How do you handle cash on delivery safely?
Settle the order value with the courier before they collect it, then let them keep the cash they take at the door. The retailer is never exposed to a courier who does not come back, and the courier is not carrying someone else's money.
Why the usual way fails
The intuitive arrangement is that the courier collects cash and returns it later. That leaves the retailer carrying the risk for every delivery in progress, and it scales badly: the more couriers you use, the more outstanding cash you are exposed to at any moment.
It also creates an awkward conversation with a courier who is genuinely delayed, because the retailer cannot tell the difference between late and gone.
Settling up front
If the courier settles the order value before collection, the cash they collect at the door is theirs. The retailer has already been paid. Nothing is outstanding.
This requires the courier to have a balance, which is a real barrier for someone starting out, so it works best combined with a clear account of how balances and deductions operate, shown before anyone signs up.
The practical points
Tell the customer the order is cash before the courier arrives. A courier discovering it at the door is a dispute waiting to happen.
Record the settlement method on the consignment so a later claim can be checked against what was actually agreed.
Scorto settles cash orders courier-to-retailer before collection and records the settlement method on the consignment. Courier balances and every deduction are itemised in the courier app rather than summarised.