COD share is the percentage of orders paid by cash (or UPI) on delivery rather than online at checkout: COD orders divided by all orders, times 100.
COD share = Cash-on-delivery orders ÷ All orders × 100
On the sample data below, six months come to 37.36%.
Why it matters
COD orders are more likely to be refused at the door, cost extra to collect and take longer to turn into cash. Brands track the share to decide on COD fees, prepaid discounts and pin-code limits.
Worked example
The table shows the columns this metric needs from six months of a made-up subscription brand. Add each column up over the six months, then put the totals into the formula:
| Month | Orders | Cash-on-delivery orders |
|---|---|---|
| 2026-01 | 702 | 281 |
| 2026-02 | 748 | 292 |
| 2026-03 | 812 | 309 |
| 2026-04 | 771 | 285 |
| 2026-05 | 846 | 304 |
| 2026-06 | 917 | 321 |
| Total | 4,796 | 1,792 |
1,792 ÷ 4,796 × 100 = 37.36%
Add up first, then divide. Averaging the six monthly figures gives a slightly different answer, because it counts a small month the same as a large one.
Month by month
| Month | Cash-on-delivery share |
|---|---|
| 2026-01 | 40.03% |
| 2026-02 | 39.04% |
| 2026-03 | 38.05% |
| 2026-04 | 36.96% |
| 2026-05 | 35.93% |
| 2026-06 | 35.01% |
COD % calculator
How to read it
Read it with RTO rate. A higher COD share is fine if those orders are delivered; it is the undelivered COD orders that cost money.
Common mistakes
- Partial COD (a token paid online, the rest on delivery) needs a rule: count it as COD or as prepaid, consistently.
- COD share differs by region and order value; a change in your traffic mix moves it without any change in behaviour.
- Payment failures at checkout push some customers to COD, so a payment problem can show up here first.
Calculate cash-on-delivery share in Excel, SQL or Python
The quickest version, for the sample sheet laid out as in the CSV (headers in row 1, months in rows 2 to 7):
=SUM(P2:P7) / SUM(N2:N7)- Cash-on-delivery share in Excel and Google Sheets — per-month formula and zero-safe version
- Cash-on-delivery share in SQL — query by month and for the period
- Cash-on-delivery share in Python (pandas) — pandas script with expected output
Related metrics
See all business metrics, or the statistics methods that sit behind them.
Questions people ask
- What is cash-on-delivery share?
- COD share is the percentage of orders paid by cash (or UPI) on delivery rather than online at checkout: COD orders divided by all orders, times 100.
- How do you calculate cash-on-delivery share?
- COD share = Cash-on-delivery orders ÷ All orders × 100. For example, with six months of sample data: 1,792 ÷ 4,796 × 100 = 37.36%.
- What is the COD % formula in Excel?
- With the sample data laid out as in the downloadable CSV, =SUM(P2:P7) / SUM(N2:N7) gives the figure for the whole period (format the cell as a percentage). For one month, use =P2 / N2 and fill it down.
- What is a good cash-on-delivery share?
- There is no figure that is right for every business: it depends on your products, prices and channels. Read it with RTO rate. A higher COD share is fine if those orders are delivered; it is the undelivered COD orders that cost money.
Check how stable it is
A metric moves for ordinary reasons as well as real ones. These methods separate the two: the spread shows what a normal month looks like, the moving average smooths it, the z-score flags a month that is out of line and the trend line shows the direction.
Guides
About the data on this page
The figures come from a small made-up dataset, printed above in full so you can check every number by hand. Download it as monthly.csv. The results are computed from those rows when the page is built, and the Excel formulas, SQL and Python on these pages are run against the same rows before publishing, so the code and the answers agree.
To get these numbers from your own data without writing formulas, try AnalyzeIt: ask in plain words and it shows the working behind every figure.
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