Cash on delivery in Lebanon, without the refusals

Cash on delivery is how many Lebanese customers prefer to buy from a shop they do not know yet. They pay only when the parcel is in their hands, so the first order feels safe. For the shop, it is often the difference between an order and a polite "I'll think about it".

The cost is hidden in three places: orders refused at the door, delivery trips you pay for anyway, and cash that sits with drivers longer than it should. None of this is bad luck. Each one shrinks with a little process.

Why orders get refused at the door

Before fixing refusals, look at your last few and ask why each one happened. The reasons usually fall into a handful of groups:

• The order was an impulse. Tapped at midnight, forgotten by morning.
• The total was a surprise. The delivery fee was never mentioned, or the price was in USD and the customer expected LBP, or the reverse.
• The product was not what they expected. A different colour, size or material from the photo.
• The delivery took too long. By day five, they bought it somewhere else.
• Nobody answered. A wrong number, a phone switched off, nobody home, no landmark the driver could find.
• It was never a real order. A prank, a typo, a friend's number.

Nearly all of these can be fixed before the driver leaves, not at the door.

Confirm every order on WhatsApp before it leaves

The most useful habit you can build is a short confirmation for every cash on delivery order, sent on WhatsApp to the customer who just placed it. They gave you their number for this order, so this is exactly the message they expect.

A good confirmation includes:

• the order number and the items, with size and colour
• the total in the currency the driver will collect, delivery included
• the delivery area and the expected day
• one clear question, such as "Reply YES to confirm, or tell us what to change"

Then set a rule for silence. For example, no reply after a few hours means one phone call, and no answer to the call means the order waits. A parcel that stays on your shelf costs nothing. A parcel that goes to Tripoli and comes back costs you two trips.

Confirmation also catches mistakes early: a wrong size, a missing floor number, a customer who meant Jounieh and typed Jbeil.

Make the total impossible to misread

Many refusals start with a number. Show the same total everywhere: on the product page, in the cart, in the confirmation and on the driver's slip.

• Price in USD first. If you show LBP, use the rate you have stated and round it.
• Include the delivery fee in the total, never as an extra announced at the door.
• Say which currency the driver collects and whether the driver carries change. If customers can pay in either currency, say so, and say at what rate.
• Print the total on the parcel slip so the driver never has to guess or call you.

Decide who pays the COD costs

Delivery with cash collection costs money. Couriers charge for the trip, and some charge for collecting cash or for returning a refused parcel. Check the current fees with each courier you use, in writing, and ask the question that matters most: what does a refused parcel cost me?

Then choose one approach and show it plainly:

• You absorb the cost and build it into your prices. Simple for the customer, but watch your margin on cheaper items.
• You add a COD fee on top of delivery. Fair, as long as the customer sees it before ordering.
• Free delivery above an amount, with a fee below it. This also nudges the average order up.

Whatever you choose, the customer should see it at checkout, not at the door.

Use zones to limit your risk

Not every zone carries the same risk. A refused parcel in your own neighbourhood costs a short trip. A refused parcel in Akkar or deep in the South can cost a courier's day and a return trip.

• Give each zone its own delivery fee and its own honest delivery time.
• For distant zones, or for orders above a certain value, consider asking for part of the total by Whish first, or all of it.
• For made-to-order or personalised items, take payment up front. You cannot resell a bag with someone else's name embroidered on it.
• Write these rules in your store and in your policies, so nobody feels singled out.

Keep track of the cash your drivers hold

Once a driver collects cash, it is your money in someone else's pocket. Treat it that way.

With your own drivers:

• Give each driver a list of the day's orders, with the amount to collect for each one.
• At the end of the day, the driver hands back the cash and the list, with each order marked delivered, refused or postponed.
• Count it together and write down any difference the same day, with the reason.

With a courier company:

• Ask how often they pay out the cash they collect, and how they report it (per order, per day, per week).
• Keep your own record of every parcel you hand over, with the amount to collect.
• When a payout arrives, match it line by line against your list. Do not accept a single total without a breakdown.

Reconcile every week, not every quarter

A simple sheet is enough to start. Use one line per order, with these columns:

1. Order number and date
2. Customer and zone
3. Driver or courier
4. Amount to collect, and currency
5. Status (delivered, refused, returned, postponed)
6. Cash received, and the date you received it

Every week, filter the orders that are delivered but not yet paid out to you. That is the money you are owed. Then look at refusals by customer and by zone. If the same phone number refuses twice, ask for payment by Whish next time. If one zone keeps refusing, look at the delivery time or the fee there before blaming the customers.

How Mahallat handles cash on delivery

In Mahallat, cash on delivery is built in rather than added later. The checkout shows the total in USD and in LBP at your rate, you can add a cash on delivery fee per zone, and you send the WhatsApp confirmation in one tap: Mahallat writes it with the order number, the items and the total, and it goes from your own number. The deliveries board shows how much cash each delivery partner collected for you and has not paid over yet, so the weekly count stops being a guessing game.

If you still run cash on delivery from a notebook, the steps above help either way. When you want them in one place, see payments and the checkout. For the prepaid side of things, read our guide to Whish payments.