Glossary
Cash on delivery (COD) in Tunisia
What cash on delivery means, why it dominates Tunisian ecommerce, and how to run it without losing money.
Definition
Cash on delivery (COD) is a payment method where the customer pays for the order at the moment it is delivered, rather than online in advance. The courier collects the money and it is remitted to the merchant afterwards.
Why it dominates in Tunisia
Paying by card online asks a customer to trust a shop they have never bought from before they have seen anything. Cash on delivery removes that leap: the money changes hands once the parcel is in front of them. For a new shop that is the difference between an order and an abandoned cart, which is why it stayed the norm here while card-first checkout became standard elsewhere.
What COD actually costs you
The order is not revenue until the courier is paid. Some parcels are refused at the door, some customers cannot be reached, and the goods travel twice for nothing. That is why confirming the order by phone before dispatch is standard practice here, and why knowing which orders are still uncollected matters more than a simple sales total.
How to run COD without losing track
- Confirm the order by phone before the parcel goes out
- Keep payment status on the order, not in a notebook
- Know what is out for delivery and what has been collected
- Watch refusals per customer, not only per order
- Reconcile courier remittances against your own records
COD on YeloScale
Every order carries its payment status from the moment it is placed until the courier hands it over, with call attempts recorded against the order and parcels created straight from it. Cash on delivery is what the platform is built around, not a payment option bolted onto a card-first checkout.
Frequently asked questions
Is cash on delivery still the main payment method in Tunisia?
It remains the method most local shoppers expect, particularly when buying from a shop they do not already know. Most Tunisian online stores are built around it rather than treating it as a fallback.
What happens when a customer refuses the parcel?
The goods come back to you and the delivery has cost you money without a sale. Confirming by phone before dispatch is the usual defence, which is why call attempts are worth recording against the order.
How do I know which COD orders have actually been paid?
Payment status has to live on the order itself and update as the parcel moves. A sales figure that counts dispatched orders as revenue will overstate what you have actually collected.
