A cash on delivery checklist that saves you money
· The Stores. team
Cash on delivery is how most of your customers want to pay. It is also where most of the money leaks out of an online store: a refused parcel means you paid to ship it out and to ship it back, and the stock was tied up on the road. These seven habits keep more of that money in your business.
1. Confirm before you ship
Ask every cash on delivery customer to confirm their order before it leaves. On Stores. this is a WhatsApp message with Confirm and Cancel buttons; unconfirmed orders wait instead of going out. Turn it on in Settings → Risk and COD rules.
2. Get the address right at checkout
A clear city, area and nearby landmark make deliveries succeed. Ask for them as separate fields rather than one long line, and check the phone number’s format before the order is placed.
3. Hold the risky ones
Some orders deserve a second look: a large first order, a city you don’t usually ship to, a number that refused before. Set rules in Settings → Risk and COD rules to flag or hold them.
4. Block repeat refusers
If the same number keeps refusing parcels, stop it at checkout. Blocklists take phone numbers, e-mails and IP addresses.
5. Give a reason to pay in advance
A small discount for paying online or by bank transfer moves some customers away from cash on delivery — and those orders are never refused at the door. In Marketing → Discounts, create an automatic prepaid discount.
6. Track every return
Mark parcels that come back as returned-to-origin. Over a few weeks you’ll see which cities, products and couriers cause most returns, and adjust.
7. Reconcile courier payouts
Couriers collect your cash and pay it out later. Match each payout against your delivered orders in Orders → COD remittances so nothing goes missing.
None of these needs a developer or an app. If you’re setting up a new store, the help center walks through each step.