NDR stands for Non-Delivery Report. It's a notification from your courier partner that a delivery attempt for a specific order has failed. The courier couldn't hand over the package to the customer, and the order is now sitting in limbo, waiting for your next instruction.
Every NDR is a decision point. You can reattempt delivery (with corrected information), or let the order default to RTO (return to origin). Most courier partners allow 3 delivery attempts before automatically triggering RTO. The window between the first failed attempt and the RTO decision is typically 24-72 hours, and what you do in that window determines whether you save the sale or lose it.
In India, 15-20% of all ecommerce orders face delivery exceptions. Of those, 30-40% turn into RTOs if not actively managed. That means for a store doing 3,000 orders/month, roughly 450-600 orders hit NDR status, and 135-240 of those become full RTOs - lost revenue plus double shipping costs.
NDRs have specific, identifiable causes. Understanding them matters because each cause has a different recovery strategy:
Customer not available at delivery address (~30-35% of NDRs). The most common reason. The customer was at work, out of town, or simply not home when the delivery agent arrived. These are the easiest to recover, the customer still wants the order, they just need rescheduling.
Incorrect or incomplete address (~20-25%). Missing apartment number, wrong pin code, no landmark in a Tier 3 area. The delivery agent can't locate the address. Recovery requires collecting the correct address from the customer before reattempt.
Customer refused delivery (~15-20%). The customer changed their mind, found a cheaper alternative, or never seriously intended to pay (common with COD). These are the hardest to recover - but a well-timed call or message can still save 10-15% of refusals.
Invalid or unreachable phone number (~10-12%). The delivery agent can't reach the customer to coordinate. Often caused by wrong numbers entered at checkout. Recovery depends on having an alternate contact method.
Customer requested rescheduling (~5-10%). The customer wants the order but needs delivery on a different day or time. Easy to recover if acted on quickly.
A single unresolved NDR that converts to RTO costs significantly more than the shipping label:
Forward shipping: ₹60-80 (already paid)Return shipping: ₹60-80 (paid again to bring the order back)Packaging and handling: ₹20-30Payment gateway fees: ₹10-20 (non-refundable for COD processing)Product damage or depreciation: Variable - 5-10% of returned products can't be resold at full priceInventory blocking: The product sits in transit for 7-14 days instead of being available for another customer
Total cost per RTO: ₹150-250+, depending on product category, distance, and courier. For a brand with 200 RTOs per month, that's ₹30,000-50,000/month in pure logistics waste, not counting the lost sale revenue.
For a full cost breakdown and strategies to reduce RTO, see our guide to reducing RTO in ecommerce.
Effective NDR management is about speed. The faster you reach the customer after a failed delivery attempt, the higher the chance of a successful reattempt.
The entire flow from NDR notification to customer response should take under 2 hours. Brands that respond to NDRs within 1-2 hours recover 30-40% of failed deliveries. Brands that wait 24+ hours (or rely on the courier's default reattempt without customer outreach) recover under 10%.
A WhatsApp message sent immediately after an NDR notification is the most cost-effective recovery method. The message includes the order details, the reason for failed delivery, and quick-reply options: "I'm available now," "Update my address," "Reschedule to tomorrow," or "Cancel order."
WhatsApp NDR messages get 80%+ read rates and 40-50% response rates, far higher than SMS or email. The two-way nature of WhatsApp also lets the customer type out a corrected address or ask a question, which the support team (or chatbot) can resolve in the same thread.
For high-value orders or second failed attempts, an AI voice call is more effective. The agent calls the customer, explains the delivery failure, collects the correct address or availability, and confirms the reattempt - all in under 2 minutes.
Voice is particularly effective for NDR recovery in Tier 2-3 cities, where customers are more responsive to phone calls than text messages. It's also the only channel that works when the NDR reason is "phone unreachable" - calling at a different time may reach the customer when the delivery agent couldn't.
For a breakdown of when to use WhatsApp vs voice for NDR and other use cases, see our chatbot vs voice agent comparison.
Think of NDR as the warning and RTO as the consequence.
NDR: "This delivery failed. What do you want to do?" You still have a chance to save the order.
RTO: "This order is coming back to your warehouse." The sale is lost, and you're paying for return shipping.
Every RTO was an NDR first. The gap between the two is your recovery window. A strong NDR management process shrinks RTOs by catching and resolving failed deliveries before the courier gives up.
The typical flow: NDR → 1st reattempt (24 hrs) → 2nd reattempt (48 hrs) → RTO (72 hrs). Without intervention, the courier simply reattempts with the same information that failed the first time. With intervention (corrected address, confirmed availability, rescheduled time), the reattempt success rate jumps from 20-30% to 50-60%.
The best NDR is one that never occurs. Several pre-dispatch steps can reduce NDR rates significantly:
Address verification at checkout. Use pin code validation and address auto-complete to reduce incomplete addresses. Some platforms verify addresses against courier serviceability databases before order confirmation.
COD verification before dispatch. Confirming the customer's intent via WhatsApp or voice call before shipping catches fake orders and changed-mind customers before they become NDRs. See our COD verification explainer for details.
Delivery slot selection. Letting customers choose a preferred delivery window reduces "customer not available" NDRs. Even a simple "morning / afternoon / evening" preference helps.
Pin code risk scoring. Flag orders from historically high-NDR pin codes for additional verification or prepaid-only checkout. Data from your shipping platform can identify these patterns over time.
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