Cash on Delivery in Italy: A Guide for Merchants

TL;DR: Cash paid on delivery accounts for 1.6% of all online purchases by Italians (NetRetail 2026 survey by Netcomm, the Italian ecommerce consortium), but in stores that offer cash on delivery, almost one order in five is paid that way, and in Calabria and Sicily more than one in three (2022 data from an Italian shipping software provider). It is an important sales channel but carries high risk, because the customer can refuse the package: no public data measures how often that happens in Italy, and the real number is in your own orders. This guide covers everything: market data, real costs, prevention strategies (order checks, phone confirmation, faster delivery), legal aspects, carrier comparison, and how to turn COD from a problem into a competitive advantage.

This guide to cash on delivery in Italian ecommerce starts from the conviction that cash on delivery, in the Italian market, is not a relic of the past but a strategic opportunity, provided you know how to manage it. To manage it well, you need to know how much it weighs in your orders, what a refusal costs you, and which checks to run before shipping.

If you are a merchant selling (or planning to sell) in Italy, you will find everything here: the most recent public data we could find, real cost analysis, refusal prevention strategies, available technologies, legal considerations, carrier selection, and operational best practices.

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What is cash on delivery and how does it work

Cash on delivery, in Italian "contrassegno", is a payment method where the customer pays the order amount at the moment of delivery, directly to the courier. The courier collects payment on behalf of the merchant and, after a remittance cycle that depends on the carrier and the contract, transfers the amount to the seller.

The mechanism is straightforward:

The customer orders online and selects "cash on delivery" at checkout
The merchant prepares and ships the package
The courier delivers the package and collects payment (cash, card, or debit, varies by carrier)
The courier remits the collected amount to the merchant per their payment cycle
The merchant receives the amount, net of fees

The simplicity for the customer is also the source of risk for the merchant. With no upfront payment, the customer can refuse the package at delivery, and in practice recovering the shipping costs from them is difficult.

Cash on delivery in Italy: data and trends 2026

In Italy, cash on delivery accounts for a small share of all online purchases but a large one in some stores, sectors, and regions. Here is what the public data says, keeping in mind that each source measures something different.

National penetration

According to Netcomm's NetRetail 2026 survey, 94% of Italians' online purchases are paid at the time of ordering, and cash on delivery accounts for 1.6%. In stores that offer cash on delivery, however, the share is much higher, and it varies a lot by sector and region:

Measure	Figure	Source
Online purchases paid in cash on delivery, all Italians	1.6%	Netcomm, NetRetail 2026
Orders paid on delivery in stores that offer COD	almost 19%	shipping software provider, 2022 data
Fashion, in the same stores	31.7%	same source
Electronics, in the same stores	4.6%	same source
Calabria and Sicily	more than one customer in three	same source
Veneto	13%	same source

The two measures cannot be compared: the first counts all online purchases, services included, while the second counts only orders from stores that offer cash on delivery. In the data of the Bank of Italy (Banca d'Italia), from the ECB's 2024 survey, cards account for 51% of online payment transactions, but cash on delivery does not appear in that statistic, because an order paid on delivery does not count as an online payment.

Evolving trends

We have not found any recent public data series on how cash on delivery is trending in Italy, so no data shows whether COD orders are growing or shrinking.

The factors sustaining COD in Italy are structural:

Distrust of online payments
Negative experiences with online products: "I pay when I see" as consumer protection
Social ad purchases: traffic from Instagram and TikTok generates orders from users who do not know the brand and prefer not to pay in advance
Cash habits: for many customers, paying cash at the door is still the most natural way to pay

Why COD is strategic for merchants

For a D2C brand selling in Italy, cash on delivery can be worth a lot, and your order history tells you how much. Here is what to look at:

How many of your orders come in cash on delivery: that is the share of sales you risk by removing it
Where they come from: in Calabria and Sicily, in the 2022 data above, more than one customer in three chooses cash on delivery
How many COD customers, after a good experience, switch to prepaid on their next orders
COD functions as an acquisition channel: the customer tries the service risk-free, then becomes loyal

The problem: refusal rates and hidden costs

Cash on delivery has an intrinsic problem: the customer has not opened their wallet. This is why delivery refusals are more frequent than with prepaid orders.

