How Do I Confirm Cash on Delivery Orders Before I Ship Them?
Ask every cash on delivery customer to confirm on WhatsApp before you pack the order. When a COD order comes in, AeroChat sends your approved WhatsApp template with the items, total and address. The customer taps Confirm or Cancel, and AeroChat tags the order in Shopify, cancels it, or fixes the address. Only confirmed orders go to packing.
Why COD orders come back
Merchants who sell with cash on delivery describe the same loss on the Shopify Community. They pack the order, pay the courier, and the parcel comes back refused, or the customer never meant to buy. Some orders are typos or second thoughts. Some are fake. Every returned parcel costs shipping both ways and ties up stock.
Merchants who looked closely say the returns come from three places: orders nobody verified, bad or incomplete addresses, and no contact with the customer between checkout and the doorstep. Calling every COD customer by hand works on a quiet day. On a busy day the calls fall behind and unconfirmed orders ship anyway.
The usual fixes and their limits
- Call or message each customer by hand. It works and it is personal. It also takes a person, and it is the first thing to slip when orders spike.
- A COD verification app. These send an SMS or WhatsApp code, or a confirmation message, after checkout. Merchants say they still need to deal with the replies that are not a simple yes, such as an address change or a question about the item.
- Limit COD. Some stores block COD above a certain order value or for customers with an unpaid order. It cuts risk and also cuts genuine COD sales.
- Ask for a partial prepayment. A small advance or the shipping fee up front filters out orders that were never serious. Some genuine COD buyers walk away when asked to pay first.
How to handle it in chat with AeroChat
When a COD order is created, Shopify sends it to AeroChat by webhook. If the customer agreed at checkout to get order messages on WhatsApp, AeroChat sends your approved utility template with the order number, items, total, delivery address and two buttons, Confirm and Cancel. A tap on Confirm tags the order “COD confirmed” so it moves to packing. A tap on Cancel cancels it and asks why. If the customer replies with a question or a new address, AeroChat answers it from your store data or updates the address before packing. Orders with no answer stay on hold for your team to call.
AeroChat: Hi Ravi, thanks for your order #7741: 1 x Trail running shoes, size 42, US$64 cash on delivery, to 18 Lake Road (example). Please confirm so we can ship it. [Confirm] [Cancel]
Customer: Confirm. But please deliver to my office, 5 Park Avenue, 3rd floor.
AeroChat: No problem. Your order will go to 5 Park Avenue, 3rd floor. It’s confirmed and will ship tomorrow (example).
In Shopify: order #7741 is tagged “COD confirmed” and its shipping address is updated before packing.
Copy this into AeroChat
When a new cash on delivery order is created in Shopify, follow these steps.
- If the customer did not opt in to WhatsApp order messages, tag the order “COD call needed” (example) and stop.
- Send our approved template cod_confirm (example) with the order number, items, total and delivery address, and the buttons Confirm and Cancel.
- If they tap Confirm, tag the order “COD confirmed” and thank them.
- If they tap Cancel, cancel the order, ask if they want to tell us why, and add their answer as a note.
- If they ask to change the delivery address before the order is packed, update it and read it back to them.
- If they ask to change items or quantities, hand the conversation to our orders team with the order number.
Never mark an order confirmed unless the customer confirmed it. Reply in the customer’s language.
Use the tag names your packing team already filters on, and the template name you had approved, before you paste it.
What to connect
- Your Shopify store. Built in. Install AeroChat from the Shopify App Store and connect your store in the dashboard. AeroChat reads the order. The webhook for new orders, the tags, the cancellation and the address change run through Shopify’s Admin API in the workflow you describe.
- Your WhatsApp Business number. Connect it in AeroChat with embedded signup and submit your confirmation template for approval by Meta. You can keep using the WhatsApp Business app on the same number.
- Your courier. POS Malaysia is built in for booking the delivery once an order is confirmed. Other couriers and shipping tools connect through their APIs.
Questions
Do customers need to opt in to WhatsApp messages?
Yes. WhatsApp requires the customer’s consent before a business sends them a template message. Add a WhatsApp opt-in at checkout, and AeroChat skips customers who did not opt in.
What happens if a customer doesn’t reply?
The order stays without the “COD confirmed” tag, so your team can see it and call. Nothing ships unconfirmed unless your team decides to ship it.
Can a customer change the address in the same chat?
Yes, before the order is packed. AeroChat reads the new address back and updates it on the order. See changing a shipping address after ordering.
Is there a ready-made version of this workflow?
Yes. WhatsApp COD confirmation walks through the same flow for Shopify, WooCommerce and other order systems.
Using a different system? If it has a public API, it connects to AeroChat the same way: describe what you want, paste in its key, and it runs.
Can’t find your tool? Message us in the chat on this page and we’ll tell you how it connects.
Ship only confirmed COD orders
Install AeroChat, connect WhatsApp, paste the COD recipe, and place a test COD order with your own number.
7-day free trial.