Fulfilment & customer service
A better workflow for COD orders
Follow a cash-on-delivery order from confirmation to remittance without losing the exceptions between teams.
2 minute read · Practical guide
The key decision: A delivered parcel and a reconciled payment are two separate milestones.
More on Fulfilment & customer serviceGive the order one reference
Use the same order reference in the store, support notes, pick list and courier record. Record the customer’s product choice, address and expected payment amount together. When information changes, update the order record and make the change visible to the next person.
Set a confirmation policy
Decide which orders require a call or message and what the operator must confirm. Record confirmed, changed, cancelled and unreachable outcomes separately. An unsuccessful call should create a next action rather than silently moving the order to dispatch. Avoid collecting details that are not needed to fulfil the order.
Separate dispatch from delivery
The dispatch record should include the carrier, tracking reference and the amount expected on delivery. Assign an owner to delayed parcels and failed attempts. A support agent needs a reliable status and an agreed action, not a promise inferred from an old tracking event.
Inspect returns before releasing stock
A returned parcel may be unopened, damaged, incomplete or the wrong item. Record the condition and decision, then update the sellable stock figure. Keep the return reason separate from the stock disposition so the business can see both delivery problems and inventory losses.
Match remittances to individual orders
Reconcile the carrier’s settlement against delivered orders and agreed charges. Maintain an exception list for missing amounts, deductions and timing differences. For a weekly review, use separate totals for dispatched, delivered, returned and remitted orders; do not force them into one status.
Use the review to change the workflow
Look for repeated address issues, products with unusual return patterns or delays at a specific handoff. Give each improvement an owner. A lower return rate is useful only when it is measured consistently and does not come from excluding difficult orders from the report.