You can have the prettiest store — if delivery is slow, expensive or chaotic, the buyer does not come back. Here are the decisions you must make, and how successful stores solve them.
Cash on delivery — the market reality
A large share of local buyers still prefers paying on arrival. Offer it — but combine it with cards (CaSys/cPay): every prepaid order carries less pickup-refusal risk. A small discount for online payment quietly shifts the habit.
Who pays for shipping
- Free above a threshold (free delivery over 2,000 MKD) — the most powerful trick: it raises the average cart
- A flat rate — simple and predictable for the buyer
- Hidden in the price — works, but free delivery as a message sells better
The courier contract
Ask about: price per parcel (and by volume), delivery times, rural coverage, remittance of cash-on-delivery money (how often it lands), and API integration — so labels and tracking flow automatically from the store, with no manual re-typing.
Returns — a policy upfront
A clear page: the return window, who pays return shipping, product condition. A clear policy does not increase returns — it increases the trust needed for a first order.
The small thing that delights
An automatic email: Your parcel is with the courier, tracking number… — one sentence that prevents 90% of the where-is-my-order calls.