COD Fundamentals
Should I keep COD or push customers to prepay?
Direct answer
Keep COD. In Egypt and the GCC, removing it cuts off a large share of your buyers. The winning strategy is COD with discipline: confirm every order before shipping, then make prepayment gently attractive with small discounts or free shipping, so the prepaid share grows without forcing anyone.
The honest tradeoff
| COD | Prepaid | |
|---|---|---|
| Conversion at checkout | High | Lower |
| RTO risk | Real, but manageable | Near zero |
| Cash flow | Weekly courier settlements | Instant |
| Customer trust required | Low | High |
Prepaid is better for you; COD is better for a first-time customer who does not know your brand yet. Since trust is earned over time, most healthy stores in the region run both and shift the mix gradually.
How to grow prepaid without losing sales
- Offer a small, visible discount or free shipping for paying online.
- Let repeat customers, who already trust you, see prepaid as the faster option.
- Ask for partial deposits on high-value or custom items instead of full prepayment.
- Never hide COD or add punitive fees out of nowhere; it reads as a trick and costs conversions.
Meanwhile, run COD properly: confirmed before shipping, tracked in transit, and the customer reminded on delivery day. Managed COD is not a problem to eliminate. It is a market advantage over stores that refuse to deal with it.
Last updated 2026-07-09