Why proactive tracking is important

Whether you’re an e-commerce retailer, supply chain person, or customer, we’ve all raced through these common questions whilst waiting for our packages: “Where is my order? Has it shipped yet? How long will it take? Will I be home when it arrives?”

Customers worry if they’ll miss a delivery or if the package is left outside. Not knowing whether your order is ‘out for delivery’, ‘delivered’, or ‘delayed’, can really add additional stress that we all don’t need.

Providing customers with delivery tracking is now an industry norm. However, many e-tailers continue to rely on multiple shipping partners to provide tracking updates. These carrier sites often lack visibility and customers regularly bounce back and forth between the store website and the courier site for order status information.

One survey found 93% of customers would like to receive regular communication about their packages, while 47% will skip buying from a retailer altogether if there’s a “lack of visibility” during the delivery process.

So, to improve the customer journey, we have to think creatively and act proactively.

The post-purchase experience

By automating how you track packages and send status notifications, you can reduce shipping anxiety to a thing of the past.

What’s more, by being proactive with tracking information, your customers will no longer need to deal with long tracking numbers and having to track packages on their own.

Customized notification triggers that will send an email or SMS with a status update can help extend your customer service beyond the point of purchase and reduce customer questions, saving time and money. Real-time tracking events will ensure customers are never left in the dark and are a way to establish a bond of trust.

Full shipment visibility

Having insightful tracking data in one place can help resolve delivery incidents faster, while providing full visibility for you and your customers.

By aggregating tracking events for multiple couriers into one portal, you can keep a close eye on where your orders are and can receive real-time updates.

It’s important for any e-commerce business owner to ensure tracking begins as soon as orders leave your stores or warehouses, so customers can keep tabs on their purchases every step of the way from shipment, to transit, to delivery, and then also on return.

Additionally, a system that employs smart technology to automate the generation of shipping documents and commercial invoices will offer a streamlined approach to tracking your stock globally. This can also help you provide quality customer support and quicker package resolution.

It’s always frustrating to return home to find a courier card in your letterbox informing you that a delivery attempt was made. Often, couriers fail to leave a notification of the missed delivery, leaving customers having to trawl through their online order pages in search of more information. With proactive notification triggers, you can give customers up-to-the-minute shipment location and status information so they are never left in the dark.

Proactive in-channel notification triggers can keep the customer informed of delivery status updates ahead of time. Tracking notifications are generated, sent and recorded automatically and if customized with a company’s imagery and text, can be a strong marketing tool.

By notifying customers with key status triggers such as ‘out for delivery with courier’ or ‘package awaiting pickup’, you can provide a convenient, stress-free experience.

No matter where you are shipping to and from, using a platform to combine all carrier tracking information provides a seamless last-mile experience for your customers.

Keeping track of your shipments and orders also gives you the opportunity to measure various metrics and KPIs, and with enough data, you can monitor and evaluate the performance of carriers in each of your regions.

Ask us about shipment tracking and visibility today.