What refusals cost

Every refused COD order generates costs that go far beyond the lost shipping. The amounts depend on your carrier contracts, and we have not found reliable public averages:

Cost item	What it depends on
Outbound shipping	The carrier's rate by weight and zone, already paid
Return shipping	Sending the package back to the sender
COD collection fee	The carrier's commission for collecting the payment
Depot holding fees	The days the package is held at the carrier's depot, under your contract
Warehouse re-processing	Receiving, inspection, and restocking

Add the lost revenue and the opportunity cost of the product locked in the logistics cycle for days.

Impact on an example ecommerce business

Consider an ecommerce operation with these example parameters:

2,000 COD orders per month
Average order value: €55
Refusal rate: 22%

The calculation:

440 refusals per month
Direct refusal costs (€15 per refusal, example value): 440 x €15 = €6,600/month
Lost revenue: 440 x €55 = €24,200/month
Annual impact: €79,200 in direct costs + €290,400 in lost revenue

These numbers explain why many merchants despise COD. But they also explain why those who manage it well have an enormous competitive advantage.

Causes of refusals

COD refusals have well-identified causes. We have not found any public data on how much each one weighs in Italy: you can see it in your own orders.

Impulse purchases with regret. The customer orders on the wave of an ad, then changes their mind. No financial commitment holds them.

Fraudulent orders. Fake data, product testing, organized fraud. The fraudster risks nothing: if the package arrives, fine. If not, no consequences.

Customer not home. Not intentional refusal, but the result is identical: the package is held at the carrier's depot and often returns to the sender.

Delivery data errors. Partial address, wrong house number, different doorbell name.

No cash available. The customer did not have cash ready at the time of delivery. Solvable with carriers that accept POS payments.

Strategy 1: Order checks and anti-fraud

The first layer of protection is checking COD orders before shipping, for example the address and the customer's history. With many orders, this check can become an anti-fraud system that gives each order a risk score. If your logistics is outsourced, ask which checks the warehouse runs and which ones are left to you.

How it works

A system of this kind looks at variables such as these.

Address validation: existence in the postal database, consistency between street/postal code/city
Address and phone history: previous refusals associated with those data points
Dynamic blacklist: database automatically updated with every refusal
Order timing: for example, orders placed at night
Order value: orders outside the category average
Traffic source: social ads vs organic search
Device and IP: geolocation, consistency with delivery address
Checkout speed: completion in seconds vs minutes

Orders can be split into three tiers, low risk (no extra check), medium risk (a confirmation, even by message), and high risk (phone verification).

Results

No public study measures how much a scoring system reduces refusals. You can see it in your own numbers by comparing the refusal rate before and after, with scoring alone and combined with phone confirmation.

For a complete deep dive: COD fraud prevention: pre-shipment checks and blacklists.

Strategy 2: Pre-shipping call center confirmation

Pre-shipping confirmation is one of the measures recommended by people who work with cash on delivery in Italy, especially for high-value orders. An operator calls the customer to confirm identity, address, product, and willingness to pay. If your warehouse makes the calls, ask on which days and at what times, because the sooner, the better.

Why it works

The phone call transforms a vague promise into a concrete commitment, given verbally to a real person. The psychological effect is powerful:

Those who were uncertain say so on the phone (the order is cancelled before shipping)
Those who gave fake data do not answer or are exposed
Those with data errors correct them during the call
Those who confirm have committed verbally, and the order ships with verified data

Doing the math

No public source measures the effect of confirmation on refusals. Do the math with your own numbers: the cost of a call compared with the cost of a prevented refusal (outbound shipping, return shipping, COD fee, depot holding fees, and re-processing). If you confirm only at-risk orders, the numbers add up more easily.

Full details: Phone order confirmation for COD: why and how.

