Confirm Shopify Cash on Delivery Orders and Cancel Unconfirmed Ones

12 min setup
No coding required
Runs automatically

Cash on delivery orders that nobody confirms often come back as failed deliveries and return shipping costs. This workflow texts and emails the customer when a COD order comes in, follows up a day later if the order still isn't marked confirmed, then either cancels it or adds a note for your team, depending on the risk you set.

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Shopify logo icon
Shopify Order Created (Trigger)
Twilio Send SMS
Email Send Email
Shopify Retrieve Order
Twilio Send SMS
Shopify Retrieve Order
Shopify logo icon
Shopify Cancel Order

How it works

12 steps to confirm every COD order before you ship it

Shopify logo icon

Shopify Order Created (Trigger)
App connector: Shopify • Time to complete: 1 minute

Runs for every new Shopify order.

Filter
App connector: Filter • Time to complete: 1 minute

Continue only when the order's payment gateway is Cash on Delivery (COD).

Twilio Send SMS
App connector: Twilio • Time to complete: 1 minute

Text the customer's phone number with the order number, shipping address and total, asking them to confirm. Your team (or a confirmation form workflow) adds the tag cod-confirmed once they do.

Email Send Email
App connector: Email • Time to complete: 1 minute

Send the same confirmation request to the customer's email address.

Delay
App connector: Delay • Time to complete: 1 minute

Wait 24 hours.

Shopify Retrieve Order
App connector: Shopify • Time to complete: 1 minute

Load the order again to read its current tags.

Filter
App connector: Filter • Time to complete: 1 minute

Continue only if the order's tags do not contain cod-confirmed and the order isn't already canceled.

Twilio Send SMS
App connector: Twilio • Time to complete: 1 minute

Send one follow-up text saying the order will be held until it's confirmed.

Delay
App connector: Delay • Time to complete: 1 minute

Wait another 24 hours.

Shopify Retrieve Order
App connector: Shopify • Time to complete: 1 minute

Load the order again.

Paths
App connector: Paths • Time to complete: 1 minute

If the order is still not tagged cod-confirmed: on the high-risk path (for example, the shipping region or postal code is on your high-return list, or the customer is tagged high-rto), cancel it in the final step; on the other path, use Shopify Update Order Notes to add 'COD not confirmed after 2 follow-ups, call before shipping'.

Shopify logo icon

Shopify Cancel Order
App connector: Shopify • Time to complete: 1 minute

On the high-risk path, cancel the order with the reason 'customer' and restock its items.

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Ready to confirm every COD order before you ship it

Get setup in 12 minutes.

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FAQs

How does an order get marked as confirmed?

The workflow checks for the order tag cod-confirmed. Your team can add it after a reply, or you can build a second workflow where a MESA form (order number plus phone) finds the order and adds the tag.

Can it send WhatsApp messages instead of SMS?

MESA's Twilio step is Send SMS, so this template confirms orders by text message and email. If your customers prefer WhatsApp, send the confirmation request by email with a link they can reply from, and keep SMS as the follow-up.

How do I decide which orders to cancel?

Set the high-risk path to whatever predicts failed deliveries in your store, such as postal codes or regions with a high return-to-origin rate, a customer tag, or an order total above a limit. Everything else gets a note instead of a cancellation.

Will it cancel orders that were confirmed late?

No. The order is loaded again right before each check, so a cod-confirmed tag added at any point before the last check stops the workflow.

Personalize this template

Customize this workflow even further:

Set custom delays
Schedule actions to trigger after a set time period, such as sending follow-up emails 3 days after an event.
Chain multiple actions
Connect several steps together in one workflow, like tagging data, updating records, and notifying your team simultaneously.
Store data in tables
Save order details, customer preferences, or custom metrics in your own database for reference and reporting.
Deploy AI agents for smart decisions
Let AI agents evaluate complex scenarios and choose the right action path based on your defined rules.

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