How to Enable Cash on Delivery on Shopify: Complete Brand Setup Guide

Step-by-step COD setup in Shopify using Releasit COD Form & Upsells showing form builder, OTP settings, and order confirmation screen

 

Shopify gives you a manual payment method called "Cash on Delivery." You enable it in Settings, it shows up at checkout, and that's roughly where the native feature ends.

There's no COD-specific order form, no phone verification, no automated confirmation, no COD fee management, and no built-in way to reduce the RTO rates that make COD expensive. For a D2C brand doing meaningful COD volume in India, MENA, or LatAm, that gap is a real operational problem.

This guide covers the complete setup: how to enable COD on Shopify properly, configure your form for conversions, add OTP and order confirmation, charge a COD fee, and tailor the experience for your market.

60-80%
of ecommerce orders in India and MENA are placed as COD
25-40%
average RTO rate for unoptimized COD stores
4.97★
Releasit rating on the Shopify App Store across thousands of reviews

In this guide

  1. What Shopify's built-in COD actually gives you
  2. What a complete COD setup requires
  3. Step-by-step: Enable COD with Releasit
  4. Add a COD fee with Releasit COD Fee & Partial Pay
  5. Market-specific configuration
  6. Post-setup checklist
  7. Measuring COD performance
  8. FAQs

What Shopify's Built-In COD Actually Gives You

Shopify's native COD option is found under Settings > Payments > Manual payment methods. You add it, give it a name, write some instructions, and it appears at checkout. That's the full feature set.

It works for stores with low COD volume and no operational complexity. For D2C brands running COD as a primary revenue channel, it creates four specific problems:

No COD-specific form

Customers still go through Shopify's standard multi-step checkout. You can't simplify the flow, remove irrelevant fields, or add phone verification before the order is placed.

No order confirmation workflow

Shopify sends a generic order confirmation email. There's no automated SMS or WhatsApp confirmation to reduce NDR (non-delivery reports) and keep customers informed.

No COD fee management

You cannot natively add a COD surcharge or partial payment (prepaid deposit) to shift delivery risk. Shopify treats COD as a free payment option by default.

No fraud or fake order protection

There is no OTP, no pincode serviceability check, and no address validation. Fake orders and unserviceable deliveries go undetected until your logistics partner reports them.

What a Complete COD Setup Requires

A COD setup that's actually profitable at scale needs five components working together. None of them are available in Shopify natively.

1. A dedicated COD form

One-page layout with only the fields you need: name, phone, address, pincode. No account creation, no card fields, no steps that exist for prepaid buyers but not COD buyers.

2. Phone verification (OTP)

Customers confirm a one-time code before the order is submitted. Verifies the phone number is real and the person intended to place the order.

3. Automated order confirmation

Immediate SMS or WhatsApp confirmation after order placement. Reduces "I didn't order this" NDR claims and sets clear delivery expectations.

4. Address and pincode validation

Autocomplete reduces typos. Pincode serviceability check blocks orders your logistics partner cannot deliver, preventing unserviceable RTO before dispatch.

All five components (form, OTP, confirmation, address validation, and COD fee) are available in Releasit COD Form & Upsells (plus the companion Releasit COD Fee & Partial Pay app).

Step-by-Step: Enable COD on Shopify with Releasit

Step 1: Install Releasit COD Form & Upsells

  1. Go to the Releasit COD Form & Upsells listing on the Shopify App Store
  2. Click Install and approve the required permissions
  3. Open the app from your Shopify Admin under Apps > Releasit COD Form & Upsells
  4. Complete the onboarding checklist that appears on first launch

Step 2: Create your first COD form

  1. In the Releasit dashboard, click Create Form
  2. Choose a layout: One Page (recommended) or Multi-Step
  3. Set the form trigger: all products, specific collections, or individual product pages
  4. Give the form a name for internal reference (e.g., "India COD Form" or "Main Store COD")

