Return to origin (RTO)
Definition
Return to origin, or RTO, is when a courier can't complete a delivery, or the customer refuses the parcel, and it goes back to the seller. The seller has paid for delivery both ways and earned nothing, and the problem is most common on cash-on-delivery orders.
Quiqup, a UAE delivery company, said in May 2026 that many UAE merchants see return-to-origin rates of 20 to 35 per cent, and that a realistic target is under 10 per cent. That is a delivery company's own estimate, not an official market figure, so use it as a prompt to measure your own. Quiqup also points out that a returned parcel means paying for logistics twice.
The ad platform has already counted the order as a sale, so RTO flatters ROAS until it's subtracted. Track the rate by campaign and by acquisition source, because it will differ between them, and cut or reprice the ones that bring the most refusals. Quiqup recommends WhatsApp order confirmation, nudges toward prepaid payment and address validation. Confirming the phone number and address before dispatch costs one message, and a Makani number or map pin gives the courier an exact door.
RTO rate = Orders returned to origin ÷ Orders dispatched × 100
Say a store dispatches 1,000 orders and 220 come back: the RTO rate is 22 per cent, and those 220 orders carried delivery costs both ways with no revenue.
Definitions are free.So is the cost review.
A short call, then a written review inside 72 hours: what your marketing costs, what it produces, and what is worth fixing first.