Delivery for an online store: how to set it up on your site
Delivery is part of the product, not a technical afterthought once the order is placed. Here is how to build it into the site without losing orders at the last step.
Automatic cost calculation
Delivery cost should be calculated automatically by address or zone rather than 'confirmed by a manager after the order' — this is one of the leading causes of abandoned carts. Customers want to see the final total before paying.
For Tashkent, splitting the city into fixed-rate zones makes sense; for the regions, integrating with transport and postal companies that offer rate APIs works better.
In-house delivery vs. courier services
In-house couriers pay off with dense order flow within one city and give better control over service quality. For nationwide orders, in-house logistics becomes more expensive than integrating with an external service.
A hybrid setup — in-house delivery in Tashkent, external services for the regions — works for most mid-size stores.
Order statuses and communication
Customers need to see the order's journey: received, packed, handed to delivery, with courier, delivered. Without this, support drowns in 'where is my order' questions, especially in the first weeks after launch.
Telegram bot notifications are more reliable than SMS and add almost no extra cost compared to an SMS gateway.
Returns and exchanges as part of delivery logic
The return process needs to be planned upfront, not bolted on afterward: who pays for return shipping, the return window, and how it's reflected in inventory and accounting.
Transparent return terms on the site boost conversion on their own — some customers abandon orders precisely because of unclear return policies.