The State of Cash on Delivery in Indian DTC

At least 26.1% of Indian DTC brands accept cash on delivery

MerchantData tracks pages like shipping policies, product pages, returns, FAQs, terms (etc.) to detect mentions of cash on delivery. Out of 120k+ live D2C stores, 26.1% clearly advertise COD acceptance. Clearly stating that they do not accept COD is less common (1.7%).

We use the phrase “at least” because it is likely there are some brands that do accept COD, but don’t clearly state it on their website. (And therefore it isn’t easily detectable.)

20% of brands add conditions for cash on delivery

Almost a fifth of these brands state some kind of restriction on COD acceptance.

We grouped those restrictions into six main categories. Here’s the breakdown.

The most common is min. or max. order value: COD only below a ceiling, or only above a minimum, or both. Next comes selected pincodes / locations, really a courier constraint passed on to the buyer. Then cod fee / extra charge, where a flat charge added to the order for paying in cash.

What the conditions look like on the page

Verbatim sentences from the brands’ own shipping, FAQ and policy pages. The link under each sentence is the page it was found on.

If you want to dive deeper, you might like: “100 Examples of Indian D2C Brands That Accept COD”

Surat, Noida and Agra accept COD most. Thiruvananthapuram, Thrissur and Madurai least.

The 50 Indian cities with the most live D2C stores, ranked by the share of those stores that advertise Cash on Delivery. Tier is the MerchantData city tier. Shares for the smaller cities rest on a few hundred stores each, so treat one or two points of difference as noise.

A north–south split, not a big-city split

Ten of the ten cities that advertise COD most are in the north. Nine of the ten that advertise it least are in the south. Splitting the same 50 cities into north and south makes the pattern plain, and it is wider than the gap between city tiers.

The northern cities that advertise COD most

Every southern city in the top 50

COD acceptance varies by category

Here is the share of live D2C stores advertising COD, by primary category.

The categories where COD is most often advertised are the ones where the buyer wants to see and touch before paying and where returns are common anyway: Footwear, Ethnic Wear, Baby, and the big apparel categories just behind them. Low-ticket, personalised or perishable categories sit at the bottom: Stationery, Handicrafts, Book and Food.

The categories where conditions are most common

Here is the share of COD-advertising stores in each category that attach a condition. High-ticket categories often cap the order value or ask for part payment; some categories like gifting and food add a fee.