Cash on delivery brings orders that would never come otherwise, and it brings fake orders: a wrong number, a prank, a shopper who orders from three sites and accepts one parcel. Each refused parcel costs you two trips and holds stock for days. This guide sets up Mercayo's tools against it, from the lightest to the strongest, so you can pick the mix that suits your store. Every setting is explained in full in Checkout and COD Settings.
Before You Start
- You need the right to change settings (the owner or an admin).
- Codes are sent as SMS (and WhatsApp, if set up). Each message is paid from your plan's monthly bundle, then your notification credits. Check your balance first.
Step 1: Ask for a Code on the Shopper's Phone
- Open Settings › Checkout and COD.
- In COD Confirmation Code, switch on Confirm COD Orders by Code.
- If your store's WhatsApp messages are set up, also switch on Codes by WhatsApp Too: shoppers may then choose WhatsApp instead of SMS.
- In the Checkout card, leave Mobile Code First on: the code is asked right under the mobile number, before the address, so a shopper who will not confirm stops early.
- Press SAVE.
What shoppers see: after typing their mobile number and choosing cash on delivery, they press SEND CODE, get a 6-digit code, and type it. The code works for 10 minutes with 5 tries; one number can ask for 3 codes in 15 minutes. Online payments never need a code.
Every COD order now comes from a phone the shopper really holds.
Step 2: Call Before You Ship (Optional)
For higher-value goods, add a human check:
- In Order Clean-up, switch on Staff Call to Confirm COD Orders.
- New COD orders are marked Unconfirmed. Each morning, open Orders and the unconfirmed COD orders (Home's Cash on delivery orders to confirm row opens them).
- Call each shopper. If they confirm, press MARK CONFIRMED on the order; then ship. If not, cancel it.
See Unconfirmed COD Orders. Where WhatsApp order messages are set up, a shopper's yes on WhatsApp can confirm the order too.
Step 3: Let Unconfirmed Orders Expire
- In Order Clean-up, switch on Cancel COD Orders Nobody Ships.
- Set Days Before They Are Cancelled (for example 3).
- Optionally switch on Tell the Shopper When an Order Expires.
Orders nobody confirmed or shipped in time are cancelled with the reason "Not confirmed in time"; their stock and coupon uses go back. An order staff marked confirmed is never cancelled this way.
Step 4: Cap What COD Can Carry
In Cash on Delivery, set Cash on Delivery Limit (for example ₹5,000): bigger bags must be paid online. Use PIN Code Rules in Shipping and Delivery to turn COD off for PIN codes where parcels keep coming back.
Step 5: Take Something Up Front
The strongest filter: Part Payment for COD makes COD shoppers pay a small part online (₹69 on small bags, 10% on larger ones, by default). A shopper who pays something rarely refuses the parcel, and if they do, the part paid covers your return trip. Needs Razorpay. See Partial COD.
Step 6: Watch the Results
- Analytics › Orders › By Payment shows how cash on delivery and prepaid orders ended up: delivered, cancelled, returned to origin. Compare the COD RTO share month on month.
- The Customers list's RTO-Prone segment and the RTO warning on a customer's page flag shoppers whose parcels keep coming back.
- Failed Deliveries shows parcels the courier could not deliver; answer them quickly to save a delivery. See Failed Deliveries (NDR).
A Sensible Mix by Store Type
| Store | Suggested Mix |
|---|---|
| Low price, many orders (phone cases, accessories) | Code + automatic clean-up after 3 days + a COD charge on small bags |
| Mid price (fashion, home) | Code + part payment with a 10% advance |
| High price (jewellery, electronics) | Code + staff call + COD limit, or online payment only above the limit |
Questions
Will a code lose me orders?
Some shoppers who were never going to accept the parcel stop at the code. That is the point. Shoppers with a real phone confirm in seconds.
The code does not reach some shoppers. What now?
See COD Codes Not Arriving: for example an empty credit balance once the plan's bundle is used, a mistyped number, or a WhatsApp code that could not be delivered (COD codes are not resent by SMS).
Can I require a code only for big orders?
Confirm COD Orders by Code asks on every COD order. To ask only risky orders, leave it off and set Ask for the Code in the RTO Shield card instead; a high order value adds to an order's risk score. Use the COD limit and part payment to treat big bags differently.