Key takeaways in 30 seconds
- An undelivered order is a sale you lost after paying to win it.
- Start by logging the reason for every failure before deciding anything.
- Your courier, offers and confirmation method directly move the rate.
In this article
In many Egyptian stores, performance looks good on the orders screen — then the truth shows up at delivery: a large share of orders is refused, cancelled or never arrives. For each of these orders you paid for the ad, the packing and the shipping, and got nothing back.
Why do orders fail after purchase?
Delivery failures repeat across most stores, and they fall into three groups:
- Customer reasons: not answering the courier, a change of mind after ordering, ordering from several stores and picking another, or not having cash on hand at delivery.
- Store reasons: the product looks different from the photos, the size is wrong because there's no clear guide, or the order took so long to pack that the customer lost interest.
- Shipping reasons: an incomplete or inaccurate address, late delivery, or a single delivery attempt with no contact beforehand.
Knowing which group your problem sits in tells you the fix: order confirmation, better product pages, or a different courier.
Track the reason behind every failed delivery
You can't improve what you don't measure. Keep a simple log for every failed order with the reason, courier, governorate and payment method, and review it weekly to see where the problem concentrates.
We tracked the reason behind every failed delivery, then switched to a shipping partner that fixed them.
Choosing the right shipping partner
Don't choose a courier on price alone. Ask for a trial or real data, and compare couriers on these criteria:
- Delivery rate in your governorates: performance varies by area, so measure it where your customers actually are.
- Cash collection speed: when do you receive the money from cash-on-delivery orders? It directly affects your cash flow.
- Tracking and communication: does the courier notify the customer before arrival, and can you track every order live?
- Delivery attempts and returns: how many attempts before an order is returned, and what do returns cost and how long do they take?
- Store integration: connecting the courier to your store — as we do with Bosta or Turbo on Shopify — cuts errors from copying addresses by hand.
Cutting down on non-serious orders
Many failed orders can be prevented before they ship, with a few simple steps:
- Confirm orders on WhatsApp: a short message or call after ordering to confirm address, size and delivery time — and nothing ships until it's confirmed.
- Clear decision info: a size guide, real product photos, and shipping cost and timing before checkout, so nothing surprises the customer at the door.
- Customer photo reviews: they close the gap between expectation and reality, so fewer orders are refused at the door.
- Encourage prepayment: offer online payment and instalments alongside cash on delivery; customers who've paid upfront are more committed to receiving the order.
- Fast fulfilment: the shorter the time between order and arrival, the less chance of a change of mind.
What happened in a real store?
- Delivery rate before
- 60%
- Delivery rate after
- 79%
- 30-day sales
- +95%
After fixing the failure reasons and changing the shipping partner, the delivery success rate rose 19 points — part of a wider plan that grew sales 95% in 30 days. Read the full case study. If you're building a new store, we connect shipping and payments as part of our Shopify store build.
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