Glossary · ecommerce
What is Cash on delivery (COD)?
Cash on delivery is a payment method where the customer pays the courier in cash when the order arrives, and the courier later sends that money to the seller, minus its charges. It lowers the trust barrier for buyers who are wary of paying an unknown store in advance. The costs fall on the seller: cash is tied up until the courier remits it, and orders refused at the door still incur shipping both ways. Stores that rely on COD usually confirm orders by phone or WhatsApp before dispatch, and some ask for a small advance on high-value items.
What does Cash on delivery (COD) mean for a business in Pakistan?
COD is the default expectation for most online shoppers in Pakistan, and a store that hides or removes it usually loses orders. The workable approach for an Islamabad or Rawalpindi store is to keep COD, confirm every order on WhatsApp before booking the courier, and nudge buyers towards prepaid with JazzCash or Easypaisa by offering something small like free delivery.
A worked example
A Rawalpindi perfume store ships 300 COD orders a month. It starts sending a WhatsApp confirmation with the order details and address before booking each parcel, and cancels orders that are not confirmed within a day. If refused parcels fall from 45 to 20, the store avoids 25 sets of two-way courier charges a month.
Terms that go with this one
These come up in the same conversations and are worth reading together.
- Checkoutorder place karne ka pageCheckout is the final part of an online purchase, from the moment someone views their cart to the order confirmation: entering contact details and a…
- Payment gatewayonline payment systemA payment gateway is the service that sits between a website's checkout and the banks, securely taking a customer's card or wallet details, getting…
- Failed delivery (COD refusal)parcel wapas aa gayaA failed delivery is an order that does not reach a paying customer: the buyer refuses the parcel at the door, cannot be reached, gives a wrong…
- Cart abandonmentcart chhor denaCart abandonment is when a shopper adds products to their cart, sometimes starts the checkout, and then leaves without placing the order. The cart…
- Conversion rateconversion rateConversion rate is the share of people who completed the action, out of the people who had a real chance to complete it, written as a percentage. The…
Cash on delivery (COD) — quick answers
What does Cash on delivery (COD) mean?
Cash on delivery is a payment method where the customer pays the courier in cash when the order arrives, and the courier later sends that money to the seller, minus its charges. It lowers the trust barrier for buyers who are wary of paying an unknown store in advance.
Cash on delivery (COD) ko Urdu mein kya kehte hain?
کیش آن ڈیلیوری — though in practice almost everyone in Pakistan says "COD". COD is the default expectation for most online shoppers in Pakistan, and a store that hides or removes it usually loses orders.
Why does Cash on delivery (COD) matter for a business in Pakistan?
COD is the default expectation for most online shoppers in Pakistan, and a store that hides or removes it usually loses orders. The workable approach for an Islamabad or Rawalpindi store is to keep COD, confirm every order on WhatsApp before booking the courier, and nudge buyers towards prepaid with JazzCash or Easypaisa by offering something small like free delivery.
Checked and updated
Next step
Would you rather someone just handled this?
Understanding the terms is useful. Doing the work every day is the hard part — and that is what we do, from PKR 15,000 a month.
WhatsApp us