Your 2026 D2C Calendar mapped day by day - Powered by real data from India’s biggest D2C shopping network
Your 2026 D2C Calendar mapped day by day - Powered by real data from India’s biggest D2C shopping network
Your 2026 D2C Calendar mapped day by day - Powered by real data from India’s biggest D2C shopping network
Your 2026 D2C Calendar mapped day by day - Powered by real data from India’s biggest D2C shopping network
Smart COD Suite
Start COD By GoKwik: Expand Cash On Delivery Presence & Reduce RTO
12 Mar 2026
10 Min Read
Vardhan leads product and growth initiatives at GoKwik, driving D2C e-commerce innovations, conversion optimization, and scalable growth programs for products. An ISB alumnus based in Bengaluru, he brings expertise from Unacademy, Ola, and Mahindra in building high-impact product strategies.
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Table of Contents
Interventions To Curb RTOs Under The Start COD Suite
How Does GoKwik Help Open COD Serviceability: Steps Involved
“Constant is the new normal” - a phrase that well suits the Indian eCommerce industry. And what’s constant you may ask? It’s the persistence of offering “cash on delivery” or COD as a payment option. COD has long been associated as the key driver of high conversion rate. About 60% of online orders are cash-led and the percentage increases to 90% as we move to Tier IV and beyond cities.
But, when it results in increased return-to-origin (RTO) rate and threatens the bottom line of a business, it’s no surprise that brands are hesitating from offering COD services to their customers.
So, what’s the solution? How do eCommerce brands increase cash on delivery services PAN India while reducing RTO rate?
Opt for GoKwik’s Start COD Suite.
In this blog, let’s understand,
- What is GoKwik’s Start COD Suite?
- What are the mechanics behind its functionality?
- How does it help expand COD serviceability while reducing RTO?
Introducing: Start COD Suite By GoKwik
Return to origin is a pervasive issue for almost all online retails brands operating in the Indian eCommerce industry. It extends beyond the simple cancellation of cash on delivery led orders. Rather, it imposes a significant financial and logistical burden on businesses and affects many facets of their operations.
Recognising the complexities involved here, GoKwik, a pioneer in eCommerce enablement developed a smart and strategic solution to solve this pressing concern.
It harnesses the power of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to analyse
- A shopper’s buying behaviour which goes beyond traditional metrics and delves into the intricacies of user interaction, their transaction history on the GoKwik network, and engagement patterns
- Categorises them as high, medium or low intent shoppers (intent being their willingness to complete a cash on delivery order)
- Raise red flags where necessary and inform the eCommerce brand
- Analyses areas, regions, SKUs, and even UTMs across the country where RTO is high or low
- Helps implement a mix of high- and low-degree interventions where necessary to reduce RTOs and increase business conversions via cash on deliveries.
- Helps in making real-time decisions based on the evolving buying behaviour of the shoppers and many market trends.
The Start COD Suite aims to make shoppers think twice before placing a cash on delivery order, meanwhile ensuring that it doesn’t convert into an RTO for the brand. At the same time, the module enables online brands to strategically open COD serviceability across different areas and keep RTO in check.
Also Read: Navigating the COD Challenges: How eCommerce Brands Can Thrive
Also Read: Navigating the COD Challenges: How eCommerce Brands Can Thrive
Understanding The Art & Science Behind GoKwik’s Start COD Suite
For all eCommerce brands that are planning to open and/or expand their cash on delivery serviceability across the country, GoKwik’s Start COD Suite is a true blessing. The module has two sides to it. One is the artistics side and the other is the Science-driven angle. Let’s explore the two.
The Art Behind Start COD Suite
The artistic side of the Start COD Suite by GoKwik places much emphasis on addressing and mitigating the challenges associated with cash on delivery in eCommerce. Here, the primary aim is to empower online brands to navigate through the complexities of cash on delivery transactions in the most effective and efficient manner. A detailed breakdown of the key elements are as follows.
1. Risk Mitigation for Return To Origins
By leveraging innovative technologies like artificial intelligence and machine learning, the Start COD Suite analyses shopper behaviour to identify patterns indicative of potential cancellations. Such a protective approach allows online brands to
- Implement targeted interventions
- Reducing the occurrence of RTOs
- Minimise associated financial implications
2. Tactically Target COD-Led Audience
The module provides eCommerce brands with the ability to smartly target those shoppers that often prefer cash on delivery as a payment option.
By identifying and engaging with this demographic, eCommerce brands can tailor their approach while catering to the COD-led shoppers. This tactical targeting ensures that COD services are offered judiciously and they very much align with the needs of the identified audience.
3. Offering Cash as a Payment Option
Another interesting aspect of the artistic side of the Start COD Suite is that it enables eCommerce brands to continue to offer cash on delivery as a payment option without compromising on the overall profitability of the company.
The module strategically introduces intelligent interventions that guide shoppers to
- Make more considerable decisions
- Reduce the likelihood of cancellations
- Leverage the convenience of COD
4. Increasing Overall Business Gross Merchandise Value (GMV)
Lastly, the Start COD Suite effectively enhances the overall GMV of an eCommerce brand. As the module helps decrease cancellations and successful deliveries of orders, the module positively impacts the financial metrics of an online brand’s business. This, in turn, leads to an increase in GMV and as well as the revenue generation potential of the eCommerce platform.
