Inside vs Outside Dhaka Delivery Charge: Automate It in Chat

Ask three people on a busy page team what the delivery charge to Ashulia is, and you may get three answers. One says ৳60 because "it's Dhaka". One says ৳120. One checks the courier app and says something in between. The customer remembers the lowest number, and the rider arrives with the highest.

Delivery charges look like a small detail. In a cash-on-delivery shop they are one of the most common reasons a total at the door does not match the total in chat. This guide shows how to set up delivery zones properly and take the charge out of human hands.

What do shops usually charge inside and outside Dhaka?

Most Bangladeshi online shops charge a lower flat fee inside Dhaka city and a higher one outside Dhaka, often with a middle fee for nearby suburbs. The exact amounts come from your courier's rate card and change from time to time, so treat any number you see online as an example.

A typical structure, with example fees:

Some couriers also charge extra per kilogram above a base weight, or a cash-handling fee on COD. Ask your courier for their current terms in writing.

How should you define your delivery zones?

Build zones from your courier's charges, then name them the way customers talk. A zone exists only if it has a different fee.

Four rules keep zones simple:

1. Match the courier. If your courier charges Savar the same as outside Dhaka, put Savar in Outside Dhaka. Your zone list should never promise a cheaper fee than you pay.
2. Keep it short. Two zones cover most shops. Three is fine. Beyond four, customers start picking the wrong one.
3. Name zones in plain words. "Inside Dhaka" and "ঢাকার ভিতরে" are better than "Zone A". Customers decide in a second.
4. List the edge areas. Write down which zone Tongi, Savar, Keraniganj, Narayanganj and Purbachal belong to. Put that list in your FAQ and your team's notes.

Why should the delivery charge never be typed by hand?

Every hand-typed delivery charge is a chance to quote the wrong fee or add it wrong. When the rider asks for ৳1,570 and the customer remembers ৳1,510, many customers refuse the parcel rather than argue.

Typing errors are not the only problem. When a team grows, people quote from memory, and memory is out of date the week your courier changes rates. A fixed list of zones, used by everyone and by any bot, means one change updates every quote. Mismatched totals are a common cause of the returns covered in how to cut parcel returns.

How do you automate delivery charges in chat?

There are four common ways to automate delivery charges, from simple to complete. Each step up removes more manual work:

The order form is the only method where the fee and the total come from the same source with no typing. The customer sees the fee next to each zone and picks theirs.

What the customer sees

On a well-built order form, each zone shows its fee and the new total, so there is nothing left to calculate:

Delivery area
( ) Inside Dhaka        Delivery ৳60  · Total ৳1,510
( ) Dhaka suburbs       Delivery ৳100 · Total ৳1,550
( ) Outside Dhaka       Delivery ৳120 · Total ৳1,570

On WhatsApp this form can open inside the chat, built with WhatsApp Flows. Read the WhatsApp Flows order form guide for how those forms work.

How do you handle tricky addresses?

Handle tricky addresses with a rule and a check, not a guess. Customers often write "Dhaka" for the whole division, or name a well-known place that sits on a zone border.

A typical chat:

Customer: Dhakar baire jabe? Ami Tongi te thaki Shop: Ji jabe. Tongi amader "Dhaka suburbs" zone e, delivery ৳100. Order korte chaile form ta fill up korun.

Three habits help:

• Ask when the address is unclear. "Dhaka" alone is not an address. Ask for the area and thana.
• Compare zone and address at confirmation. If a customer picked Inside Dhaka but wrote Dhamrai, fix it before dispatch and tell them the new total.
• Keep heavy items separate. If a 10 kg rice cooker costs more to ship, say so on the product and handle the surcharge in chat. Do not create zones for weight, or customers will pick the cheap one.

What about free delivery offers?

A free delivery offer is easiest as a temporary zone fee of ৳0. Change the fee for the sale period, announce the end date, and set it back when the sale ends.

Conditional offers, such as "free delivery above ৳2,000", need care. Many chat tools charge one flat fee per zone and cannot apply a condition by themselves. In that case, either make the offer unconditional for the sale or have your team adjust the qualifying orders when they confirm them. Tell customers which one you do.

How does SaleMag handle delivery charges?

SaleMag keeps delivery fees in the chatbot's order settings and lets the server, not the AI, add them to the order:

• You add up to 20 delivery areas, each with a flat fee and an optional Bangla label such as ঢাকার ভিতরে.
• The AI may tell customers the fees from that list, but it never states a fee you have not listed.
• On the WhatsApp order form, each area shows "Delivery ৳X · Total ৳Y", and the customer picks one before tapping Place order. Messenger and Instagram customers get the same form as a secure link.
• In in-chat checkout, the AI asks for the zone if the address does not make it clear, then sends an exact summary with subtotal, delivery and total.
• If you change a fee after the form was sent, SaleMag rejects the old form and sends a fresh one, so nobody orders at an out-of-date total.

What SaleMag does not do: it does not read your courier's rates, calculate weight surcharges or apply minimum-order free delivery. Those stay with your team.

Next steps

Get your courier's latest rate card today and write down your two to four zones with their edge areas. Then put them in one place that everyone, including your chatbot, uses. To let customers pick their own zone on an order form, start free with SaleMag or see pricing.