How to set up a cash-on-delivery online store?
Cash-on-delivery drives most sales in emerging markets: customers don't want to give card details to an unfamiliar site and prefer to pay when they see the product. Yet most store builders either ignore cash-on-delivery or bolt it on as an afterthought. This guide shows how to build a store that offers both card and cash payments together.
Why cash-on-delivery still matters
- Low trust barrier. A customer making their first purchase from an unknown brand won't enter their card info — but they'll order if cash-on-delivery is available.
- Customers without cards. Especially in small towns and local delivery areas, many people work in cash.
- Cart abandonment drops. A customer who says "I don't want to use a card" at checkout leaves entirely if there's no alternative.
The tradeoff is two risks: undelivered orders and delayed payment. Both are managed largely by narrowing delivery zones and confirming orders by phone or message.
Your Options
| Ready-made platform (Wibigo) | Marketplace | E-commerce package + plugin | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cash-on-delivery | Built-in, you control it | Usually included, their rules | Plugin, compatibility risk |
| Commission | None (your own Stripe account) | Sales commission | None but plugin/license fees |
| Your own brand | Yes, your domain | No, marketplace page | Yes |
| Customer data | Yours | Marketplace owns it | Yours |
| Setup time | Minutes | Hours (approval process) | Days |
Marketplaces bring fast sales but your customer becomes theirs; in the long run, you can't build a brand without owning your store.
Step-by-step with Wibigo
1. Describe what you sell
Start at Online store page and write your business in one line: "Homemade pastries and cookies in Ankara". AI builds you a store site with product catalog, cart, and checkout flow.
2. Update products, add photos
Replace the AI-generated catalog with your real products, prices, and photos. If you have product variants (size, color, portion), you define them once per product.
Details: Adding products · Generating products with AI
3. Enable cash-on-delivery and set delivery zones
When you enable cash-on-delivery, you define which areas you deliver to and any delivery fees. Keep zones tight: an order from an area you can't reach is a cancellation and wasted time.
Details: Receiving cash-on-delivery orders
4. Enable card payments too
For customers who prefer not to pay cash, keep card payment available. Card payments with Wibigo go through Stripe and land directly in your account.
Details: Getting paid by card
5. Manage orders and invoices from one dashboard
New orders appear in your dashboard; you mark them ready/shipped/delivered. For cash-on-delivery sales, they count toward revenue only when marked delivered — you don't count undelivered orders as sales.
Details: Managing your orders · Invoicing orders
Common mistakes
Leaving delivery fees off. Customers get surprised at checkout and bail; if you have a free delivery threshold, mention it on the product page.
Skipping inventory tracking. Selling something you don't have is painful in cash-on-delivery: customer can't get it at the door and you wasted a courier.
Not confirming orders. A quick "we're preparing your order" message for high-value cash orders significantly cuts delivery failures.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is cash-on-delivery really built-in, or is it a plugin? Built-in. It comes as a payment method with your own delivery settings — no third-party plugin.
Do you take a commission? Card payments go through your own Stripe account; Wibigo takes no commission on sales.
Can I sell in different currencies? Your store shows prices in the visitor's local currency based on their location.
Can I issue invoices? Yes, branded PDF invoices are generated from orders and emailed to customers.
I sell on Instagram, why move to a site? On a site, cart, inventory, order status, and invoices all work automatically — no more one-by-one DM replies or forgotten orders. You can also consolidate messages: social inbox.
Next: check the cash-on-delivery store page or start free.