The summer of 2022 will be remembered as ‘the summer of lost luggage’. However, the airport chaos will also be remembered as an example of what tracking can do. Or rather, what tracking can prevent. Besides making a product less likely to get lost, it also relieves customer support and helps to accurately manage consumer expectations – and it is especially important in e-commerce.
You would assume that tracking updates are a no-brainer, yet the opposite turns out to be true. In fact, ‘the summer of lost luggage’ shouldn’t have come as such a surprise. The study we conducted with Pollfish in 2022, which involved 1,000 UK consumers, revealed that many online retailers have no tracking updates at all. Almost 34% of consumers received a tracking notification only after the expected delivery date, and 22% received no delivery update at all.
This is a missed opportunity. With 45% of consumers naming ‘better tracking options’ as a reason to choose one carrier over another, track and trace notifications are more important than ever. After all, consumers want to know where and when to expect their order. Especially when the expected delivery time is not communicated at the checkout, an additional update can’t hurt.
In case the disruptions caused by the absence of tracking updates, and the data, haven’t persuaded you, here are some reasons why tracking updates are beneficial for both consumers and businesses.
1. Keeping track of customer communication
Tracking updates not only act as a source of information but can also be seen as an additional contact moment with the consumer. Tracking messages generally have a high open rate, as consumers are extremely engaged right after they have placed an order. So instead of seeing tracking updates as a necessary evil, you can also use them as a great opportunity to connect with the customer and increase sales. Think, for example, of sharing a personal discount code or providing a sneak peek of the new collection.
2. Save costs by increasing the delivery guarantee
In most cases, if a carrier has made two or more attempts to deliver a parcel, the package is automatically returned. Such a missed delivery opportunity is not only annoying for the consumer, but often also involves additional shipping costs. By keeping consumers informed about the status of their order step by step, you increase the chances of successful delivery. Nice for the customer, but also for you: that way you avoid unnecessary extra shipping costs. A win-win!
Pro-tip: do you have a lot of returns due to failed delivery attempts? Try tracking notifications via SMS. After all, with a phone in your pocket, a consumer is much more likely to read the tracking update right away and stay home to accept the parcel. Admittedly, SMS is not free, but the cost is much lower compared to a returned parcel.
3. Going abroad successfully
Are you considering shipping abroad? Then it might be worth looking into delivery preferences for different countries. The popularity of SMS, for instance, is a lot higher in France (66%) than in the UK (58%). Meanwhile, carrier tracking apps are more popular in the Netherlands (32%) than in other countries. Preferences can highly vary. For example, Spanish (42%) and Italian (39%) consumers really like WhatsApp while only 18% of UK-based shoppers would opt for this form of communication.
4. Unburden customer service with clear communication
The customer service team at online stores is often swamped with questions about the status of shipments. Ranging from ‘where is my package?’ to ‘my package is damaged’ or ‘my package is lost’, questions about the delivery status are a category of their own. By providing consumers with timely updates on the delivery status, you can significantly reduce the number of tickets for your support team. This not only saves your colleagues a ton of work but also directly increases customer satisfaction: after all, consumers do not have to take action themselves.
All in all, there is enough reason to start working with automated tracking notifications to prevent your customers from being left in the dark. Not only are you doing the customer a favor, but most importantly, you are doing so for yourself as well!