).
For Havana customers ordering from Vedado, Miramar and Old Havana, cash-on-delivery and pay-on-pickup rules can be set per delivery zone.
- Foreign-currency bank cards (MLC cards)
- Transfermóvil and EnZona (domestic mobile payments)
- Domestic bank cards
- Remittance transfers
- Cash on delivery
Shipping, couriers and local delivery in Havana
Your custom e-commerce platform can book shipments and share tracking with Correos de Cuba, DHL, TuEnvio delivery, local courier and taxi services and in-city motorbike couriers, or route orders to your own riders and stores across Havana.
We set up shipping zones, cut-off times, free-shipping thresholds, cash-collection rules and returns so the promise on the product page matches what your team can deliver.
Connectivity in the area — José Martí International Airport and the Mariel Special Development Zone — makes regional and national dispatch from Havana practical.
Owning your channel in Cuba
Revolico, TuEnvio and Katapulk are where many shoppers in Havana start, which is why sellers list there. The trade-off is commission, limited branding and rules the platform can change overnight.
With your own custom e-commerce platform you keep the customer data, set the offers and the packaging, and still push stock to marketplaces from a single admin.
Tax, invoicing and compliance in Cuba
For Havana sellers, tax first: Cuba levies sales tax, a tax on personal income and customs duties; self-employed businesses (TCP) and MSMEs have their own tax rules.
Two frameworks shape the build: Law 149/2022 on the Protection of Personal Data and the national cybersecurity framework, and Decree-Law 14/2021 on consumer protection and the e-commerce regulations.
Our job is the engineering: price display with tax, invoice numbering, cookie and marketing consent, return and terms pages, role-based access and logs. Legal and tax conclusions stay with your own adviser in Cuba.
Android and iOS apps for your Havana business
Because the platform is API-first, customer, staff and partner mobile apps can be added at any point without rebuilding the backend.
Apps are published under your own developer accounts and share the same backend as your custom e-commerce platform, so offers, stock and orders are always consistent between web and mobile.
Order alerts, offers and abandoned-cart reminders go out on Havana time (UTC−4), in Spanish and English if you want.
- PIM and DAM
- POS and store systems
- BI and data warehouses
- Identity and SSO
- WMS and 3PL systems
- Cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP)
- Search engines (Elasticsearch, Algolia)
- SAP, Oracle, Microsoft Dynamics and Odoo ERPs
Integrations above are examples; we connect any system that offers a suitable API, database access or approved import and export process.
Launch roadmap and success metrics
Value first, depth later. For a custom e-commerce platform serving Havana, the usual sequence looks like this:
| Phase | What goes live |
|---|---|
| Foundation | Architecture, core commerce, priority integrations and migration. Configured for CUP, Transfermóvil and EnZona (domestic mobile payments) and Correos de Cuba from the start. |
| Differentiate | Custom workflows, configurators and automation. |
| Optimise | Performance, new channels, apps and continuous enhancement. Reviewed against how Havana customers actually buy. |
We track page load and API response times, uptime, order-sync accuracy, manual-work hours saved, release frequency and total cost of ownership on a live dashboard from day one, so Havana results are visible, not promised.
Working with our team from Havana
Our team covers UTC−4 — 9h 30m behind India (IST) — through three 8-hour shifts, so a Havana client always reaches someone during the local working day.
Project communication is in English; storefront content can be produced in Spanish. You get a named lead, direct engineer access and an NDA if you ask.
Our head office is in Chhapi, Gujarat, with an office in Hyderabad and representation in Nigeria, South Africa, Ethiopia and Zambia; Havana clients are served remotely with on-site workshops when the project needs them.
