How Varalife cut RTOs by 80% without removing COD

80%+

Reduction in RTOs

14%

Increase in fully prepaid orders

Meet the brand

Varalife founded in 2020 is a preventive health and supplementation brand built around one core idea: creating a “blessed life” (Vara - Life) through thoughtful, science-backed nutrition.

Meet the brand

Varalife founded in 2020 is a preventive health and supplementation brand built around one core idea: creating a “blessed life” (Vara - Life) through thoughtful, science-backed nutrition.

Challenge

“For a preventative health brand, checkout is basically a make-or-break solution when it comes to repeat purchases.”

Prithvi Chowhan, Co-founder, Varalife

Varalife wasn’t struggling to bring customers to its website. The brand had strong products, clear positioning, and a loyal customer base. The real challenge sat deeper in the funnel at checkout, where repeat revenue, operational risk, and customer trust all converged.

The team identified three structural problems.

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1. Checkout friction directly hurt repeat purchases

Varalife operates in preventive health, where customers buy month on month. Prithvi explained that while the first purchase is about credibility and education, repeat purchases are different.

“The second time a customer comes, they’re not looking for new content. They already know the product.”

At that point, checkout becomes the only repeated experience. Any friction—extra steps, slow flows, or unnecessary inputs - creates hesitation for customers who are otherwise ready to buy.

For a supplementation brand built on routines and consistency, even small checkout friction compounds over time and directly impacts repeat revenue.

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2. COD was unavoidable but came with heavy operational cost

The indian mindset, as Prithvi described it, is a “trust-deficit.” First-time buyers often expect Cash on Delivery, especially in health and wellness.

That cost showed up as:

Higher rejected deliveries
Increased return-to-origin (RTO) rates
Additional logistics and handling expenses

For Varalife, this was amplified because they sell premium, consumable products.

“Given that it’s something people consume, we want to minimize the entire to-and-fro as much as possible.”

Every rejected shipment wasn’t just a lost delivery but wasted inventory, added cost, and operational inefficiency.

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3. Native checkout lacked control over customer intent

When Varalife moved back to Shopify’s native checkout, the impact was immediate.

“We moved back to Shopify native checkout, and we immediately saw RTOs going up.”

The setup didn’t allow Varalife to manage customer intent effectively, especially for COD orders. All customers were treated the same, regardless of risk, behavior, or purchase context.

For a premium brand, this lack of control meant:

Low-intent COD orders slipping through
Higher RTO exposure
Limited ability to balance trust with risk

This gap is what pushed Varalife to look beyond its existing setup and reevaluate how checkout should work for a preventive health brand.

Evaluation criteria

Having tested native checkout and other checkout solutions, and seen the trade-offs firsthand, Varalife entered the evaluation process with clarity.

“Checkout partners should be considered as an extension of your website, not as vendors.”

They evaluated checkout solutions across four clear criteria.

1. Specialization over all-in-one platforms

Varalife’s internal philosophy is built on focus: one product per year, done right. The same lens was applied to checkout partners.

“When I look for solutions, I prefer people who specialize in one thing and do it really well.”

Prithvi Chowhan, Co-founder

Prithvi realized that for something as critical as checkout, they preferred a partner whose entire product roadmap was centered on checkout alone—not a feature bundled into a broader offering.

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2. Customer support was non-negotiable

“If someone tells me they’ll get back in 24 hours, I would immediately reject that solution.”

Experience with past checkout providers made one thing clear: even short disruptions could be extremely costly. This led to a hard requirement during evaluation.

Direct access to responsive, human support became non-negotiable.

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3. Checkout UX had to be self-explanatory

After evaluating and using different checkout experiences, Prithvi’s belief became stronger:

“If you have to explain a UI, that’s bad UI.”

The team looked for a checkout that required zero learning.

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4. Bundle compatibility was critical to growth

Bundles are core to Varalife’s AOV and repeat purchase strategy.