Strategy 3: Faster delivery

The more time passes between order and delivery, the higher the risk of refusal. We have not found any public data measuring by how much in Italy, but the mechanism is clear.

The reason is psychological: the more time passes, the more likely the customer is to reconsider, find an alternative, or simply forget about the order. The sooner the package arrives, the less time the customer has to change their mind. Ask how long orders take to be prepared and what delivery times the carriers that collect cash on delivery state for your areas.

Amazon Shipping, for example, says it delivers in 24-48 hours, 7 days a week, in the areas its network covers. Working with a logistics partner that also ships with Amazon Shipping is one way to shorten delivery times on prepaid orders without changing the checkout. Cash on delivery does not appear among the services Amazon Shipping lists, so it is collected by other carriers (see the comparison below).

Learn more: Amazon Shipping in Italy: what it is and how it works.

Strategy 4: SMS and WhatsApp pre-delivery notifications

Proactive communication helps reduce missed deliveries. The cases published by software providers all point in this direction, although there are no independent studies. An effective notification flow includes:

Order confirmation SMS (immediate): product summary, amount, payment method
Shipment notification (when shipped): tracking link and estimated delivery date
Pre-delivery reminder (evening before): confirmation of upcoming delivery, option to reschedule
Delivery day notification: estimated time window

WhatsApp is the channel almost all your customers already have. In Italy, 86.1% of the population uses it, and it is the most widely used online service (2025 survey by Censis, an Italian social research institute). Open-rate figures circulate without a stated method, and no public source measures the effect on missed deliveries. Our guide to WhatsApp Business API pricing in Italy explains what these messages cost on the WhatsApp platform and which ones count as order notifications rather than promotions.

Strategy 5: Micro-deposits and prepayment

Two complementary approaches that reduce the volume of at-risk COD orders:

Micro-deposits

Asking the COD customer to pay €1-3 online as an "order confirmation," deducted from the total at delivery. This small financial commitment filters out non-serious buyers: someone unwilling to pay €2 to confirm will likely refuse the package.

The impact on conversion should be A/B tested. For some stores, the drop in COD orders is offset by the refusals avoided. For others, the drop is too high, and they choose not to implement it.

Encouraging prepayment without touching the price

Do not use price to encourage prepayment. Since 2018, Italian law no longer provides for discounts tied to the payment method (Italy's Council of State, judgment no. 2733 of 2026), and free shipping only for customers who pay upfront amounts to an extra cost for those who pay on delivery. The levers that do not touch the price remain, such as secure and fast online payments, saved cards and wallets, and easy returns. You measure how many customers switch to prepaid with a test.

For a complete comparison: Cash on Delivery vs Prepaid: Pros and Cons in Italy.

The integrated approach: combining the strategies

No single strategy solves the problem on its own, because each one acts on a different cause:

Strategy	What it addresses
Order checks and anti-fraud	Fraudulent orders, fake data, addresses with previous refusals
Call center confirmation	Undecided buyers, data errors, willingness to pay
Fast delivery	Time for second thoughts
SMS/WhatsApp notifications	Customer not home at delivery
Micro-deposits and prepayment	Non-serious orders, share of COD orders

No public data shows by how much refusals fall when all the strategies are used together. You measure it on your own refusal rate, before and after each step.

Carriers and COD in Italy: how to choose

Not all carriers handle cash on delivery the same way. Remittance times and COD fees depend on the contract with each carrier, so ask for them in writing:

BRT (Bartolini)

Payment methods accepted: cash and bank or cashier's checks, according to BRT's FAQ
Coverage: nationwide, with branches and BRT-fermopoint pickup points

GLS

Payment methods accepted: ask GLS, as they depend on your contract
Coverage: good nationwide

Poste Italiane

COD usage: used for rural areas and islands
Payment methods accepted: ask Poste, as they depend on your contract
Coverage: comprehensive

Amazon Shipping

Cash on delivery: not among the services Amazon Shipping lists
Key strength: fast delivery for prepaid orders (24-48 hours, 7 days a week, according to Amazon). Cash on delivery goes through other carriers

The optimal strategy is multi-carrier: a primary carrier for cash on delivery, with good coverage in the areas where you sell, and a fast carrier for prepaid orders where speed is the key factor.

