Delivery and returns decide whether a first-time buyer becomes a regular one. To set them up you make five decisions: who delivers, what you charge, how fast you promise, how you pack, and what happens when a customer wants to send something back. Write each decision down and put it on your website, because unclear delivery and no returns policy are two of the commonest reasons a shopper leaves without buying.
1. Who delivers?
| Option | Good for | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| A courier company | Most shops; reaches the whole country | Fees by weight and distance; check how they handle cash |
| Your own rider | A single town or city, same-day delivery | Wages and fuel, and days when the rider is away |
| Customer collects | Shops with a counter or store | Opening hours and someone to hand it over |
| A mix | Growing shops | More to explain on your website |
When you compare couriers, ask four things: what they charge by weight and area, how quickly they pay you the cash they collect, what happens to a parcel that is refused, and whether they give a tracking number.
2. What do you charge?
There are four common ways to charge for delivery.
- A flat fee for every order. Simple to explain; small orders pay a little too much and far ones too little.
- By area. Fairer, and close to what the courier charges you.
- By weight or order size. Right for heavy or bulky goods.
- Free above a set order value. Encourages bigger baskets; you pay the fee out of the extra margin.
Whichever you choose, show it before checkout. Work out the free-delivery level from your own margin, not from what another shop offers.
3. How fast do you promise?
Promise what you can keep on a bad day, not on a good one. State it as a range ("2 to 4 working days") and say when the clock starts: when the order is placed, or when payment is confirmed. Before a festival, publish a last order date for delivery in time.
4. Packing
- Use a box or bag that fits; empty space lets things break.
- Wrap anything fragile on every side.
- Put the order number and the customer's phone number on the outside.
- Put an invoice or packing slip inside.
- Photograph valuable parcels before they go, in case of a dispute.
5. Tell the customer what is happening
Most "where is my order?" messages come from silence. Send a message when the order is confirmed, when it is packed and when it leaves, with the tracking number. A page where the customer can check the order themselves saves you answering at all.
Returns
A returns policy is a promise that makes buying safe. It needs to answer five questions in plain words.
| Question | Example answer |
|---|---|
| How long do I have? | 7 days from delivery |
| In what condition? | Unused, with tags and packaging |
| What cannot be returned? | Food, underwear, items made to order |
| Who pays the postage? | You do if it was faulty or wrong; the customer if they changed their mind |
| How do I get my money? | Back the way you paid, within a set number of days |
Put the policy in the footer of every page and link to it from the product page.
When a return arrives
- Check the item against the order and the policy.
- Decide: refund, exchange or refuse, and tell the customer the same day.
- Refund the way the payment came.
- Put the item back in stock only if it can be sold as new.
- Note the reason. The same reason three times means the product page is wrong.
Fewer returns to begin with
Most returns come from a product that was not what the page showed. Honest photos, real measurements and a size chart prevent more returns than any policy.
Cash on delivery refusals
A refused parcel costs you delivery both ways. Confirm cash orders before packing, show the full total including delivery, and set a highest value for cash on delivery.
How Ceylumen Commerce handles delivery and returns
Ceylumen Commerce has shipping rules you set once, by area and order, and tax rules beside them. Customers get an email with a PDF invoice when they order and can follow the order on a tracking page, with or without an account. Orders move through confirm, pack, ship and refund in the admin panel, and messages go out by email and SMS as they do. It costs from $10 a month hosted for you, or $229 once to own it.
The short version
Choose a courier you have questioned, charge a fee you can explain, and promise a time you can keep. Tell the customer at every step. Write a returns policy in five plain answers, and make your product pages honest enough that it is rarely needed.