“People buy pack of two, pack of three. It helps increase AOV and helps with repeat purchases.”

During evaluation, it became clear that not every checkout solution they had previously used handled bundles cleanly, especially when inventory and backend workflows were involved. This made bundle support a must-have, not a bonus.

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5. India-specific controls for COD and risk

After moving back to native checkout and seeing RTOs rise, Prithvi knew the next solution had to reflect Indian buying behavior.

That meant:

Smarter COD handling
Risk-based flexibility
Control without blocking genuine buyers

Generic checkout setups didn’t meet these needs.

Solution & strategies

Once Varalife chose Shopflo, the objective was to regain control over intent, reduce RTO risk, and make repeat purchases frictionless without breaking customer trust.

Here’s how Shopflo addressed the challenges:

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1. Partial COD instead of blanket COD

Rather than offering full COD to every customer, Varalife introduced Partial COD with 10% paid upfront at checkout.

This small commitment helped filter low-intent orders while still supporting first-time buyers who needed COD reassurance. The result was better intent signaling without restricting access.

As Prithvi explained:

“Partial COD is a win-win for both the customer and the brand.”

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2. Risk-based payment visibility

Using Shopflo’s Risk scoring, Varalife stopped treating every customer the same.

Based on risk classification:

High-intent customers saw full COD
Medium-risk customers saw partial COD

Payment options adapted automatically at checkout, allowing the brand to control exposure before orders were shipped rather than dealing with RTOs later.

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3. Checkout optimized for repeat buyers

Shopflo simplified checkout for returning customers by removing unnecessary steps and reducing friction.

With address pre-fill, a clean UI, and a predictable flow, repeat customers could complete purchases quickly—exactly how a preventive health brand’s customers expect to buy.

“The second time a customer comes, they just want to buy.”

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4. Bundle-friendly checkout

Bundles are a core part of how Varalife drives higher AOV and repeat purchases, especially packs of two and three for customers who have already tried the product once.

Rather than relying on price cuts or sales, Varalife uses bundle discounts to encourage customers to commit to a routine.

As Prithvi explained:

“If someone has incorporated the product into their routine, it makes sense for them to buy more at a discount.”

Shopflo’s bundle support ensured:

Bundled products displayed cleanly at checkout
Discounts applied automatically without confusion
Inventory tracked accurately across single packs and bundles

This was critical because bundles weren’t just a front-end tactic—they needed to work end-to-end without breaking inventory or operations.

Over time, this approach shaped customer behavior naturally. Many first-time buyers starte

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Impact

1. Sharp reduction in RTOs

Before Shopflo, Varalife saw 5–7% returns on Shopify native checkout.
With partial COD and risk-based payment visibility in place, returns dropped to 1–2%.

That translated to an 80%+ reduction in RTOs, significantly lowering logistics costs and operational overhead for a premium, consumable product business.

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2. Healthier shift from COD to prepaid

COD wasn’t removed—but it became more intentional.

80–85% of orders are now fully prepaid
10–15% of orders use partial COD
Partial COD orders see a 97–98% successful delivery rate

This allowed Varalife to retain first-time buyer trust while dramatically improving delivery outcomes.

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3. Better intent signals for performance marketing

By filtering low-intent COD orders at checkout, Varalife improved the quality of purchase events sent back to ad platforms.

This ensured marketing systems optimized for high-intent buyers, not customers who place orders and later reject delivery—creating a positive loop between checkout and acquisition.

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4. Higher AOV through bundle adoption

With bundle-friendly checkout in place, customers naturally moved toward larger pack sizes over time.

Around 80–85% of first-time buyers upgraded to packs of two or three on their second purchase driving higher AOV without discounts or sales.

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Bottom line

That mindset, not just the tool, is what turned checkout from a risk into a growth lever for Varalife. As Prithvi summed it up best:

“Don’t think of checkout partners as vendors. Think of them as an extension of your website.”

Prithvi Chowhan, Co-Founder

Curious how this could work for you?

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