Step 3: Configure your form fields

  1. In the Form Fields tab, add and reorder: Full Name, Phone Number, Address Line 1, City, State/Province, Pincode/ZIP
  2. Remove any field your market doesn't require (e.g., Address Line 2 if unnecessary)
  3. Enable Google Autocomplete for the address field to reduce input errors
  4. Set field labels in the customer's local language if applicable
  5. Mark Phone as required: it's the primary identifier for COD confirmation and OTP

Step 4: Enable order confirmation

  1. Go to the Notifications tab inside your form settings
  2. Enable SMS Confirmation or WhatsApp Confirmation (choose based on your market)
  3. Set your confirmation message template: include order number, product name, and expected delivery window
  4. Configure your sender ID or WhatsApp business number
  5. Send a test confirmation to verify delivery

Step 5: Activate OTP verification

  1. In the OTP tab, toggle OTP verification On
  2. Choose trigger: All COD orders (maximum protection) or Orders above a value threshold (e.g., orders above ₹1,000 or $30)
  3. Set OTP message template: "Your Releasit verification code is [CODE]. Valid for 10 minutes."
  4. Set OTP expiry time (10 minutes recommended)
  5. Enable Resend OTP after 60 seconds to reduce customer drop-off

For markets with high fake order rates, activate OTP on all orders regardless of value. See our full OTP setup guide for threshold strategy by market.

Step 6: Enable pincode serviceability check

  1. Go to Settings > Pincode Validation in the Releasit dashboard
  2. Choose mode: Allowlist (only listed pincodes can order) or Blocklist (blocked pincodes cannot order)
  3. Import your serviceable or non-serviceable pincode list as a CSV: format: one pincode per row
  4. Set the error message shown when a non-serviceable pincode is entered
  5. Test with a known non-serviceable pincode to confirm the block works

Step 7: Test and publish

  1. Use Shopify's Test Mode or place a real low-value order on your store
  2. Verify the COD form appears on the product page or cart
  3. Confirm OTP is sent and accepted correctly
  4. Check the order appears in Shopify Admin > Orders with the correct details
  5. Confirm the customer receives the order confirmation message
  6. Set the form status to Active in the Releasit dashboard

Set Up Your COD Checkout Today

Releasit COD Form & Upsells is free to install. Get your first COD form live in under 30 minutes.

Install Releasit COD Form & Upsells

Add a COD Fee with Releasit COD Fee & Partial Pay

A COD surcharge shifts part of the delivery risk to the customer and reduces impulsive low-intent orders. Releasit's companion app handles this without requiring any code changes.

Configure a COD fee

  1. Install Releasit COD Fee & Partial Pay from the Shopify App Store
  2. Open the app and click Add Fee Rule
  3. Set fee type: Flat amount (e.g., ₹50 or $2) or Percentage (e.g., 2% of order value)
  4. Optionally combine both: flat + percentage for high-value orders
  5. Set conditions: apply fee to all COD orders, specific collections, or above a minimum order value
  6. Save and test: the fee appears as a line item in the COD form and in the Shopify order summary

Partial payment (prepaid deposit) is also available in the same app. Customers pay a portion upfront and the remainder on delivery. This works particularly well for high-value orders where the full COD amount creates hesitation for your logistics partner.

For a full breakdown of COD fee strategy (when to charge, how much, and how it affects conversion), see our guide on how to reduce COD RTO on Shopify.

Market-Specific Configuration

COD customer behavior and logistics infrastructure vary significantly by region. The table below covers the key configuration differences for the four largest COD markets.

Market OTP Address fields Confirmation channel COD fee
India All orders: high fake order rate Pincode required, autocomplete + serviceability check SMS or WhatsApp ₹30–80 flat or 2–3%
Egypt / Saudi Arabia All orders: essential in these markets Government ID optional, neighborhood/district field useful WhatsApp preferred Flat EGP/SAR fee common
LatAm (MX, CO, BR) High-value orders only (above $30 equivalent) Interior number, colonia/barrio field for Mexico and Colombia WhatsApp or SMS Percentage fee (2–4%) typical
UAE / Kuwait All orders recommended Area/district field, no postal codes in many zones WhatsApp: very high open rate Minimal: customers expect free COD

For detailed address field configuration by market, see the full guide on address validation for Shopify COD checkout.

