Uh oh! Your customer just left your cart without buying anything because you don't accept the payment method they prefer: cash on delivery. That's it. You're lost to them forever.
And another customer too!
If you are a merchant selling online, then you know how important it is to offer COD payment options in your store.
It's one of the reasons why many customers prefer buying from their favorite stores over other ones. According to research, 50% of shoppers would rather leave their carts behind and search for a store that accepts their preferred form of payment. That's like saying goodbye to half of your potential sales and profits!
So, if you are missing out on this opportunity to capture more sales and increase your profit margins, then here's what you need to know about accepting COD payments.
Let’s make more money for your store!
What is COD Order?
COD or cash on delivery is a payment method in which the customer pays for their order when it’s delivered. In other words, you don’t receive the payment for your order until it is delivered to the customer. This method is popular in countries where people prefer to pay cash on delivery instead of using credit cards or other online payment methods.
When you ask for a payment, your customers be like,
From the customer's perspective, it is a very convenient way to pay because they don’t have to worry about paying for the order in advance and they will be guaranteed that the product will be delivered.
An example of Shopify COD will be when a customer places an order and pays for it when the courier arrives to deliver the product.
This payment method can be a convenient option for customers who prefer to pay for their purchases in cash, or for customers who are unsure about making online payments. It can also increase customer trust and reduce the risk of fraud associated with online payments.
How to Implement COD on Shopify?
Enabling this feature on Shopify is very easy. You just need to go to the settings page in your store and enable it under Payment options.
Let's see a step-by-step guide on how you can enable COD on Shopify.
Step 1: Log in to your Shopify store and click the settings button at the bottom left corner of your screen.
Step 2: Once you are on the settings page, click on Payments.
Step 3: Under Manual Payment methods, click on Cash on delivery.
Step 4: Enable this feature by clicking on the option "Cash on delivery." You can even add the terms and conditions of COD to your store.
Step 5: Once you've done that, your customers will be able to purchase items with cash only and pick them up from your store at a later date.
On the other hand, if you want to offer free shipping for orders above $100 or want to set standard shipping charges, follow this method,
- Go to Settings, then navigate to the Shipping section.
- Here, create a new shipping rate by naming it "COD + Standard." Set the maximum value to $1.99 and the minimum value to $0.1. The price should be set to $1.75. After making these changes, be sure to save and return to the Shipping menu.
- Create another shipping rate titled "Free + COD." Set the minimum value to $100 and leave the maximum value blank. Keep the price at $1.75, then save the changes.
- Next, go to the Payments section and select Manual Payments. Enable the Cash On Delivery option as mentioned above.
With these changes, customers shopping from your store will see two options in the shipping method section: "COD + Standard" for orders with a value less than $100, and "Free + COD" for orders above $100.
How to change COD to pre-paid orders?
Though the COD option seems a better option for your customers, it does have some negative impacts like RTO losses for your store. For example, if a customer changes their mind before getting their order and refuses to get the order, you will have to pay the courier company. Especially, RTO losses are huge only with the COD orders.
To reduce these losses, you have to convert your COD to prepaid orders. But how?
With the help of BiteSpeed. It helps you convert your COD to prepaid orders with a single tap. It allows you to send a special offer to customers who have made COD orders, offering them an incentive to pay in advance for their next order—which you can then ship immediately.
By offering some incentive, you can convert most of your COD orders to prepaid. After all who else will refuse such a decent deal?
Even if they didn't convert, don't worry. You can send continuous tracking updates to your users to let them know that their order has been delivered and is on its way. This will keep them engaged with your brand and make them more likely to purchase from you again in the future. And the best thing? Everything is automated and there's no need for you to make any manual efforts.
We also have something better to fill your pocket. That's upselling. With their order confirmation, you can knock on their WhatsApp chat with the order confirmation message and the upsell/cross-sell offer. As they are in the purchasing mode, you can offer them some related products. This will help you to increase your sales, as well as customer lifetime value.
Is that all we have got for your store? Not at all. We have a variety of strategies that are proven to boost your conversion rate. But we will reveal them only in our demo call, up for a demo call?