Legal and tax aspects of COD

Amount limits

Since January 1, 2023, Italian law has banned cash payments of €5,000 or more (Article 49, paragraphs 1 and 3-bis, of Legislative Decree 231/2007, Italy's anti-money-laundering law). For ecommerce COD, in practice, carriers can set their own lower limits: check the one in your contract.

For high-value orders, POS at delivery (where available) bypasses the cash limit. This article is not legal advice.

Tax obligations

COD does not change the merchant's tax obligations. For the Italian Revenue Agency (Agenzia delle Entrate), an online sale of goods delivered by a carrier is a mail-order sale (ruling no. 198 of 2019), so an invoice is only needed if the customer asks for it by the time of the transaction (Presidential Decree 633/1972, Article 22), and sales without an invoice are entered in the daily receipts register (Article 24). VAT is due when you ship or deliver (Article 6), even if the carrier pays the collected amount to you later. From January 1, 2027, the same rules move into Italy's VAT Consolidation Act (Testo unico IVA, Legislative Decree 10/2026). The details are in our guide to cash on delivery rules in Italy, and tax choices are for you and your accountant.

The carrier remittance cycle creates a cash gap: the merchant incurs product and shipping costs today but receives payment days after delivery, according to the carrier's cycle. This gap must be planned in cash flow, especially during peak periods (Black Friday, Christmas).

Privacy and data

Pre-shipment phone verification is legitimate under GDPR as performance of a contract (legal basis Art. 6.1.b). The merchant is verifying data necessary to execute delivery, not doing marketing. It is still good practice to inform the customer at checkout that COD orders may be subject to phone verification.

Operational best practices for COD

At checkout

Do not add fees for customers who pay cash on delivery, because Article 62 of the Italian Consumer Code bans them (see the FAQ below)
Indicate that the order may be subject to phone verification
Collect a valid, mandatory phone number for COD orders
Offer the prepaid alternative at the same price, explaining its practical advantages

During preparation

Check at-risk COD orders before picking, for example by verifying the address or confirming the order with the customer
Prioritize confirmed COD orders for fast shipping
Include the exact cash amount on the carrier label

In communication

Send order confirmation with the total amount to pay on delivery
Send tracking with "please prepare €[amount] for the courier"
Send a reminder the day before delivery with the exact amount

Post-delivery

Track refusal rate by channel, geographic area, and price range
Record customers and addresses with previous refusals
Analyze every month where and why refusals happen, to adjust your verification rules

Getting started with COD (or optimizing it)

If you do not yet offer COD

Enable cash on delivery in your checkout, at the same price as the other payment methods (see the FAQ below)
Decide which COD orders to verify by phone, starting with the at-risk ones
Choose a primary carrier for cash on delivery, with good coverage in the areas where you sell
Monitor refusal rate weekly
After 30 days, evaluate results and decide whether to scale

If you offer COD but have a high refusal rate

Analyze the causes: where, when, and at what amount refusals occur
Check at-risk orders before shipping, with rules on order value, area, and history
Activate phone confirmation for medium-to-high-risk orders
Shorten the time between order and delivery, starting with the areas with the most refusals, and measure the effect
Activate SMS/WhatsApp pre-delivery notifications
Re-evaluate after 60 days, comparing the refusal rate with your starting point

If you want to fully delegate

A fulfillment partner with integrated COD management handles the operational side, namely checks before shipping, phone confirmation, shipping, and paying out collections. The merchant focuses on product and marketing, without needing to build in-house logistics capabilities.

How Tissquad can help

Tissquad handles logistics for cash-on-delivery orders for ecommerce brands, from its warehouse in Campania, near Naples. Before shipping, we check the address and, on request, confirm cash-on-delivery orders by phone, in Italian. In Italy we ship with GLS, BRT, Poste Italiane, and Amazon Shipping, and abroad with GLS, FedEx, DHL, and UPS, choosing the carrier based on weight, zone, and cost. Cash-on-delivery orders go out with carriers such as GLS and Poste Italiane. We usually pay out cash-on-delivery collections every week, with a summary of what was collected.

