Otpera

How to reduce cash-on-delivery returns and fake orders

In Egypt and the Gulf, most online orders are paid on delivery, and every refused parcel costs you shipping both ways. Here is what causes it and what actually works.

Why COD orders get refused

  • Impulse orders: the customer changed their mind before the courier arrived.
  • Fake or prank orders with wrong names or numbers.
  • Wrong address or a phone number nobody answers.
  • Duplicate orders placed by mistake.
  • Long delivery times that let the customer buy elsewhere.

What works

  • Confirm every COD order on WhatsApp before you ship it. Customers reply in seconds on the app they already use, unlike phone calls or SMS.
  • Give clear choices: confirm, postpone delivery or cancel. A postponed order isn't a lost order.
  • Never cancel on an unclear reply. Send it to a person.
  • Ship confirmed orders first and follow up on silent ones before handing them to the courier.
  • Keep answering after the order: a WhatsApp inbox and an AI assistant reduce “where is my order?” refusals.

Measure the savings

  • Track confirmation rate, cancellations before shipping, and refused deliveries per month.
  • Multiply avoided refusals by your two-way shipping cost (often around 80 EGP per parcel in Egypt).
  • Compare that to the cost of confirmation: with Otpera a confirmed order uses 2 credits.

How to set it up

  • Connect your store (Shopify, WooCommerce, Salla, Zid, EasyOrders) or send orders by API.
  • Link your WhatsApp number to Otpera by QR.
  • Let every new COD order get a confirmation and ship only what's confirmed.

Frequently asked questions

Is WhatsApp confirmation better than calling customers?

It's faster and cheaper: one message reaches every customer at once, answers are recorded automatically, and your team only calls the unclear cases.

What is a fake order?

An order placed with no intention to receive it — wrong details, pranks or competitors. Asking for an explicit confirmation filters most of them before shipping.

How fast do customers answer?

Most answer within minutes because the message arrives on WhatsApp with one-tap choices.