Online merchants have a lot to consider day-to-day. There are numerous crucial factors to take into account. These can include:
- Customer impressions and brand reputation,
- Ordering systems,
- Returns, and-
- Listing curation.
While often overlooked, order tracking can be a vital component in the customer journey.
Order tracking is an essential aspect of running an online store. It allows both merchants and customers to stay informed about the status and location of their orders. While large players such as Amazon offer order tracking, this can be a challenge for smaller organizations. For non-Amazon stores, such as In this blog post, we will explore 10 strategies to improve order tracking for non-Amazon stores.
While shipment tracking is often overlooked, it’s a crucial customer touchpoint. It can significantly influence customer experiences and brand perceptions. That’s why it can be important to find new ways to improve these experiences. We’ve put together a list of ways in which online store owners can work to improve their order-tracking experiences for customers. With the right strategy, you can work to streamline your order process and enhance customer experiences.
Table of Contents
1. Automate Order Creation
To improve order tracking, it’s crucial to automate the order creation process. This can be accomplished with an order management system that integrates seamlessly with Shopify. Additionally, you can consider using third-party apps that offer automatic order creation functionality. By automating this process, you can reduce manual data entry and the chances of errors in order tracking.
2. Streamline Order Fulfillment
Optimizing inventory management is a key strategy to streamline order fulfillment. By keeping accurate track of your inventory levels, you can avoid overselling and delays in order processing. Integrating with a reliable shipping carrier is also essential to ensure smooth order tracking. To that end, it can be helpful to choose a carrier that provides certain capabilities. These can include real-time tracking updates and a user interface that is useful to both merchants and customers.
3. Enhance Order Status Notifications
Customizing email notifications is a great way to keep your customers informed about their order status. Include personalized information such as expected delivery dates, tracking numbers, and customer names. Additionally, consider implementing SMS alerts to provide real-time updates to your customers. This way, they can stay updated on their orders even when they are on the go.
4. Simplify Returns and Exchanges
Creating a user-friendly return policy is crucial to simplify the returns and exchanges process. Clearly communicate your return policy on your website. Additionally, provide detailed instructions on how customers can initiate returns or exchanges. To further streamline this process, consider automating return shipping labels. This can save time for both your customers and your support team. Ultimately, these practices can streamline your ordering and returns system.
5. Improve Order Tracking Information
Providing real-time tracking updates is essential for a transparent order-tracking experience. Ensure that your tracking information is accurate and up-to-date. Integrate order tracking with customer accounts. This can allow your customers to easily access their order status and tracking information. This can reduce the need for them to reach out to your support team for updates.
6. Optimize Customer Support for Order Inquiries
Implementing live chat support on your website can improve the customer support experience. for order inquiries, customers can access help and updates on their orders without having to wait for an email response. Offering self-service order tracking can empower customers to find the information they need on their own. This can further reduce the need for support interactions.
7. Utilize Data Analytics for Order Tracking
Data analytics can provide valuable insights into your order-tracking process. Analyze order tracking data to identify patterns and areas for improvement. Look for common issues or bottlenecks that may be causing delays or confusion for customers. By using data analytics, you can optimize your order-tracking process. This can enhance the overall customer experience.
8. Make Order Tracking Improvements Incrementally
Improving order tracking should be an ongoing process. Instead of trying to embark on all strategies at once, prioritize key areas for improvement. Test and iterate on the changes you make to ensure they have a positive impact on your order-tracking process. Implementing improvements incrementally allows you to assess the effectiveness of each change. From there, you can make adjustments as needed.
9. Use Tracking Touchpoints
While tracking updates are often overlooked, they represent important customer touchpoints. These can be significant opportunities to enhance customer experiences. For instance, with Trackmage you can make product recommendations customers see on their order tracking pages. Leveraging customer data to connect the right audiences with products that meet their needs can be crucial. This touchpoint can be a significant opportunity for upsells.
10. Continuous Improvement
For enhancing customer experiences, continuous improvements can be vital. Ultimately customer experience improvement is an ongoing process. As you make changes over time, remain mindful of changing customer experiences. Leverage customer success data to hone your approach. Solutions such as Trackmage’s — which offers integrated after-delivery reviews — can help you glean vital insights.
Conclusion
Whether you’re operating a Woocommerce, Shopify, or other non-Amazon store, order tracking can be crucial. It can be an effective means through which you can work to provide a seamless and transparent experience for your customers.
By taking simple steps, you can often improve your customer experience. This can involve:
- Automating order creation,
- Streamlining order fulfillment,
- Enhancing order status notifications,
- Simplifying returns and exchanges,
- Improving order tracking information,
- Optimizing customer support,
- Utilizing data analytics,
- Leveraging customer touchpoints, and –
- Continuously implementing improvements incrementally.
A smooth order-tracking experience contributes to customer satisfaction. This can ultimately lead to repeat business and positive reviews for your store.
To learn more about automated order-tracking solutions, or to get started, don’t hesitate to reach out. At Trackmage, we can help you harness the power of shipment tracking. Start your free trial today.
