Editorial review
This article is reviewed by the Yanitly editorial team for product accuracy, privacy and security claims, and integration references. Technical claims are kept aligned with official documentation or observed Yanitly product behavior.
Updated: 2026-10-18
Across fashion, footwear, modest wear, cosmetics, home textiles, and boutique retail, a large share of sales comes from WhatsApp, Instagram DM, and Facebook Messenger conversations rather than website checkouts. For shoppers who do not want to share card details or who simply prefer to order by message, cash on delivery remains one of the strongest options.
The biggest risk of cash-on-delivery orders taken on social channels is the parcel that comes back from the door because it was shipped with unconfirmed or incomplete details. When an order is created before the shopper has seen the shipping charge, the cash-on-delivery service fee, or the total for the chosen size, it often ends with "I never agreed to this amount" at the doorstep. Yanitly's WhatsApp chatbot solution addresses this with a two-step summary and confirmation rule that is enforced on the server.
Protecting margins on cash on delivery is not about taking orders as fast as possible; it is about confirming the order only after the shopper has explicitly approved a clear summary of the item, variant, shipping, and service fee.
When cash-on-delivery sales on messaging channels are handled manually or by simple rule-based bots, four failure points stand out:
Every returned parcel costs the business two-way shipping and ties up popular sizes in transit for days.
On WhatsApp, Instagram DM, and Facebook Messenger, Yanitly never leaves the order to a single hasty step. The process has two complementary steps, and the assistant cannot skip the order between them.
Once the shopper names the product, color, size, and delivery details, the assistant first prepares an order summary. While preparing it:
The order is created only after the shopper explicitly approves that summary. The language model cannot bypass this rule on its own; the approval check runs on the server. For the approval to count, a current summary must have reached the shopper in the conversation, and the shopper must reply after it with a clear message such as "I confirm" or "Yes, please place the order". If a newer summary exists, the older one can no longer be approved.
If the approval cannot be matched to the summary, the assistant does not hand over to a person right away; it shares the current summary once more and asks again. If the same summary runs into the problem a second time, the conversation is passed to your team.
If the shopper reviews the summary and says "Make it size L instead of M" or "I need to change my address", the previous summary is no longer valid. The assistant prepares an updated summary with the new details and asks for a fresh explicit confirmation of the new total. The shopper and the business always agree on the same item and the same number.
If the shopper asks for the summary again without changing anything, the same details, including the phone number, return the same quote. This prevents several different summaries for one order and keeps it clear which summary an approval belongs to.
On WhatsApp, the shopper's number comes with the channel. On Instagram DM and Facebook Messenger there is no messaging number. Shipping a cash-on-delivery parcel without a number the courier can call puts the delivery at risk, so on these two channels the assistant asks for a delivery phone number during the summary step, and the number appears as its own line in the summary.
Order tools are switched off in Instagram and Facebook post comments. To keep shoppers from posting their address and phone number in public, the assistant invites them to a private message instead.
If the conversation starts with a product photo, the flow first finds the right variant through visual product search on WhatsApp and Instagram and then moves into this two-step confirmation.
Orders created from a chat are cash-on-delivery orders, and the summary carries the single cash-on-delivery service fee you define. The assistant does not create orders in chat with bank transfer, online payment, or any other collection method. If a shopper asks about a different payment option, that reply is not treated as approval of the cash-on-delivery order; the assistant clarifies or leaves the conversation to your team.
If the shopper ends up paying another way, for example in the store, authorized team members can change the payment method from the order screen in the panel by entering a reason. That change does not create a money record; the payment is then recorded separately at the cash desk.
Confirmed orders do not stay buried in the chat history; they land in the order list in your panel, where preparation, shipping, delivery, and return statuses are tracked.
With cash on delivery, the money can sit in three places: collected from the shopper, held by the courier, or transferred to the business. "Shipped" does not mean "paid". The Cash on Delivery screen in the panel shows these stages separately, matches the courier's bulk transfers to the related orders, and lists parcels that could not be delivered or came back as returns. When orders are entered manually, the color, size, and payment method fields never come prefilled with a default; the team member has to make each choice explicitly.
To launch the cash-on-delivery flow on your social commerce channels:
Use a WhatsApp chatbot to reply 24/7, capture leads and manage order or support requests from the Yanitly inbox.
Guides on visual product recognition, color-specific catalog image delivery, cash-on-delivery consent workflows, Click-to-WhatsApp ad funnels, and smart order/return verification across WhatsApp, Instagram DM, and Messenger.
Yanitly uses a two-step flow. First, the shopper receives an order summary with stock, shipping, and, if defined, the cash-on-delivery service fee. The order is created only after the shopper sends an explicit confirmation following that current summary; vague replies or replies to an older summary do not count.
When items, variant, quantity, or delivery details change, the previous summary is no longer valid. The assistant prepares an updated summary with the new details and asks for a fresh explicit confirmation of the new total, which prevents surprise disputes at the door.
Because these channels have no messaging number, the assistant asks for a delivery phone number the courier can call during the summary step. The number appears as its own line in the order summary, and no cash-on-delivery order is created without a valid phone number.
No. Orders created from a chat are cash-on-delivery orders with a single cash-on-delivery service fee in the summary. If the shopper asks about another payment option, the assistant does not treat it as approval; if the payment was made another way, authorized team members can change the method from the order screen with a reason.
