Before you start
- Your store is on the Basic plan or higher and uses Shopify Checkout.
- Cash on Delivery is set up as a manual payment method in Shopify admin → Settings → Payments, and at least one online payment method is active.
- For Partial COD, your store uses the Online Store with a theme that supports app embeds (any Online Store 2.0 theme).
Prepaid-only discounts
Mark selected discount codes as prepaid-only. While a buyer has one of these codes applied, Cash on Delivery is hidden at checkout. Removing the code brings it back.
- Open PrepayGuard from the Apps section of Shopify admin and go to Prepaid discounts.
- If the app says the payment rule is not active, follow its setup action.
- Under Payment rule settings, enter the name of your Cash on Delivery method exactly as it appears at checkout, for example "Cash on Delivery (COD)".
- Turn on the prepaid-only switch next to each discount code you want to protect.
- Click Enable cart cleanup, switch on Prepaid discount cleanupin the theme editor and save. It removes marked codes when buyers return to the storefront, including codes they typed in checkout. Other discount codes are kept. Stores using the Partial COD cart checkout embed already have this cleanup included.
- Test it: start a checkout, apply a marked code and check that Cash on Delivery is hidden. Return to the cart and check that the marked code is removed. On the next checkout, Cash on Delivery is available again unless another payment rule hides it.
Partial COD (beta): how it works
Partial COD lets buyers pay a small deposit online and the rest in cash when the order arrives. It works in the standard Shopify Checkout on every plan.
- In the cart, the buyer chooses Pay online, Partial COD or, if you allow it, Cash on Delivery.
- With Partial COD, the buyer pays only the deposit in Shopify Checkout.
- PrepayGuard puts that order on hold and creates a linked order ending in -COD for the balance, for example #1001 and #1001-COD.
- You ship only the -COD order. Your courier collects the balance in cash.
- When the -COD order ships, its tracking is copied to the buyer's original order, so the buyer gets the usual shipping email.
Set up Partial COD
1. Grant permissions
Open Partial COD (Beta) in the app and click Grant permissions. Partial COD needs access to orders, products and fulfillments to create the -COD order, put the deposit order on hold and copy tracking. These permissions are only requested if you use Partial COD, and you can remove them at any time.
2. Choose your settings
Open Partial COD settings:
- Deposit: a percentage of the product subtotal or a fixed amount per order.
- Shipping charges: collected online with the deposit (recommended), or on delivery. If you collect shipping on delivery, Shopify Checkout shows shipping as "FREE", but the buyer still pays it on delivery.
- Prepaid discount: an optional discount for buyers who choose Pay online.
- Offer full Cash on Delivery: when this is off, Cash on Delivery is hidden on every checkout and buyers choose between Pay online and Partial COD. When it is on, the cart also offers Cash on Delivery for the full amount.
- Cash on delivery payment methods: the names of your COD and other manual payment methods, exactly as they appear at checkout.
- Payment name on COD balance orders: match your store's COD payment name so shipping apps treat the -COD order as cash on delivery.
Click Save.
Saving with Offer full Cash on Delivery off hides Cash on Delivery straight away, even before the cart options are on. Do step 3 right after saving, or turn on full Cash on Delivery until your setup is finished.
3. Turn on the cart options
- In the app's setup guide, click Open theme editor, or go to Online Store → Themes → Customize → App embeds.
- Turn on Partial COD cart checkout and click Save.
- Optional: change which option is shown first, the text on each option and the colours.
The cart page and cart drawer now show Pay online and Partial COD in place of the theme's Check out button.
Coupons entered at checkout are removed when buyers return to the cart, so the payment offers are calculated from the cart without those coupons. The cart's product prices and total refresh along with the payment options.
4. Turn off Buy it now buttons (recommended)
"Buy it now" and express buttons on product pages skip the cart, so buyers who use them never see the Partial COD choice. Those orders go to checkout at full price, with Cash on Delivery hidden unless full Cash on Delivery is on. To send every buyer through the cart, open the theme editor, select the product page template and untick Show dynamic checkout buttons in the product information section.
