• PAYMENT OPTIONS & PARTIAL PAYMENTS • SETUP GUIDE

How to Set Up Partial Payments and Upfront Deposits for COD

By Rivio Support Team
5 min read

How to Set Up Partial Payments and Upfront Deposits for COD

Cash on Delivery offers great convenience to shoppers, but unverified orders often result in high return-to-origin (RTO) courier costs when buyers refuse delivery. Collecting a small upfront deposit (such as 15% or a flat $10 fee) secures commitment from the buyer while allowing them to pay the remaining balance when their package arrives.

With Rivio COD & Partial Payments, you can create custom upfront payment rules with zero coding. Rivio calculates the deposit amount automatically and collects it securely during checkout.

In this guide, you will learn how to create your first upfront deposit rule and configure its cart eligibility conditions.

Before You Begin

Before setting up partial payments, confirm that:

  • Rivio COD & Partial Payments is installed and the theme app embed is active.
  • You have an active online payment gateway in Shopify (such as Shopify Payments, PayPal, or Stripe) to collect the upfront deposit amount.

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. From your Shopify admin, open Apps → Rivio COD & Partial Payments.

2. In the navigation sidebar, click Features, then select Payment options (or navigate to Features → COD verification and click the Payment options tab).

3. Click the Add payment option button.

SC-COD-007
Payment options dashboard highlighting the Add payment option button

Step 1: Configure Option Basics

4. In the Option name field, enter a title for your payment choice (e.g. Pay 20% Deposit Now, Balance on Delivery). This title appears directly in the customer popup.

5. Ensure the Status checkbox is set to On.

Step 2: Set the Upfront Payment Amount

6. Locate the Upfront payment amount section.

7. Open the Amount type dropdown and select your preferred calculation method:

  • Percentage of cart: Collects a percentage of the cart total (e.g., 20%).
  • Fixed amount: Collects a flat dollar fee upfront (e.g., $15.00).
  • Full payment: The customer pays 100% upfront (ideal for pairing with a prepaid discount).
  • Cash on delivery: The customer pays 100% upon delivery ($0 upfront).
SC-COD-008
Amount type dropdown in payment option rule editor showing percentage and fixed amount choices

8. Enter your desired percentage or dollar value.

Step 3: Configure Cart Eligibility Conditions

9. Under Payment option eligibility, specify when this option is available:

  • Cart boundaries: Set optional Minimum cart value or Maximum cart value limits.
  • Product conditions: Choose whether this deposit option applies to All products, Selected products, or Selected variants.
  • Postal code filters: Enter comma-separated eligible or excluded postal codes (e.g. 10001, 10002, 10010-10025).

Step 4: Customize Customer-Facing Wording

10. In the Payment description field, craft a clear explanation for the customer. You can use dynamic placeholders:

  • {{pay_now}}: The upfront deposit amount.
  • {{pay_later}}: The remaining balance due on delivery.
  • {{total}}: The total cart value.
  • Example: Pay {{pay_now}} now and {{pay_later}} upon delivery.

11. Review the dynamic Preview card on the right side of the screen to confirm your wording and calculations.

12. Click Save in the top-right corner.

Configuration Settings & Options

Setting Options Description Best Practice Recommendation
Option name Custom text Customer-facing title in the popup. Use clear, benefit-driven names like Pay 20% Deposit Now.
Amount type Percentage / Fixed / Full / COD How the upfront charge is calculated. Percentage of cart (15–25%) works best for variable cart sizes.
Minimum cart value Numeric ($) Hides the option below this order amount. Set to $30 to avoid micro-deposits on tiny orders.
Product restrictions All / Products / Variants Controls which catalog items qualify. Apply to custom, personalized, or fragile products.
Require only one matching item Checkbox If checked, only 1 cart item needs to match criteria. Keep unchecked if all items in cart must qualify.

Example Scenario

Protecting Margins on Custom Furniture Orders

A custom woodcraft store sells dining tables and chairs. Because each table is built to order, non-delivery results in severe financial losses. The merchant creates a payment option titled Custom Furniture Deposit (25% Upfront), setting Amount Type to Percentage of cart: 25% and selecting only their dining tables catalog. When a customer orders an $800 table, they pay $200 at checkout and the remaining $600 upon home delivery.

Important Notes & Limitations

NOTE

Same-Order Remaining Balance Workflow: When an order is completed with an upfront deposit, Rivio records the remaining balance directly into the original Shopify order notes, attributes, and timeline within 1 to 2 minutes after checkout. Store staff and delivery couriers can inspect the single order record to see the outstanding balance for cash collection without having to manage duplicate orders or secondary draft orders.

IMPORTANT

If you create multiple payment options, Rivio displays every option that matches the shopping cart in the order you arrange them. Use the arrow icons in the options list to prioritize your preferred choices.

Troubleshooting

The deposit amount does not appear when testing checkout

  • Possible Cause: The cart value does not meet your Minimum/Maximum cart limits, or the rule status is turned Off.
  • How to Fix:

1. Open Features → Payment options and ensure the status is toggled On.

2. Verify that your test shopping cart total falls within your configured eligibility boundaries.

Customers can still checkout with 100% Cash on Delivery

  • Possible Cause: You have an active Cash on delivery (100% on delivery) rule configured in the options list.
  • How to Fix:

1. Go to Features → Payment options.

2. Locate the full COD option and toggle its status to Off if you want to require deposits for all orders.

Related Guides

Need Help?

Have questions about setting up partial payments or deposit calculations? We're here to help!