The Science Behind The Start COD Suite
The scientific approach of Start COD Suite involves using GoKwik's advanced risk intelligence framework to effectively and efficiently manage cash on delivery operations.
The framework ideally uses a combination of many sophisticated algorithms and GoKwik’s network intelligence of 100+ million shoppers to identify many critical parameters that play a crucial role in mitigating the risk of RTOs
1. Identification Of Many Key Parameters
GoKwik’s intuitive risk intelligence framework identifies many critical parameters that significantly impact the chances of RTO occurrences.
These parameters include factors like
- Average order value
- Specific products or stock keeping units (SKUs)
- Pin codes with a historically low RTO rate.
By analysing the data through the lens of network intelligence, the system gathers insights into patterns and trends associated with these parameters.
2. Low-Risk Pin Codes
Once the module identifies and analyses these mentioned parameters, it then categorises pin codes on the basis of their historical RTO performance. Ideally, pin codes with low RTO rate history are considered as low-risk zones. Here, eCommerce brands can offer cash on delivery service without much hesitation, and vice versa.
3. Enabling Low-Degree Interventions
Low degree interventions are those that do not impose many harsh restrictions on shoppers for placing cash on delivery orders. For instance, COD Captcha, COD Recaptcha, and COD Prompt are considered as low-degree interventions. They merely ensure that a shopper thinks twice before placing an order and also keep bots and scripts from placing fake orders on a website.
4. Gradual Expansion With Medium And High-Degree Interventions
As the Start COD Suite observes and evaluates the impact of the low-degree interventions, it then gradually suggests eCommerce brands to leverage medium and high-degree interventions to further expand their cash on delivery serviceability in areas where RTO rate is higher than usual.
Medium and high-degree interventions basically involve more assertive messaging, stricter order verification processes, and many other measures that help ensure responsible and committed purchases by shoppers.
Examples of medium and high-degree interventions include, COD Fees & Dynamic Prepaid Discounts, COD Blocking, and Partial COD.
Interventions To Curb RTOs Under The Start COD Suite
While we’ve been constantly mentioning the importance of high, medium and low degree RTO interventions, let’s now understand them in brief.
- COD Prompt - Asking shoppers to think twice before placing COD orders and keeping impulse buyings at bay.
- COD Captcha & reCaptcha - Enabling captcha at the time of payments to keep bots as well as shoppers with a low buying intent, from placing COD orders.
- COD Blocking - Completely block cash on delivery as a payment option for shoppers which showcase low and very low buying intent.
- COD Fees & Dynamic Prepaid Discounts - Allowing brands to offer an additional fee on cash on delivery based orders, and discounts on prepaid orders such as UPI, wallets, etc. to reduce the chances of RTO.
- Partial COD - Enabling shoppers to pay a certain portion of their cart value through a digital payment mode and rest in cash at the time of order delivery.
How Does GoKwik Help Open COD Serviceability: Steps Involved
Opening cash on delivery serviceability beyond your current focus areas requires proper planning. This ideally includes creating an outline to map out regions with opportunities, product categories or SKUs demonstratging low RTO risk, and defining similar parameters to maximise growth.
While GoKwik’s Start COD Suite is not a one-size-fits-all solution, here’s a prototype guide or steps that you can follow to open COD serviceability, increase business revenue, and keep RTO in check.
1. Quality Checks, Model-based Analysis & Insights
Test model performance and analyze shopper journey in GoKwik network. Identify high-, medium-, and low-risk shoppers, extract these insights, and formulate a plan of action.
2. Introduce Low-degree Interventions
Implement low-degree interventions in selected pin codes, product SKUs or UTM levels. Encourage shoppers to reconsider placing cash on delivery orders. Target areas, products and SKUs which have a RTO history below 15%. Realize up to 1.2X increase in GMV by implementing low-degree interventions only.
3. Introduce Medium To High-degree Interventions
Gradually implement medium to stronger interventions on your checkout and payments page. Target areas which a RTO history lower than 25%. Reduce high-risk shoppers from placing COD orders and optimize the conversion funnel. Realize up to 1.4X increase in GMV with 10% RTO at this stage.
4. Introduce Discounts & Fees To Further Reduce RTO%
Open cash option to a wider audience and simultaneously introduce low- and high-degree interventions. Leverage techniqhes like offering additional discounts on digital payments such as UPI, wallets, etc. to increase prepaid adoption. Similarly, implement nominal fee on cash orders to reduce COD based orders. Achieve as much as 1.6X increase in GMV with reduction in RTO.
To unlock the complete potential of GoKwik’s Start COD Suite, get in touch with us today!
In Conclusion
GoKwik's Start COD Suite has emerged as an innovative solution to combat some of the most pressing challenges of today’s eCommerce landscape - reducing RTO and opening PAN India COD serviceability.
Through the robust integration of artificial intelligence and machine learning, the Start COD Suite not only helps identify potential RTO cases but actively intervenes to keep low-intent shoppers from placing orders.
By providing eCommerce brands with the tools to strategically offer COD without undue risk, Start COD Suite marks as a significant leap towards ensuring high business profitability, low operational costs, and customer satisfaction in the evolving world of online commerce.
As the industry continues to evolve, solutions like Start COD Suite will keep demonstrating the power of technological innovation in reshaping the eCommerce landscape for the better.
AUTHOR
Vardhan Jain
Director of Product Program @ GoKwik
