COD order confirmation is the step where a store checks with a cash-on-delivery customer, before shipping, that they really want the order. The customer is asked a simple question (keep the order or cancel it) by phone call, WhatsApp or SMS, and the answer is recorded on the order. Orders that are confirmed get shipped, cancelled orders don't, and orders where nobody answers can be held or shipped by your own rule.
This guide explains why stores do it, how each channel works, what should happen in your store for each answer, and how to start.
Confirm every COD order by phone, automatically: COD order confirmation calls call each new COD order, the customer presses 1 to confirm or 2 to cancel, and the answer is written back to your store. Hindi and English.
Why confirm COD orders at all
A prepaid order comes with a commitment: the customer has already paid. A COD order doesn't. Some COD orders are placed by mistake, some twice, some as a test, some with a wrong number or address, and some by people who change their mind before the parcel arrives.
Each of those that ships and comes back is a return-to-origin (RTO). You pay forward shipping, return shipping and packaging, and the stock is out of sale while it travels. A confirmation step catches some of these orders before you spend anything on them.
How much RTO costs you depends on your courier rates, order value and product. Work out your own number with the COD and RTO calculator, or read how to calculate your real RTO cost per COD order.
What a confirmation actually asks
Keep the question to one decision: do you want this order, yes or no? A good confirmation includes:
- Who is asking (the store name the customer will recognise)
- Which order (order number)
- How much to pay on delivery (the COD amount)
- What to do (one action to confirm, one to cancel)
Everything else, such as address changes, upsells or a prepaid offer, makes the step longer and lowers the number of people who finish it. If you want those, treat them as separate steps.
The three channels
Phone call (keypad)
An automated call plays a short message with the order number and amount, then asks the customer to press 1 to confirm or 2 to cancel. The keypress is the answer.
- Reaches customers who don't use WhatsApp or ignore messages
- Answer in one step: the customer decides during the call
- Language matters: the script should be in the language your buyers use
- Costs per call, so the delay, retries and calling hours you choose affect the bill
WhatsApp message
A template message with Confirm and Cancel buttons is sent after the order.
- Cheap per message and familiar to most customers
- Misses customers who don't use WhatsApp, have a different number on WhatsApp, or never open business messages
- Answer arrives whenever the customer gets to it, which may be after your pickup cut-off
SMS
A text with a link or a reply keyword.
- Reaches almost every phone
- Easy to ignore, and links in SMS are often treated with suspicion
No channel is best on its own. A common pattern is a message first, then a call to anyone who hasn't answered before the pickup cut-off. For a side-by-side comparison, read COD confirmation: AI call vs WhatsApp vs IVR.
Keypad call or AI voice agent?
A keypad call asks one question and records a keypress. An AI voice agent holds a conversation: it can take a new address or answer a question about delivery time. Keypad calls are simpler to run and the outcome is unambiguous; AI agents handle more but need more setup and review. Most stores start with keypad confirmation. See keypad vs AI voice agent for COD confirmation.
What should happen in your store for each answer
Confirmation is only useful if the answer reaches the people who pack and ship. Decide in advance what each outcome does:
| Outcome | What it means | Typical action in the store |
|---|---|---|
| Confirmed | Customer said yes | Tag or status that the packing team filters on |
| Cancelled | Customer said no | Cancel the order, so it never reaches packing |
| No input | Answered but gave no answer | Tag for a later retry or manual review |
| Unreachable | No answer after every attempt | Tag; ship or hold by your own rule (often by order value) |
Common tag names are COD-CONFIRMED, COD-CANCELLED and COD-UNREACHABLE. How your fulfilment team uses them is covered in order tags for COD workflows.
How it works on Edesy
Edesy's COD order confirmation calls run the phone channel end to end:
- Your store sends the new order by webhook. We verify it came from your store, log it and ignore duplicates.
- Rules decide whether to call. By default only unconfirmed COD orders are called. You can add conditions such as a minimum amount.
- We call after a short delay, 2 minutes by default, inside your calling hours (9 am to 9 pm IST by default). Orders placed at night are called when the window opens.
- Fresh check before dialling. If the order was cancelled or confirmed in the meantime, we don't call.
- The customer presses 1 or 2 after hearing the order number and COD amount, in Hindi or English.
- The answer is written back as a tag, note, status or cancellation, depending on your platform. Payment status is never changed.
- Retries if nobody answers: three attempts by default, 30 minutes and then 2 hours apart.
Every line of the script is editable. The full sequence is in how COD confirmation calls work.
Which stores can connect today
- Custom store or your own backend: live today through a signed webhook and an action URL. See the custom store API.
- Shopify and WooCommerce: in pilot. We set it up for you during the pilot.
- Other platforms: some work through a webhook plugin on the store; others are planned. Each platform page states its current status.
Pricing is pay as you go from a prepaid wallet. Share your monthly COD volume and we'll share pricing for it.
A worked example (illustrative)
The numbers below are round, assumed figures to show the arithmetic, not results from any store.
Say a store gets 1,000 COD orders a month. Of those, calls reach a clear answer on 700. Of the 700, 50 customers press 2 to cancel. Those 50 orders are never packed or shipped, so if even half of them would otherwise have come back as RTO, you have avoided 25 return trips. Multiply by your own RTO cost per order to see whether the calls pay for themselves.
The point of the example is the method: count cancellations caught before shipping, estimate how many of them would have been RTO, and compare with the cost of the calls. Your own rates will differ.
Common mistakes
- Calling too late. If the call happens after the courier pickup, the confirmation can't stop anything.
- Calling at night. Customers who are woken up cancel out of irritation. Use a daytime window; see when to call COD customers.
- Asking too much. One question, one answer.
- Not writing the answer back. A confirmation that lives in a spreadsheet the packing team never opens changes nothing.
- Confirming prepaid orders. It wastes calls and annoys customers who already paid.
How to start
- Find your current COD share and RTO cost per order.
- Decide what each outcome should do in your store (tag, note, status or cancel).
- Pick a calling window and retry rule that fits your pickup cut-off.
- Choose the script language your buyers use.
- Turn it on for new COD orders and check the first week of outcomes.
When you are ready, set up COD order confirmation calls and tell us your store platform and monthly COD volume.