Cash-on-Delivery return-to-origin (RTO) drains margin — you lose freight both ways and restock the item. Shadow COD builds a private, per-store memory of how each buyer's past COD orders ended (delivered or returned) and, using a risk dial you control, hides COD at checkout only for buyers with a confirmed COD-RTO history. The sale is never blocked: those buyers use a prepaid method instead, so good and first-time customers are untouched. Just tag your returned orders and Shadow COD learns.

• Hides COD at checkout for buyers with a confirmed COD return history
• Learns automatically from your tagged returns — no buyer lists to maintain
• Risk dial (Conservative, Balanced, Observe) plus manual allow and block lists