Cash on Delivery (COD) has long been the comfort blanket of ecommerce in India. Customers like it because they can see the product before paying. Brands tolerate it because it brings in orders from people who would otherwise abandon their carts. But behind the scenes, COD quietly eats into margins and makes scaling harder.
If you’ve been running a D2C ecommerce store, you’ve probably seen the numbers: COD might account for 60–80% of your orders, but a large chunk of those orders either get cancelled or returned. Every cancelled COD order means lost marketing spend, wasted delivery costs, and shrinking profitability.
In this guide, we’ll dig deep into why COD is so damaging, what you can realistically do to reduce its impact, and how modern tools like A/B Testing Platforms and personalization can help you increase conversion rate ecommerce sustainably.
COD orders have much higher return-to-origin rates compared to prepaid orders. Why? Because there’s no skin in the game for the customer. They can order impulsively, and if they change their mind, they simply refuse delivery. You, however, pay the cost of shipping forward and back, plus packaging and handling.
A ₹1,000 product shipped on COD with ₹100 logistics costs each way means you’re already ₹200 down if the customer refuses delivery. Multiply that by hundreds or thousands of orders, and RTOs become a silent killer of your P&L.
Ecommerce is a cash-flow-intensive business. Inventory, ad spend, warehousing, and payroll all need upfront money. With prepaid orders, the cash is almost immediate. With COD, it often takes 7–14 days for delivery partners to remit payments. That’s two weeks where money is stuck in limbo while bills keep piling up. For small D2C brands, this delay creates massive working capital strain.
COD is not just about cash collection. Delivery agents spend longer on each order—collecting money, giving change, or even making multiple attempts when the customer isn’t available. This increases your cost per delivery compared to prepaid. Reverse logistics (RTO) adds another layer of cost. For lower AOV (average order value) products, COD can quickly turn profitable orders into loss-making ones.
Prepaid buyers are often more serious, more satisfied, and more likely to buy again. COD buyers, on the other hand, may treat their first order as a “trial” that they can cancel if they change their mind. Over time, you’ll notice that prepaid customers generate higher lifetime value than COD customers. If COD dominates your customer base, you may be sacrificing long-term brand growth.
Imagine spending ₹500 on a Facebook ad to acquire a customer. They placed a COD order worth ₹1,500. You celebrate. But when the product is returned undelivered, you lose the sale and the ₹500 ad spend. Repeat this enough times, and you’ll see your performance marketing campaigns bleed money.
Understanding the psychology behind COD helps you address it effectively.
If COD is rooted in trust, convenience, and habit, the solution must tackle these head-on rather than simply removing COD as an option.
Instead of punishing COD buyers with higher charges, reward prepaid buyers with benefits. Even small nudges work.
For example, a D2C apparel brand ran an ab test with CustomFit.ai: in one version, prepaid buyers got free shipping, while in another, they got ₹75 off. The test showed free shipping increased prepaid adoption by 14%—a data-backed insight that paid for itself.
Sometimes COD isn’t really a preference—it’s just the path of least resistance. If your checkout makes COD the first option or looks more convenient, customers will click it automatically.
Practical steps:
This is where an A/B Testing Platform becomes invaluable. With CustomFit.ai, you can test checkout flows, button placements, and messaging to see what shifts customers towards prepaid. Instead of guessing, you know what actually improves adoption.
Trust is often the biggest barrier to prepaid adoption. Customers want reassurance that they won’t get scammed.
Ways to build trust:
CustomFit.ai allows you to segment first-time visitors and show them stronger reassurance cues, while loyal buyers might see rewards for prepaid. This balance builds trust while nudging behavior.
Not every COD order is risky. But some are. Orders from suspicious numbers, strange addresses, or unusual buying patterns can be flagged.
Steps you can take:
Even simple measures like calling to confirm a ₹5,000 COD order can save thousands in potential RTO costs.
One innovative middle ground is partial COD: customers pay a small deposit online and the rest on delivery.
For example, a furniture brand asked COD buyers to pay 10% upfront. This small commitment reduced cancellations by 35% while still giving customers the comfort of paying most of the amount on delivery.
Partial COD aligns trust with accountability, balancing customer hesitation with brand protection.
COD often thrives on lack of awareness. Many customers don’t know prepaid means faster delivery, or that it helps the brand keep costs low.
Ways to educate:
The best part? With personalization platforms like CustomFit.ai, you can show COD customers nudges designed just for them while showing prepaid buyers loyalty rewards.
Reducing COD is the long-term solution, but in the short run, you need to manage RTOs better.
By analyzing and tightening logistics, you’ll save significant costs even if COD persists.
Reducing COD isn’t about one magic bullet—it’s about continuous experimentation. That’s where A/B Testing plays a central role.
Imagine these ab test scenarios:
Each of these tests gives data about what nudges customers toward prepaid. Over time, the cumulative effect of these micro-optimizations can dramatically shift your payment mix.
CustomFit.ai simplifies this process for ecommerce brands. With its no-code editor, you can set up experiments in minutes, analyze results, and roll out winning variations. This helps increase conversion rate ecommerce while reducing COD dependency.
While COD seems like a problem, it’s also an opportunity. Customers choosing COD are telling you something: they want reassurance, trust, or convenience. Instead of fighting COD head-on, listen to what it signals.
By addressing these needs with trust signals, prepaid incentives, smoother checkout, and personalization, you can gradually shift customer behavior. COD doesn’t disappear overnight, but it becomes manageable and less damaging to your margins.
Q: Why do COD orders increase RTO?
A: Customers placing COD orders have no financial commitment, so they cancel more often. This leads to higher RTO rates compared to prepaid orders.
Q: How can I reduce COD without alienating customers?
A: Introduce gentle nudges: discounts for prepaid, default prepaid checkout, and trust-building elements. Don’t remove COD altogether—ease customers into prepaid.
Q: Can A/B Testing help reduce COD?
A: Yes. A/B Testing lets you experiment with payment placements, incentives, and trust signals to see what works. Platforms like CustomFit.ai help run these tests without coding.
Q: Does COD impact conversion rates?
A: COD might increase order placements but hurts actual conversions due to cancellations and RTOs. Reducing COD dependency helps increase conversion rate ecommerce by ensuring more orders convert into revenue.
Q: Should I block COD entirely?
A: Not at first. Blocking COD might lose genuine customers, especially in tier 2 and 3 cities. Instead, restrict COD where RTO is unusually high and nudge other customers towards prepaid.
COD has helped Indian ecommerce grow but now acts as a bottleneck for profitability. It ties up capital, inflates costs, and wastes marketing spend. But it doesn’t have to be the death of your margins.
By using a mix of incentives, trust-building, verification, partial COD, and smart A/B Testing, you can gradually reduce dependency on COD and build a healthier payment mix. Tools like CustomFit.ai make it practical, helping brands test, learn, and adapt without heavy tech dependence.
COD isn’t going away tomorrow, but with the right strategies, you can stop it from killing your margins and turn it into a manageable part of your ecommerce growth story.
.svg)
.svg)
.svg)
