Every parcel that comes back costs you twice: you pay the delivery charge going out, often a return charge coming back, and the product sits in a courier warehouse for days instead of earning money. If you sell on Facebook or your own website with cash on delivery (COD), returns are probably the biggest hidden leak in your profit.
The good news: most returns are predictable. They come from a small set of causes, and each one has a fix you can start today.
Why parcels come back
Before fixing anything, look at why your parcels return. In most shops the reasons fall into five groups:
- The customer was never serious — an impulse order, a prank, or a competitor.
- The customer forgot or changed their mind — the parcel arrived four days later and the excitement was gone.
- Wrong information — a wrong phone number, an incomplete address, or the wrong size.
- The product did not match the expectation — the colour, size or quality looked different from the post.
- The customer could not pay at that moment — no cash at home when the rider called.
Write down the reason for your last 20 returns. You will usually find that two of these five cause most of the damage — start there.
1. Check the customer's delivery record before you book
A customer who refused three parcels last month will probably refuse yours too. Courier companies keep a record of how many parcels each phone number received and returned. Look it up before you book.
- Mostly delivered: send as normal.
- Some returns: call and confirm first.
- Many returns: ask for an advance (at least the delivery charge), or do not send.
In eCommerce Autopilot this check runs by itself: the customer's courier record shows under the phone number while the order is being entered, and risky numbers are marked so the seller asks for an advance.
2. Confirm every order by phone (or message) within the hour
The longer you wait, the colder the customer gets. A short call — "Your order for the blue three-piece, size L, to Mirpur 10, total ৳1,850, is that right?" — catches wrong sizes, wrong addresses and unserious buyers before you spend a taka on delivery.
Keep the call short and friendly, and always repeat the total amount. Many returns happen because the customer did not know the delivery charge.
3. Take a small advance on risky orders
You do not need an advance on every order — that will scare away good customers. But for high-value orders, outside-Dhaka orders with a long delivery time, or customers with a bad delivery record, an advance of the delivery charge (or 10–20% of the price) filters out most unserious buyers.
Explain it politely: "To keep delivery costs low for everyone, we take the delivery charge in advance for this area."
4. Write the address the way the rider needs it
A rider who cannot find the house or reach the customer will return the parcel. Always collect:
- Full name and a working phone number (call it once)
- House/road/area, plus a landmark ("opposite the mosque")
- Thana and district
Watch out for the same phone number ordering twice in a day — it is usually a duplicate, sometimes a prank.
5. Ship the same day
Speed is the cheapest return-killer there is. An order shipped the same day reaches the customer while they still want it. Every extra day in your shop is a day for them to find it cheaper somewhere else or change their mind.
6. Tell the customer the moment the parcel leaves
A customer who knows the parcel is coming keeps cash ready and picks up the rider's call. Send a short message as soon as you book: the order number, the courier, the tracking link and the cash to pay at delivery.
eCommerce Autopilot sends this message by SMS and on Messenger by itself when an order is sent to the courier, so nobody has to remember.
7. Show the real product
"The colour was different" is one of the most common return reasons. Use real photos taken in daylight, show the fabric up close, write the exact measurements, and add a size chart. Promise exactly what you deliver — no more.
8. Follow up on every order that is waiting
Customers who started an order and stopped, or who confirmed but have not received the parcel yet, need a gentle reminder. A short follow-up ("Your parcel is with the rider today, please keep your phone on") lifts delivery success more than any discount.
9. Measure your return rate every week
You cannot improve what you do not measure. Every week, look at:
| What to look at | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Return rate per seller or page | Shows who confirms orders well |
| Return rate per area | Some areas need advances |
| Return reasons | Tells you which fix to work on next |
| Time from order to booking | Slow shipping means more returns |
When one seller or one page has far more returns than the others, the problem is usually in how orders are taken — train that person first.
Bringing it together
Returns are not bad luck. They come from unserious buyers, slow shipping, wrong details and broken expectations — and each of those has a simple fix. Start with the delivery record check and the confirmation call this week, then add same-day shipping and the "parcel is on the way" message.
If you would rather not do all of this by hand, eCommerce Autopilot checks the customer's delivery record while the order is typed, marks risky numbers, books the parcel with your courier and tells the customer — all from one screen. You can see what it costs or read how customer fraud check works in the Help Centre.