There’s a quiet period between “shipped” and “delivered” for all orders. The customer has paid, the parcel is moving, and nothing happens. Good shipment management helps fill that gap with clear, timely information, keeping customers informed and reducing doubt while their order is on the way.
This article is about the journey of shipment management, from checkout to the knock at the door. It also demonstrates how to handle each phase and how to keep customers updated. So, let’s get started.
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Customers tend to evaluate a brand based on its service. Just as much as by its product. This is supported by recent research.
The pattern is clear here. Customers are equally interested in getting the truth as they are in the speed of the parcel. Meanwhile, the smaller carriers are growing, making tracking difficult. A small team can still control the information. And that is where to start.
Good updates start before anything moves. 3 steps set the base.
First of all, quote a date your carrier can meet. A realistic date is better than a fast promise that slips. Brands that set realistic expectations and inform customers are more trusted than brands that promise speed, said Locus CEO Nishith Rastogi.
Expectations are tight, too. Almost two-thirds of U.S. consumers believe online orders should be delivered within two days. So, factor in a little extra for weekends and holidays. Then show the date at checkout and again in the confirmation email.
Next, check the address. Tracking exceptions are frequently caused by wrong addresses. Ask customers to review the address on the confirmation page. If anything seems amiss, such as a missing apartment number or postal code, contact the customer before shipping. A few minutes here prevents a returned parcel later.
Then create a single record for each order. A spreadsheet is suitable, but only for a small shop. As volume increases, an order or shipping system would come more in handy. Each record should contain:
This record will allow any member of the team to respond to a customer query without having to ask around.
The quiet stretch starts after the parcel departs. Effective shipment management helps your team track shipments and keep everything on schedule.
It is time-consuming to check each carrier site individually. A multi-carrier tracker eliminates that step. A free tool like trackmypackage.net detects the courier from the tracking number, so nobody has to guess which carrier handled the parcel. It supports more than 250 couriers and requires no registration to work. For example, a team member can paste multiple parcel tracking numbers from different carriers and read every status in one view.
For batch checks, track-package.io is great. It accepts up to 10 tracking numbers at once. This tool also allows you to download the results as a TXT file, which helps when you want a quick list of late parcels. Its history page keeps past searches in one spot as well. These tools show shipment status. The alerts themselves usually come from your store or shipping software, so the two work together.
Designate one person to run a daily check and have a backup for days off. The routine only takes a few minutes. Here’s what that person is supposed to do:
This way, the entire team sees the same story. It also provides you with a clear list of customers that need a message today.
Managing the parcel is half the job. The other half is telling the customer clearly what you know. Here’s what you can do.
5 messages cover nearly every order. And they are as follows.
Use the channel the customer selected at checkout. Email is appropriate for detailed updates, like shipping confirmation. A text message is appropriate for short messages, like out for delivery.
Also, make sure that each message does one job. So, people can read it in a few seconds.
Silence makes a delay feel worse. Effective shipment management includes proactive communication, and Locus found that over 90% of U.S. consumers report that proactive updates help make late deliveries less jarring.
Therefore, send the delay message as soon as you see the problem. So, send the delay message as soon as you see the problem. State in one sentence what happened. Provide the new delivery date. And let the customer know when the next update will be available. Bonus points if you include a simple method to respond and maintain a calm tone.
Include the tracking link at the top of the shipping e-mail. Use highlighted text so the customers can see the tracking number clearly. Then, check the page on a mobile device to ensure it is readable.
A shared status link is a viable alternative if your system is unable to create a branded tracking page. Additionally, both the aforementioned tools allow you to share results online, and neither requires user registration.
There will be some customers who will still write in. So, keep a short answer template ready with the order number, carrier name, last scan and the date of the last scan, as well as the next step.
The job is not complete at the “delivered” scan. Send a short note a day or two later asking if the parcel arrived in good condition and provide customers with a quick and easy method to respond.
This will help you catch damaged items early. Doing so also catches false “delivered” scans, which was one of the top reasons for frustration for UK shoppers in the Locus and PAN survey that was covered by IT Brief. Either way, you get a chance to resolve the issue before it becomes a complaint.
The quiet stretch between shipped and delivered is where customers form their opinion. Therefore, effective shipment management means quoting a delivery date your courier can meet, managing all carriers in one place, and communicating with customers before they ask.
Start small. For this week, take 10 recent orders and check the tracking number for each. Note where an update came. Or never came. And fix that gap first.
Looking for more practical insights and useful tips? Explore our blog for more helpful ideas and strategies.
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