Understanding Payment Offers

A prepaid offer (also known as a prepaid payment discount) gives your shoppers a small discount when they choose a prepaid payment method like UPI, card, or wallet, instead of Cash on Delivery (COD). These offers can be configured in different ways based on the payment method.

There are a few types of prepaid offers you can set up, depending on your brand’s goals:

Percentage discount – e.g., 10% off on prepaid orders
Percentage discount with a cap – e.g., 10% off, up to ₹100 on debit or credit card payments
Flat amount discount – e.g., flat ₹100 off when you pay online
Freebie item – e.g., get a free gift when you pay via UPI

It’s a flexible way to reward customers while steering them away from COD.

Payment offers are a proven way to reduce RTOs, lower delivery failures, and improve margins. Since prepaid orders are less likely to be returned or cancelled, this offer helps drive better operational efficiency while rewarding customers for upfront payments.

Prepaid offers are applied automatically at checkout when the customer meets the set criteria. It’s displayed clearly on the payment selection page, so the customer sees the offer right when they’re making the decision.

The #1 Challenge Every D2C Brand Faces

No matter what you sell — apparel, beauty, snacks, or skincare — COD returns are one of the biggest headaches for D2C brands. When customers choose Cash on Delivery, many change their minds, orders come back, and you’re left juggling refunds, restocking, and disrupted budgets.

Benefits of Payment Offers

As a D2C brand, you’re always thinking about cash flow, reducing returns, and finding ways to scale smoothly. Prepaid discounts help tackle all three by:

Reducing Return-to-Origin (RTO): Shoppers who pay upfront are 70% less likely to return orders, cutting costly reverse logistics.
Improving Cash Flow: Immediate payments mean more available working capital for inventory, marketing, or growth initiatives.
Enhancing Revenue Predictability: Upfront revenue allows for better forecasting and budgeting, reducing financial uncertainty.
Streamlining Operations: Fewer returns translate to less time spent on refunds and restocking, freeing teams to focus on growth.
Boosting Customer Commitment: A small discount for prepayment encourages shoppers to follow through, increasing order completion rates.
Strengthening Margins: Offering a nominal discount upfront often costs less than processing a return, protecting overall profitability.
Creating Competitive Advantage: Unique prepaid offers differentiate your brand, giving shoppers a clear incentive to choose you.

How to Create a Payment Offers

Detailed Guide

Prepaid payment offers help you convert more Cash on Delivery (COD) orders to prepaid payments by giving customers extra incentives.

This step-by-step guide explains how to set up a prepaid payment offer, making it easier for customers to choose prepaid methods.

Step 1: Go to the payment offers section.

Step 2: Select create payment offer to start setting up your new offer.

Step 3: Enter a title for your prepaid payment offer.

Note: Payment Offers are applied automatically when the chosen payment method matches your setup.

Step 4: Select the type of discount you want to offer.

Choose from:

Percentage discount (e.g., 10% off)
Percentage discount with a cap (e.g., 10% off, up to ₹100)
Fixed amount discount (e.g., flat ₹100 off)
Freebie item (e.g., add a free gift)

Step 5: Select payment modes where the offer applies. Encourage customers to pick your preferred method by offering tailored discounts.

Step 6: Review all offer details and ensure everything looks right.

Step 7: You can set cart conditions to control when the payment offer becomes active — or choose to apply it universally without any conditions. Here are the main options:

No Conditions: The offer applies regardless of cart value or contents.
Purchase amount of items in the cart: The offer activates when the cart total reaches a minimum amount
Number of items in the cart: The offer kicks in when the customer adds a specified number of items to their cart.

These conditions can be scoped more precisely:

Entire Cart: The rule evaluates the full cart against the condition.
Specific Products in Cart: Only triggers if selected products meet the threshold
Products from a Specific Collection: Applies when items from a defined collection hit the value or quantity minimum

Note: You can also set min and max values or quantities here.

Step 8: Define who’s eligible for the payment offer:

All customers
First-time customers
Lifetime order customers
Specific customer or segments
UTM parameters

Step 9: Decide who will be eligible for this discount:

All customers
First-time customers
Lifetime order customers
Specific customer or segments
UTM parameters

Step 10: Preview your payment offer and edit the description as needed.

Click on Create Discount and your discount will be created

Step 11: Once satisfied, turn the toggle on to enable the status of you discount on the checkout

You’ve now set up a prepaid payment offer to motivate your customers to use prepaid methods at checkout.

This helps reduce COD orders and encourages customers to choose prepaid payment methods which means lower RTO and more conversions for your brand.

Examples from D2C Brands

RawRx

RawRx is your go-to for natural and effective supplements, inspired by Ayurveda. They skip the synthetics and use real food, like fruits and herbs, to fuel your well-being.

Using Shopflo’s prepaid offers, RawRx were able to increase their prepaid orders by 500%. This has also caused a decrease of 75% in their RTOs.