COD is not going away; plan for it

Every so often, a founder decides Cash on Delivery is more trouble than it is worth and turns it off, expecting a small dip in orders and a large drop in headaches. What usually follows instead is a real drop in orders, because for a meaningful part of the Indian market, COD is not a preference among several equal options - it is the only way they buy from a brand they have not purchased from before.

Why COD persists

Online payment fraud stories travel fast in India, and for a first-time buyer looking at a small, unfamiliar brand's product, paying upfront to a stranger's UPI ID is a real ask, however trustworthy your brand actually is. Cash on Delivery removes that risk entirely from the customer's side - they only pay once the product is physically in their hands. For a new customer deciding whether to trust you at all, this single option can be the difference between buying and scrolling past.

This is closely related to the trust question we cover in what a website says before anyone buys - COD is, in effect, a trust mechanism, not just a payment method.

The real cost of COD, honestly stated

COD is not free of downside, and it is worth being clear-eyed about this rather than pretending otherwise. Some COD orders are refused at the doorstep, some go unanswered when the delivery person calls, and the cash itself takes longer to reach you than a UPI payment does. These are real costs, and any brand offering COD should plan for them rather than being surprised by them.

But the answer to a real cost is to manage it, not to eliminate the option and lose the customers who needed it. A blanket ban on COD does not just remove the risky orders - it removes many good ones too, from customers who simply prefer to pay this way and would have accepted the delivery without issue.

How to offer COD without it hurting you

• Confirm the order and address clearly before shipping, so there is no ambiguity about what the customer agreed to.
• For higher-value orders, consider a small upfront token payment via UPI to reduce the chance of refusal, while still letting the balance be paid on delivery.
• Keep a simple record of customers who have refused COD orders before, so you can require prepayment from them specifically rather than penalising every customer.
• Package well enough that a customer opening the box at the door feels reassured, not suspicious - first impressions matter even more when payment hasn't happened yet.

None of this requires special technology - it requires a system that records orders properly, which is much harder to do through a WhatsApp chat than through a proper store, a gap covered in WhatsApp orders are great, until they aren't.

UPI and COD are not in competition

It is tempting to think of UPI and COD as two different types of customers to choose between. In practice, the strongest small-brand setups offer both, and let the customer decide based on their own comfort at that moment. A returning customer who trusts you will often switch to UPI on their own, once the first order builds confidence - and this is one more reason the second sale matters more than the first, as covered in the repeat customer is the whole business.

What this means practically

If you are currently selling only through UPI screenshots in DMs or WhatsApp, you are likely losing a share of hesitant, first-time customers who would have bought if COD had been an option, without ever knowing you lost them - they simply moved on quietly. If you are avoiding COD because it has been mismanaged before, the fix is a better order system, not no COD at all.

A store that supports both UPI and Cash on Delivery, with a clear record of every order and address, lets you offer the flexibility Indian customers expect without the disorganisation that made COD painful in the past. Early access is worth a look if you want to set this up properly.