Confirmly
Most COD order confirmation calls sound something like this:
"Hello, you placed an order with us. Will you take it?"
"Yes."
"Thank you."
That call just confirmed an order that can still come back. Nobody checked the flat number, reminded the customer of the total, or asked if anyone will be home on Thursday.
A confirmation call is your one chance to catch the problems that turn into RTO before you pay to ship them. It only takes a minute or two if you ask the right things, in the right order.
This checklist covers exactly that: what to do before the call, what to confirm on it, a script you can copy, and how to record the result on the Shopify order so your warehouse only packs orders that are ready.
The 60-second version
Pin this next to whoever makes your calls:
- Call soon after checkout, within your calling hours
- Say who you are and why you're calling
- Read back the items and the COD total
- Read back the full address, including a landmark
- Ask when they'll be home
- End with a clear outcome: confirmed, changed, cancelled (and why) or needs review
- Retry anyone who doesn't pick up, then review
- Record the result on the Shopify order before it's packed
The rest of this article explains each step, and the mistakes that make a confirmation call useless.
Before you call
Call soon after checkout
The best time to confirm a COD order is while it's still fresh. A customer called within the hour remembers what they bought and why. A customer called the next day may have bought it somewhere else, or forgotten about it.
Stick to sensible calling hours
Pick your hours and keep to them. A call at 10 pm annoys people and gets ignored, and it doesn't make the order any more likely to be accepted.
Follow India's calling rules
Business calls in India are regulated by TRAI, including registration on its DLT platform and the do-not-disturb (DND) preference registry. A call about an order the customer placed is treated differently from a promotional call, but the rules still apply.
In practice: only call customers about orders they actually placed, never add offers to the call, and call within the hours you've set. If you use a calling tool, ask whose DLT registration the calls go through and what number your customers will see. If you're unsure what applies to your store, check with a legal adviser.
On the call: the COD order confirmation checklist
1. Say who you are and why you're calling
Say: "Hi, this is [store name], calling about the order you placed today."
If the call is automated, say so. Customers who know why you're calling stay on the line. A vague "Hello, is this Priya?" sounds like a sales call and gets cut.
2. Read back the items and the COD total
Say: "You ordered two cotton kurtas for ₹1,299, to pay in cash on delivery. Is that right?"
Why it matters: "I didn't know it was that much" is one of the most common reasons a customer refuses a parcel at the door. Shipping and COD fees are easy to miss at checkout. Saying the total out loud catches the surprise now, not after you've paid for shipping.
3. Read back the full address
Don't say: "Is your address correct?" Almost everyone says yes without thinking.
Say: "I have Flat 401, Shanti Residency, Kothrud, near the petrol pump, 411038. Is that correct?"
Listen for corrections to:
- The flat or house number and building name
- The street and area
- A landmark the delivery person can ask for
- The pincode
If anything changes, write down the correction word for word, and repeat it back.
4. Ask when they'll be available
Say: "When is a good time for delivery?"
Answers like "after 6 pm" or "not before Tuesday" go on the order. A courier who arrives while the customer is at work is how "customer not available" ends up on your RTO report.
5. Remind them it's cash on delivery
Say: "Please keep ₹1,299 ready for the delivery."
It sounds obvious. It still prevents refusals from customers who thought they'd pay online, or who don't have cash when the parcel arrives.
6. End with a clear outcome
Every call should end in exactly one of these:
| Outcome | What it means | What to capture |
|---|---|---|
| Confirmed | Wants the order as it is | Nothing extra |
| Confirmed with changes | Address or delivery timing updated | The exact change |
| Cancelled | Doesn't want the order | The reason, in their words |
| Needs review | A question you couldn't answer, or something looks off | What was said |
When the customer doesn't pick up
Missed calls are normal. A missed call is not a cancellation.
- Wait a short while after checkout before the first call, for example 15 minutes.
- Retry up to 3 times, a couple of hours apart.
- Send unreachable orders for review. Don't cancel them automatically, and don't ship them unconfirmed.
Whoever reviews them can hold the order, contact the customer another way, or cancel it.
After the call: record it on the Shopify order
If the result isn't on the order, your warehouse can't see it, and the order ships anyway. Record three things for every call:
- A tag for the outcome. For example
cod-confirmed,cod-cancelled,address-updatedorcod-unreachable. Tags make it easy to filter orders and report on results. - The right status. Move the order to the status your fulfilment process expects, and hold unconfirmed orders so they don't get packed by mistake.
- A timeline note. What was said: the corrected address, the delivery window or the cancellation reason.
A COD confirmation call script you can copy
Adapt the wording to your store and your customers' language:
Caller: Hi, this is [store name]'s order assistant, calling about the order you placed today. Is this a good time?
Customer: Yes.
Caller: You ordered [items] for ₹[amount], cash on delivery. Is that right?
Customer: Yes.
Caller: I have your address as [flat, building, area, landmark, pincode]. Is that correct?
Customer: The flat number is 402, not 401.
Caller: Thanks, I've changed it to flat 402. When is a good time for delivery?
Customer: After 6 pm.
Caller: Noted. Your order is confirmed for delivery after 6 pm. Please keep ₹[amount] ready. Thank you!
If the customer cancels, add one line before you end: "Could you tell me why, so we can do better?"
How to tell if your confirmation calls are working
Check these numbers once a month:
| Metric | What it tells you |
|---|---|
| Confirmation rate | How many COD orders get confirmed on a call |
| Unreachable rate | How many customers you couldn't reach after every retry |
| Cancellation reasons | Why customers back out, and what to fix |
| RTO rate on confirmed orders | Whether confirmed orders actually get delivered |
| Address corrections | How often checkout addresses were wrong |
If confirmed orders still come back often, look at what the call skips. It's usually the address or the delivery window. If lots of customers are unreachable, try different calling times.
Running this checklist on every order, automatically
The checklist is easy. Following it on every COD order, every day, including sale days and orders that arrive at midnight, is the hard part.
That's what Confirmly does. Here's how each step maps:
| Checklist step | How Confirmly handles it |
|---|---|
| Call soon after checkout | Calls after the wait you set, within your calling hours |
| Say who you are | Opens by saying it's your store's automated assistant |
| Items and COD total | Reads back the order and the total |
| Full address | Reads it back and captures corrections for your approval |
| Delivery timing | Asks, and notes the preference on the order |
| Customer's language | 11 Indian languages, switching mid-call if the customer does |
| Retries | Up to 3 attempts, hours apart, then Needs attention |
| Record the result | Tag, status and timeline note on the Shopify order, plus recording and transcript |
You pay only for connected talk time, and you start with free credits to try it on real orders.
Wrapping up
A good COD order confirmation call isn't a yes-or-no question. It's a one-minute check of the total, the address and the delivery window, ending in a clear outcome that's recorded on the order.
Get those right on every order, and a lot of your RTO never leaves the warehouse.
For the bigger picture, read how to reduce RTO on COD orders, or see how IVR and AI calls compare.
