Short answer. Cash on delivery is the dominant payment method in Algeria and will remain so for years; the problem is not to remove it, it is to stop shipping the orders that will come back. Four of the six causes of refusal are handled before shipping: the impulse order, the order placed with several sellers, the delivery fee discovered at the door, and the customer who refuses out of habit. A simple process, confirmation within two hours, fees by wilaya shown before ordering, a score per phone number, a message the day before delivery, halves refusals for most of the sellers we work with. A system applies it for you from thirty orders a week.
This guide extends our answer to Instagram and WhatsApp sellers and our CIB and Edahabia online payment guide. It is for any seller, Instagram shop, e-commerce site or brand, delivering cash on delivery.
Why a customer refuses a parcel they ordered themselves
Refusal at delivery is not an Algerian whim, it is a mechanical consequence of cash on delivery: as long as the customer has paid nothing, the order is only an intention. Every hour between the order and the door is an opportunity to change their mind, and the selling system has often done nothing to reduce it. Here are the six causes we find in our clients' returns, with the remedy for each.
The sixth cause deserves a word. In every shop we analysed, a small minority of phone numbers concentrates a huge share of refusals: customers who order everywhere, refuse everywhere, and start again. Spotting them does not require artificial intelligence, only a memory: a score per number, and a deposit required above a threshold.
«As long as the customer has paid nothing, the order is only an intention. The job is to stop shipping intentions.»
The confirmation process that halves refusals
The process fits in five steps. It is done by hand under thirty orders a week, and by a system above that, because by hand you always skip a step on the busy evening.
Confirmation within two hours is the step that counts most: an automatic WhatsApp message the customer answers with one word, then a call if the message goes unanswered. It eliminates impulse orders and duplicates, and allows a slot to be agreed. The day-before message is the second: the absent customer is almost never acting in bad faith, they simply did not know the parcel was arriving today. Fees by wilaya shown before ordering remove the refusal of the total at the door. The rest, pickup point, score, conditional deposit, consolidates.
The deposit deserves precision. You do not ask everyone, that would lose half the sales. You ask above an amount, for expensive products for instance, and from numbers that have already refused. By CIB or Edahabia on a payment link, or by BaridiMob. A ten percent deposit is enough: it turns an intention into a commitment.
What a system does for you
From thirty orders a week, the process no longer holds by hand. A light ordering system, the one we describe in our custom delivery app guide, applies it without omission.
The component sellers underestimate is the last one: the refusal-rate dashboard by wilaya, by product and by carrier. Within two weeks it reveals that one wilaya costs you more than it brings, that one product comes back three times more than the others because its photo lies, or that one carrier loses your parcels on one line. These are decisions, not settings: stop home delivery in a wilaya and switch to pickup points, pull a product, change carrier on a line.
Where AI helps: WhatsApp confirmation at any hour, in Arabic and French, that understands "yes", "ok", "tomorrow" or "cancel", and routes ambiguous answers to the call queue. It is a modest and very profitable use. Predicting refusal before the order, on the other hand, requires months of clean data: start by recording it.
«The absent customer is almost never acting in bad faith. They did not know the parcel was arriving today.»
The numbers to track every week
- Confirmation rate: confirmed orders over received orders. Under seventy percent, your form lets through too many empty orders.
- Delivered refusal rate: refused parcels over presented parcels. That is the number that costs; track it by wilaya, product, carrier.
- Order-to-delivery time: every extra day adds refusals. Beyond four days outside big cities, the customer has often bought elsewhere.
- Share of repeat refusers: refusals from already known numbers. If it exceeds a third, your score is not yet used to block.
- Cost of a return: outbound, return, restocking, damaged product. Put the number on the table, it justifies the system within a month.
The mistakes we see among sellers
- Shipping without confirming because "it is faster". The parcel leaves fast and comes back slowly, at your expense.
- One delivery price for the whole country. You lose money in the South and customers in Algiers, and you create the refusal of the total at the door.
- Asking everyone for a deposit. Half the sales disappear. The deposit is conditional: high amount or risky number.
- Changing carrier without looking at numbers per line. A carrier is good on one line and bad on another. Decide by wilaya.
- Blaming the customer. The absent customer did not know the parcel was coming. The day-before message fixes more refusals than any blacklist.
Frequently asked questions
- What refusal rate is normal for cash on delivery in Algeria?
- Without a confirmation process, the sellers we meet often see one parcel in three, sometimes one in two, come back. With confirmation, fees shown, day-before message and score, most drop below one in six. The number depends heavily on the product and the wilayas served.
- Should we abandon cash on delivery?
- No, it is the dominant method and removing it would make most sales disappear. You must stop shipping orders that will come back, and ask for a deposit only above an amount or from risky numbers.
- Do pickup points reduce refusals?
- Yes, noticeably, for customers who choose them: the parcel waits for the customer instead of the reverse, and refusal at the door disappears. Offer it at ordering time, with a lower delivery price.
- How to ask for a deposit without losing sales?
- Only above an amount, or from numbers that have already refused. Ten percent by CIB or Edahabia payment link, or by BaridiMob. The rest of the customers never see this step.
- When do you need a system?
- Around thirty orders a week. Below, the process holds by hand with WhatsApp Business and a sheet. Above, you always skip a step, and every skipped step is a return.