5. Show buyers what they pay on delivery
- In Buyer notifications, add the balance notice to the Thank you page and the Order status page.
- Optional: paste the email snippet into your Order confirmation and Shipping confirmation templates (Settings → Notifications), so emails show the amount due on delivery.
6. Place a test order
Add a product to the cart, choose Partial COD and pay the deposit. Within a few seconds the order appears in Partial COD orders with a linked -COD order. Cancel and refund test orders when you are done.
What buyers see at checkout
| How the buyer checks out | Pays at checkout | Cash on Delivery at checkout |
|---|---|---|
| Pay online | Full price, minus the prepaid discount if you set one | Hidden |
| Partial COD | The deposit (plus shipping, unless moved to delivery) | Hidden |
| Cash on Delivery (if offered) | Nothing online; full price on delivery | The only payment option |
| Buy it now, express buttons or a direct checkout link | Full price | Hidden, unless full Cash on Delivery is on |
Ship Partial COD orders
- Ship only the -COD order. The buyer's original order is on hold and tagged "Do not ship". After the -COD order ships, the original order is marked fulfilled with the same tracking and archived.
- Shipping apps: import the -COD order as a COD shipment for the balance. Turn off customer notifications in apps such as Shiprocket, because PrepayGuard already sends the tracking to the buyer's original order.
- Order numbers: each -COD order uses the next order number, so your numbers skip, for example #1001, #1003. This is expected.
- Staff emails: Shopify sends the staff "New order" email for each -COD order as well. The buyer is never emailed about the -COD order.
Partial COD order statuses
| Status | What it means |
|---|---|
| Ready to ship | The -COD order exists. Ship it. |
| Shipped | The -COD order shipped and the tracking was copied. Nothing more to do. |
| Creating | The -COD order is being created. This takes a few seconds. |
| Deposit not paid | The buyer has not paid the deposit yet. Use Check again once it is paid. |
| Failed – will retry | A temporary error. PrepayGuard retries automatically, or click Retry. |
| Needs review | The order could not be processed automatically, for example because it was edited or uses another currency. Fix the cause, then click Retry. |
| Paid in full | The buyer paid everything online. Ship the original order as usual. |
If an order is missing from the list, enter its order ID under Process an order manually on the Partial COD orders page.
Turn Partial COD off
- In Partial COD settings, switch off Offer Partial COD and click Save. Then turn off the Partial COD cart checkout app embed so the theme's Check out button returns.
- If you remove the Partial COD permissions, Partial COD is turned off automatically and the app explains how to turn it back on.
- Turning Partial COD off in settings does not affect orders that already have a -COD order: ship them as usual and the tracking is still copied. If you remove the permissions instead, tracking is no longer copied, so fulfil those original orders yourself.
Beta limitations
Partial COD is in beta. Before relying on it for all orders, check:
- On stores that charge tax, that the taxes on the -COD order match your expectations.
- That your courier or shipping app imports the -COD order as cash on delivery.
- That the cart options look right in your theme on desktop and mobile.
Tell us what you find. Your feedback decides what we improve next.
Troubleshooting
The cart still shows the theme's Check out button
- Check that the Partial COD cart checkout app embed is on and the theme is saved.
- Check that Offer Partial COD is on in Partial COD settings.
- Reload the store in a private window to rule out a cached page.
No -COD order was created
- Open Partial COD orders and look for the order and its status.
- For Failed or Needs review, follow the message and click Retry.
- If the order is not listed, use Process an order manually.
Cash on Delivery is missing at checkout
- This is expected when Offer full Cash on Delivery is off. Turn it on if you want to keep offering full Cash on Delivery.
- For prepaid-only discounts, check whether the buyer has a marked discount code applied.
Contact
Support: info@launchurplatform.com
Include your shop domain, the order number and a screenshot without customer details. Never send passwords, customer personal information, card data or Shopify access tokens.