To COD or Not to COD: Delivery Options and Womanhood

 

To Our Dear Customers and Patrons,

We are so grateful for all of your support, especially as we continue to grow and evolve, especially in the online domain.

Our online store is one of our proudest achievements, and with it we wish to extend our personal service and flexibility to the convenience of your own home, for those outside of Mumbai and India, and to those who simply want to enjoy their lazy Sundays! (The struggle to leave the bed is REAL!)

As we build our store presence online, we are putting exceeding efforts to ensuring a process that is seamless, that is transparent and as intuitive as stepping into a physical store, to this end we have added little details like ultra-personal gift wrap, saree finishing options, a generous rewards program, local pickups and delivery and more!

One of our proudest features is the implementation of COD, and it is also the most challenging.

We were advised time and again that COD remains an unprofitable venture with an exceedingly high return rate, we ask for your help to prove those advisors wrong…

Every time a customer refuses to pay for a COD order we lose between INR 400-600 on that shipment, we have to pay our courier partners extra not simply for the COD service but also for the return shipment. Every time a COD order is returned, it reaches us after 15 days, meaning we have stock which is stuck in transit for months on end.

As a small business, our operating costs are a constant barrier to providing impeccable service, and unfortunately, we find ourselves burdened by a sudden increase in COD orders which are simply not paid for, and thus returned to us.

We remain committed to COD, in principle, especially as we consider the disparities in the economic and fiscal mobility of our primary market: women.

Even as we look on in pride at our rapidly growing country that holds tradition and modernity in such equal regard, many women still face curtailment in being monetarily independent, in being free of dispensing with their money; free from husbandly interference.

After lockdowns, women labour force participation dropped in India from 26% in 2012 to 19% in 2020, and whilst women compromise 48% of the population, they contribute to only 17% of the GDP.1

COD allows us to play a small part in allowing women to participate as, at least, de facto equals in our dynamic economy, by letting them use the “blouse money” they secret away. It is a small, liberating act but one that could seed seeds of hope in those that need it most.

We humbly request you to only place COD orders if you plan on accepting and paying for them: we maintain a highly-flexible, no-questions-asked returns/refunds process for all domestic orders, and we never make getting your money back any more a hassle than need be:

  1. You ask for a return and let us know the reason (including change of mind).
  2. We’ll arrange a pickup, we’ll inspect the product when we receive it.
  3. We'll promptly refund you your total (less shipping) on your original payment method…

It’s that simple! You can read our entire returns policy here.

We are so grateful for all your support.

Yours Sincerely and Humbly,

Kushagr

Sonali’s (rather distressed) Son

 

 

1 Mazumdar, Ronojoy and Archana Chaudhary. "90% of Women in India Are Shut Out of the Workforce". Bloomberg.com, June 1, 2022. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2022-06-02/covid-cut-india-s-women-out-of-the-job-market-now-90-aren-t-in-the-workforce.

 

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