eCommerce order tracking: Why tracking packages is a must

eCommerce order tracking is a critical piece of your post-purchase strategy.

Not only does it make order processing easier for you and your team, customers expect it! 83% of online shoppers expect regular shipping notifications on their orders, and for around 70% of consumers, convenience and free shipping are the biggest online shopping incentives.

What is order tracking in eCommerce?

Order tracking in eCommerce is when you give automatic delivery updates to customers. Tracking includes updates like:

• Order confirmation
• Order out for delivery
• Delivery delays
• Package location or status

This is usually done through automatic emails, as well as SMS and branded tracking pages if you have the right omnichannel marketing system.

To be competitive in eCommerce, your shipping needs to be fast and simple. 53% of customers won’t even place an order if shipping details are unclear, and 43% of customers will abandon their cart if the shipping is too expensive.

This is a bare minimum expectation for customers!

Eases pressure on your customer service team

As you grow, manual shipping systems won’t cut it anymore. Order tracking and shipping integration will save valuable time getting parcels out the door, as well as reducing the number of “where’s my parcel?” inquiries you get.

Alleviates delivery anxiety

Delivery anxiety is when customers are anxious to get their parcel and keep reaching out to customer service. You can proactively stop this with order tracking.

VetShopAustralia started using Starshipit to reduce parcel inquiries and alleviate delivery anxiety.

Co-founder Steven Perissinotto’s favourite Starshipit feature is that he can send notifications to his customers at every stage of the delivery process.

“Many customers are nervous about their orders. Is it on the way? When will it arrive? Starshipit’s notifications functionality allows us to allay their concerns, which has also reduced the interactions these customers have with our customer service team.”

Reduces costs

eCommerce order tracking reduces inquiries and misdeliveries. A couple of these might still happen, but they can add up to a lot of wasted time and energy!

Luxury leather brand MAISON de SABRÉ saved both time and money using shipping integrations to track orders.

“We ship hundreds of orders a day and now save around 4 minutes per order when you’re doing high-volumes the minutes and seconds all add up. [Starshipit] is saving us so much time – which is our most important resource.”

So for example, if they shipped 100 orders in a day, that’s 400 minutes (or six hours) that they don’t have to pay someone and can spend on big picture tasks instead. Tracking parcels also means that they don’t have to spend hours chasing lost deliveries or responding to emails.

Time is money in eCommerce!

Meets customers expectations

24% of customers will abandon their order if you don’t have an estimated delivery date. 54% of online shoppers say that delivery times affect who they will shop with. Meeting your customers’ expectations, especially with shipping, is the best way to build loyal fans and scale revenue.

Founder Jane Lu went from a couple of shelves in her parents’ garage to a 4,700 square meter distribution warehouse. They now ship thousands of orders to over 80 countries. Their shipping had to be flawless to meet customer expectations!

Starshipit allows the Showpo Customer Happiness Team to provide customers with updated and reliable tracking on the spot.

That means they can update and print customer's labels quickly, whilst also providing them with accurate tracking information.

As well as keeping customers happy, using an order tracking integration saved them money.

Before Starshipit, they were losing a lot of money on the “last mile” of delivery. Starshipit has a robust and direct API integration with all their carriers and a webhook that allows them to validate addresses up front.

This means that they never encounter “unmanifested” parcels and is a big cost saver for the business.

Tips to use order tracking to boost eCommerce sales

eCommerce order tracking doesn’t just keep customers happy. It also helps boost sales! 81% of customers say that a positive customer service experience increases their chances of making a repeat purchase (i.e. things like simple order tracking).

Here are a few tips for using order tracking to boost repeat sales in your own business.

Turn shipment tracking into shipment marketing 🔊

With an effective post-purchase strategy, you can use order tracking to market to customers who have already converted.

When customers are waiting for their order to arrive, they are continuously checking in and have your brand top of mind. On average customers check delivery updates four or five times. That is a prime marketing opportunity!

Set up your automatic tracking emails and branded tracking page to give customers opportunities to engage in your community, leave reviews, and stay in your online “space”.

Be proactive 🏃‍♂️

If there are issues or delays with delivery, you should be automatically updating your customers. 69.7% of customers would be less likely to shop with a business that didn’t alert them to delayed shipping. Using a shipping integration like Starshipit will update your customers automatically.

Showcase who you are 🌟

Make sure you add a bit of personality to your order updates. This is the perfect opportunity to show customers a bit more about why your brand is amazing! Showing your social media feed (especially with user generated content) is a great way to get customers to keep engaging with you.

Delivery prompts 🔔

53% of customers won’t even place an order if shipping details are unclear. You should be giving them an estimate of when orders arrive before they even click “buy”. Not sure about the timeline for your shipping partners? Time to invest in a shipping integration that gives the estimates for you!

Live chat 💬

Even with great eCommerce order tracking software, customers may still have questions. Make it obvious how customers can email you or join a live chat to sort problems in real time.

Order tracking and delivery made easy with Starshipit

Order tracking in eCommerce keeps customers happy, boosts repeat sales and drastically reduces your admin time as you begin to scale. It is a must if you want to be competitive in eCommerce.

Starshipit is a shipping app designed specifically to help eCommerce businesses give first-class customer service. From automatic shipping prices to seamless order tracking updates for customers, you will save time and money while building wildly loyal customers.

Find out just how easy order tracking can be with Starshipit!