# Confirm every COD order before it ships > Every cash on delivery order that comes back costs you shipping both ways and keeps stock stuck in transit. Call or message each COD order from your own website before it ships, confirm the product and address, and call again the day a delivery fails. Fewer parcels return, and buyers who changed their mind cancel before you pay to ship. - Page: https://www.brandbakery.tech/industries/online-sellers/cod-confirmation - Last updated: 2026-10-21 Breadcrumb: [Home](https://www.brandbakery.tech/) > [Industries](https://www.brandbakery.tech/industries) > [Online sellers](https://www.brandbakery.tech/industries/online-sellers) > COD order confirmation ## Where COD orders turn into returns Look at last month's returned parcels and the reason the courier gave. Most fall into a handful of patterns you can catch before or during delivery. - **The midnight impulse order.** A shopper orders on cash on delivery late at night, then forgets or changes their mind. You find out when the parcel comes back. Fix: A confirmation call or WhatsApp within the hour, so a cancellation happens before you ship. - **The address without a landmark.** The pin code is wrong or the address is half a line. The courier tries once and marks it undeliverable. Fix: Address, landmark and pin code checked on the confirmation call and corrected in the order. - **The failed delivery attempt.** The customer was out, or the phone was switched off. The parcel waits a day or two, then starts its journey back. Fix: A call the same day the courier marks it failed, with a new delivery date passed to the courier. - **The wrong size.** The customer refuses the parcel at the door because the size is wrong. You pay for both journeys. Fix: Size and variant read back on the confirmation call, and an exchange offered instead of a refusal. - **The fake or test order.** Some COD orders were never meant to be received. They cost the same to ship. Fix: Orders nobody confirms are held for your team to decide, not shipped by default. ## What returned COD parcels cost a month Take last month's COD orders from your own website and count how many came back. - **COD orders a month:** 3,000 - **Returned to origin:** 600 - **Shipping both ways per return:** ₹120 - **Returns caught by confirmation:** 1 in 4 Catching 150 of those returns saves about ₹18,000 a month in shipping alone, before packaging, damaged stock and the cash locked up in parcels on the road. These are example numbers, not figures from any brand. Your courier dashboard shows the first three. ## A routine for every COD order Write the rules once: when to confirm, what to check, and what to do when nobody answers. - Confirm each COD order within an hour, by call or WhatsApp, in the customer's language - Read back the product, size and amount, and check the address, landmark and pin code - If you choose, offer a prepaid link with the incentive you set; never pressure - Hold orders nobody confirms after two tries, for your team to decide - Call the same day a delivery attempt fails, and pass the new date to the courier - Offer an exchange when the problem is size or colour, before the parcel is refused ## Ways to confirm COD orders Many brands start with the first two. The gap is the customers who do not respond to a robot or a template. - **An IVR "press 1 to confirm" call.** Fixes: Cheap and automatic. Falls short: Many customers hang up. It cannot fix an address or offer an exchange. - **A WhatsApp confirmation template.** Fixes: Fast, and customers can reply in their own time. Falls short: Many never reply, and a template cannot ask about a landmark. - **Your shipping platform's failed-delivery tools.** Fixes: Re-attempts and status in one place. Falls short: Someone still has to call the customer and agree a new date. - **An in-house calling team.** Fixes: People who can talk a customer through it. Falls short: Salaries, office hours only, and sale-week volumes overwhelm them. - **An AI calling agent.** Fixes: Confirms every COD order by call and WhatsApp, fixes addresses, calls on failed deliveries and offers exchanges you allow. Falls short: Does not decide refunds or disputes. Those go to your team. ₹50,000 setup, then ₹22,500 a month. ## Questions ### What is RTO in e-commerce? RTO means return to origin: a parcel that could not be delivered, or was refused, and travels back to you. You usually pay shipping both ways, and the stock is stuck in transit until it returns. ### Does a confirmation call reduce RTO? It catches the returns that start before dispatch: wrong addresses, wrong sizes and orders the customer no longer wants. It cannot stop every refusal at the door, so measure your own RTO for a month before and after. ### Can it convert COD orders to prepaid? If you want it to, it can offer a payment link with the incentive you set. It never pressures the customer, and a customer who prefers cash on delivery keeps it. ### Does it work with my store and courier? It works from the order and delivery notifications your store and shipping platform already send. We confirm each one on the call before anything is built. ### What does COD confirmation calling cost? ₹50,000 to set up, then ₹22,500 a month. If you only need incoming calls answered, the AI Receptionist is ₹10,000 a month after a ₹30,000 setup, with 1,000 minutes, then ₹9 a minute. ## Start Bring last month's COD order count and how many returned. Abhishek maps the confirmation routine with you on a 20-minute call and quotes it in writing. Request a callback at https://www.brandbakery.tech/contact?service=ai-employees. --- Brand Bakery is a design-first digital studio in New Delhi. Start an enquiry at https://www.brandbakery.tech/contact or email support@brandbakery.tech. This is the Markdown copy of https://www.brandbakery.tech/industries/online-sellers/cod-confirmation; the site index for language models is https://www.brandbakery.tech/llms.txt.