Enabling COD in Shopify
Shopify treats cash on delivery as a manual payment method. In your admin go to Settings, then Payments, scroll to Manual payment methods and add Cash on Delivery. Give it a customer-facing name and instructions, since the text you write appears at checkout and on the order confirmation.
Shopify will now accept COD orders for every address and every product, which is rarely what you want. Pincode restrictions, order-value caps and per-product COD toggles need an app from the Shopify App Store or a checkout customisation on Shopify Plus. A sensible starting rule for most Indian stores is COD allowed below a fixed order value and only on pincodes where your couriers offer it.
What COD actually costs
Couriers charge a COD handling fee on top of freight, usually the higher of a flat amount or a percentage of the order value. On a typical fashion order that is a noticeable slice of margin, and it is charged whether or not the parcel is delivered. Shopify itself does not add a COD surcharge at checkout, so if you want the customer to share the cost you need a COD-fee app or a prepaid discount.
The bigger cost is RTO. COD orders are refused or unreachable far more often than prepaid ones, and on a return-to-origin you pay forward freight, return freight and the COD fee for nothing. Use the COD charges calculator to see the true per-order number for your average order value.
- COD fee: flat amount or percentage, whichever is higher
- Paid on every attempt, including RTO
- No native Shopify COD surcharge; use an app or a prepaid discount
Shipping COD orders through RouteOneX
Once the RouteOneX app is connected, COD orders arrive tagged as COD with the collectable amount already set. Seven of the eight couriers on the platform collect cash, and the rate comparison shows each courier's COD fee alongside freight so you choose on the all-in cost, not the headline rate.
Before shipping, treat COD orders with a bit more suspicion than prepaid ones. Confirm orders from first-time customers with unusual quantities or addresses, and hold orders to pincodes with a poor delivery history. When a delivery fails, NDR management lets you reach the buyer and re-attempt before the courier returns the parcel.
Remittance and reconciliation
Cash the courier collects is remitted to you on a cycle, after deducting its fees. RouteOneX pools remittances from every courier into one wallet on a D+2 cycle, with a per-order statement you can match against Shopify. Mark each Shopify order as paid once the remittance lands, or let the sync handle it, so your Shopify reports stop showing COD revenue as outstanding.