Want to work out how to manage cash on delivery in your store? Request a call with our team, the first one is free.

Frequently asked questions about ecommerce COD

Is cash on delivery disappearing in Italy?

No, but you need to look at the right numbers. Cash paid on delivery accounts for 1.6% of all online purchases by Italians (Netcomm's NetRetail 2026 survey), while in stores that offer it, almost one order in five is paid that way, and in Calabria and Sicily more than one in three (2022 data from a shipping software provider). If you sell in southern Italy or in fashion, removing it can cost you orders.

How much does offering COD cost a merchant?

The direct cost is the carrier's COD collection fee, which depends on your contract. The real cost depends on the refusal rate, because every refused package costs you outbound and return shipping, depot holding fees, and re-processing, with no payment collected. Calculate your rate (COD orders refused or returned to sender divided by COD orders shipped), and from there you can see whether COD is profitable.

Can I add a surcharge for COD?

No. In Italy the risk of a fine is high. Article 62 of the Italian Consumer Code bans charging consumers for the payment method, and for the Italian Competition Authority (AGCM) the ban covers every means of payment, cash and cash on delivery included. Since 2018, according to Italy's Council of State, discounts tied to the payment method are banned too. The carrier's cost goes into the price, the same for all. This article is not legal advice.

How does carrier remittance work?

The carrier collects at delivery and remits amounts to the merchant on a cycle set by the contract, which differs from carrier to carrier. This creates a cash gap that must be planned for, especially during peaks such as Black Friday and Christmas.

Does COD work for all sectors?

It works best for consumer products with a low-to-medium order value. For high-value orders, a refusal costs more, so stricter verification is needed, and people who work with cash on delivery in Italy recommend an extra confirmation before shipping them. For perishable products (food), COD adds the risk that the product is lost if refused.

Can I offer COD only in certain geographic areas?

Technically yes, but commercially risky. Limiting COD to some regions cuts off precisely the customers who choose it most, as in Calabria and Sicily, where, according to the 2022 data above, more than one customer in three chooses it. The better solution is offering COD everywhere with stricter verification for high-risk areas.

Is COD suitable for foreign brands entering Italy?

Often, yes, especially if you sell in the categories and regions where cash on delivery accounts for the largest share of orders. A foreign brand has no brand awareness in Italy, and COD is one way to overcome initial consumer distrust. The customer tries the product risk-free, and if the experience is positive, may switch to prepaid on subsequent orders.

How do you manage COD on TikTok Shop?

First, check in Seller Center whether cash on delivery is available for your shop, because at the time of writing (October 2026), we have not found an official TikTok Shop page listing it among the payment methods available in Italy. If it is, the same levers apply as for any impulse order, namely verifying at-risk orders before shipping and delivering fast.

What is an "acceptable" refusal rate?

There is no public threshold, because nobody in Italy publishes measured data on COD refusals. Your benchmark is your own history. Calculate COD orders refused or returned to sender divided by COD orders shipped, break the rate down by channel, area, and order value, and set your target against your starting point.

How long until I see results from an anti-fraud system?

It depends on your order volume and on the type of check. A scoring system needs real data to calibrate, so the first signals come after a few weeks, and it improves as it accumulates data on refusals and successful deliveries. Whatever check you use, measure the refusal rate before and after, on the same channels and in the same period of the year.

Cash on delivery can be a competitive advantage in Italy, if you know how to manage it. Tissquad prepares and ships your cash-on-delivery orders and, on request, confirms them by phone before shipping. Find out how it works.

This guide is part of the COD content cluster. Dive deeper: COD Fraud Prevention | Phone Order Confirmation for COD | Cash on Delivery vs Prepaid | How to Reduce COD Refusals | COD Management and Processing