Post-Setup Checklist

Before going live, run through this checklist to confirm everything is working end-to-end.

Go-live checklist

  • COD form appears on the correct product pages or collections
  • All required fields are present and labels are correct for your market
  • Google Autocomplete fills the address field correctly
  • Pincode validation blocks a known non-serviceable code
  • OTP is sent to the phone number on form submission
  • Order confirmation SMS/WhatsApp is received within 30 seconds of order placement
  • COD fee (if enabled) appears as a line item before order submission
  • Completed test order appears correctly in Shopify Admin > Orders
  • Fulfillment workflow and logistics integration receives the order correctly
  • Mobile layout is tested on both iOS and Android: form should be fully usable on a 375px screen

Measuring COD Performance After Setup

Setup is the start. These four metrics tell you whether your COD checkout is actually working.

COD form completion rate

How many customers who open the COD form submit an order. Target: above 60%. A lower rate points to form friction: too many fields, slow load, or a confusing layout. See our guide on one-page COD checkout patterns.

OTP completion rate

How many customers who receive an OTP successfully verify it. Target: above 85%. Drop-off at OTP usually means the code is arriving late, expiring too quickly, or the resend button isn't visible enough.

RTO rate

Returned orders as a percentage of total COD orders shipped. Benchmark this against your pre-setup baseline after 14 days. A well-configured COD setup with OTP and address validation typically reduces RTO by 30–50%. See full RTO reduction guide.

Fake order rate

Orders that cannot be confirmed or are flagged by your logistics partner. After enabling OTP, track this weekly for the first 30 days. Target: below 3% of total COD orders. Above 5% suggests OTP is either not activated on enough order segments or customers are using secondary SIM cards.

Related reading

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Shopify support cash on delivery natively? +

Yes, Shopify has a manual payment method called "Cash on Delivery" under Settings > Payments. It allows COD orders through the standard checkout but provides no COD form, no OTP, no order confirmation workflow, and no COD fee management. Most D2C brands running meaningful COD volume need a dedicated app to operate COD profitably.

What is the best COD app for Shopify? +

Releasit COD Form & Upsells is the most widely used COD app on Shopify, with a 4.97-star rating across thousands of reviews. It covers form design, OTP verification, order confirmation, post-purchase upsells, pincode validation, and address autocomplete in one platform. The companion app, Releasit COD Fee & Partial Pay, adds COD surcharge and prepaid deposit functionality.

Can I charge a COD fee on Shopify? +

Yes. Install Releasit COD Fee & Partial Pay from the Shopify App Store. You can set a flat fee, a percentage of order value, or a combined flat plus percentage. Partial payment (a prepaid deposit) is also supported. The fee appears as a line item in the COD checkout before the customer submits the order.

How do I reduce fake orders on my Shopify COD store? +

Enable OTP phone verification in Releasit COD Form & Upsells. Customers must enter a one-time code sent to their phone before the order is submitted. This confirms the phone number is real and the customer actively intended to place the order. Fake and impulsive orders drop significantly: typically 60–80% within the first two weeks of activation.

Does Releasit work for India, MENA, and LatAm stores? +

Yes. Releasit COD Form & Upsells supports all COD markets globally. It includes pincode serviceability checks for India, conditional address fields for MENA markets, WhatsApp confirmation for Gulf and LatAm regions, and customizable field labels in any language. Market-specific configuration options are covered in the Market-Specific Configuration section above.

Will COD orders appear in my Shopify admin? +

Yes. All orders placed through Releasit COD Form & Upsells are created directly in Shopify as standard orders. They appear in Shopify Admin > Orders, sync with your fulfillment workflows, and integrate with any connected logistics, ERP, or warehouse management systems just like prepaid orders.

Your COD Store Is One Setup Away From Running Properly

Releasit COD Form & Upsells handles form, OTP, confirmation, and upsells. Free to install. Get your first form live in under 30 minutes.