Orders & Shipping
Returns, NDR & RTO
What NDR and RTO actually mean, what each costs you, how to respond to a failed delivery attempt, and how to bring your return rate down.
Not every parcel arrives. Three different things can go wrong, they cost you different amounts, and they need different responses.
The three words
| Term | What happened | What it costs you |
|---|---|---|
| Return | The buyer received it and sent it back. | Return shipping, plus restocking. You keep the goods. |
| NDR | Non-Delivery Report. The courier tried and could not deliver — nobody home, wrong address, phone unreachable, buyer refused. Still recoverable. | Nothing yet, if you act. |
| RTO | Return To Origin. The delivery failed for good and the parcel is coming back to you. | Both shipping legs plus packaging. The worst of the three. |
Responding to an NDR
An NDR is a warning, not a verdict. The courier will usually attempt delivery again — what you do in that window decides whether it becomes a delivery or an RTO.
Find out why it failed
The reason comes back with the NDR — nobody available, address not found, phone not reachable, buyer refused.
Call the buyer
Straight away, not tomorrow. Most NDRs are a buyer who was at work, not a buyer who changed their mind.
Fix the actual problem
Get a landmark for a hard-to-find address. Agree a time when someone will be in. Get an alternate number.
Ask for reattempt
With the corrected information.
If they genuinely do not want it
Let it come back rather than burning a third attempt. Note why — the pattern matters.
Handling a buyer return
Your return rules come from Business & GST details — whether returns are allowed, how many days, whether you exchange, and how refunds go back. They also generate the policy pages buyers read.
Per product, the Returnable switch in step 3 of the product form controls whether that specific item can come back at all — turn it off for made-to-order or hygiene items.
Reverse shipping is priced separately from the outbound leg. Compare return couriers on the Return Rates screen — see Rate calculator.
Once the goods are back with you, issue the money via Refunds.
Bringing your return rate down
Your RTO and return rate are on the dashboard under What happened to those orders, and in more depth in Website analysis.
Thirty seconds, and it is the highest-return thing on this list. The First-time customers filter on the Orders screen shows you exactly who to call.
Someone who has already paid takes the delivery. Use a payment-linked discount or Half Payment.
Turn COD off per product on your highest-value lines, and set a maximum COD order value.
Most genuine returns are “not what I expected”. Real photos, accurate dimensions, and a proper description prevent more returns than any policy does.
The Geography view in Website analysis shows where deliveries go wrong. If one region has a bad rate, try a different courier there.