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How to Optimize the Post-Purchase Experience with All-in-One Package Tracking

parcelLab

Published on: Jun 24, 2022

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In today’s e-commerce world, where people purchase hundreds of items from online stores and marketplaces like Amazon, eBay, and AliExpress, offering all-in-one package tracking may be one of the best customer service strategies your business can implement.

That’s a pretty bold statement. Yet when you realize that in 2021 over 2.14 billion people worldwide were expected to buy goods and services online, providing your clients with an ideal shipping experience isn’t just a good idea — it’s a practice that can radically shape your company’s future.

Consider: 70% of retailers don’t bother communicating with their customers during the last stage of their buying journey following the point of sale (POS). Many brands even hand over control of the transportation of their packages to third party carriers like USPS or FedEx or couriers like UPS, China Post, or DHL.

This can cause big problems with customer relations if something goes wrong during delivery — particularly if you ship packages all around the world using international carriers. Getting shipments from places as diverse as China, Hong Kong, Singapore, and the Philippines is vital to many businesses, and being able to check on the status of their orders is an important part of providing good delivery services.

Fortunately, the all-in-one package tracking offered by Operations Experience Management (OXM) platforms like parcelLab provides you with an excellent way to stand out from other businesses by providing your customers with an excellent post-purchase experience. Let’s take a closer look at what all-in-one package tracking is, and how it can benefit both your company and your customers.

What is all-in-one package tracking?

All-in-one package tracking functions like a hub that enables people to track the status of all their orders and packages from the retailer. When you use an online platform like parcelLab, you’ll be able to send your clients automated, personalized shipping messages and provide a branded Order Status page that offers real-time delivery updates and targeted, high-value content.

Not only does this provide customers with the reassurance that their packages are on their way, your business will also have multiple chances to communicate with customers and generate rapport during the last mile process. This is particularly important in building trust with customers who request express mail (EMS) and insist on getting their packages delivered quickly.

And unlike many outsourced package tracker pages, the parcelLab platform is fully white labeled, giving you full control of the tone and style for all your emails and customer interactions. Customers who interact with the platform will also be driven back to your business’ online store, building more familiarity with your brand.

Using this all-in-one package tracking platform benefits your customer service team as well. When shoppers can get the tracking info they need themselves, you can reduce customer service inquiries to free up support resources.

And in the event that customers call to inquire about an order, a service agent will easily be able to reference an order number and see if an order is “processed,” “in transit” or “delayed.” Agents will even be able to tell customers if the package is located in a parcel locker, doorstep, with a neighbor, or at a parcel shop.

Having so much detailed information readily available improves the efficiency of your call center and lets them provide customers with great delivery service.

How can retailers implement all-in-one package tracking?

So, how can your company implement an all-in-one package tracking system that makes you stand out from other retailers?

To begin, you’ll need to keep all the components of your business — including your e-commerce store, order management system (OMS), fulfillment platforms, and customer comms solution — tightly integrated. Effective, efficient communication among your teams is key to keeping everyone appraised on the status of all your order numbers, so having systems in place to make relevant information available to your staff and customers creates a smoother sales process.

To assist in this, you’ll want to choose the right Operations Experience Management platform for your brand. OXM platforms — like those provided by parcelLab — gather, analyze, clean, and harmonize all the complex operational data from each customer journey. This includes data from dispatch, delivery, returns, and more.

By allowing an OXM platform to handle all of this data and translate it into real-time information, your business is free to create exceptional delivery services. Instead of turning over control to an impersonal third party, companies that invest in Operations Experience Management customize the updates and information they share with customers, adding relevant, personalized details.

This might mean:

    • Recommending related products, services, or upgrades based on what a customer has already ordered, increasing your repurchase rate.
    • Offering information like weather forecasts, opening hours, or traffic updates that affect when and how a package is delivered.
    • Using branded images, colors, and fonts in your emails that convey your business is personally invested in your customer’s satisfaction.

Proactively communicating with your customers is also important. Rather than wait for your customers to call you with questions or concerns about orders, take initiative by sending emails and other notices that keep them apprised of their package’s status and your company offerings. Thanks to the real-time updates offered by an OXM platform, you’ll be in an excellent position to anticipate your customer’s needs and satisfy them with relevant information.

Benefits of all-in-one package tracking

Email marketing remains one of the most cost-effective forms of digital marketing. And it might surprise you to learn that post-purchase emails are opened 8 times more than standard marketing emails. Customers that need their purchases simply have more incentive to open messages from UPS or FedEx and check their package tracking numbers.

This gives you an amazing opportunity to connect with your customers and build brand loyalty during the last mile process. As your buyers become more invested in the safe delivery of their products, your all-in-one package tracking emails will be there to provide them with the tracking info and delivery service they’ll remember long after they receive their packages.

The long-term effects of this improved customer service have a strong effect on business. Lidl, a German international discount retail chain that operates in 32 countries, has seen an 85% increase in return business from customers since incorporating parcelLab in its post-purchase experience. Customers receive proactive post-sales emails to keep them informed of their order’s delivery status as well as targeted messaging that encourages them to keep purchasing from Lidl’s online shop. Thanks to this, the size of their online orders has increased by 12%.

Likewise, Bose, a brand known for home audio systems and noise-canceling headphones, used parcelLab’s customizable platform to test different communication templates to see which ones would connect better with their audience. After fine-tuning a series of post-sales emails, Bose saw a 78.5% open rate on its transactional emails, as well as a significant drop in “Where is my order?” (WISMO) inquiries from customers.

Other benefits include a much more simplified communication and tracking page. FARFETCH, for example, is an e-commerce marketplace that ships its products from multiple brands, boutiques, department stores, and third-party warehouses. While this initially made the post-sales experience highly complex for customers who needed to track their deliveries with multiple package tracking numbers and links, parcelLab combined this diverse data into one tracking page, effectively solving a major customer pain point.

Final thoughts

Customer loyalty is the cornerstone of a successful business, yet many brands choose to ignore their existing customers even as they try to attract new ones. By showing shoppers they remain a priority to you after they purchase your products or services, you provide them with more incentive to keep doing business with you.

Of course, in order to provide an excellent all-in-one package tracking experience, you’ll need to be supported by a post-purchase provider that can handle your data and provide you with the information and insights you’ll need. Visit our platform page and discover our Operations Experience Management can enhance your customer service capabilities. Schedule a demo and learn how we can help your business provide the ideal post-purchase experience.

You may also be interested in What is Last Mile Carrier Tracking and How Does It Work?

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parcelLab