The core focus of modern e-commerce brands is the customer experience. This has gained more and more attention as companies have realized that this part of their business comes down to trust – which will be the key deciding factor of whether or not a customer makes a purchase or returns in the future.
Trust is difficult to build and easy to lose. An important element to building trust with your customer includes order management factors, such as shipping times and dates, tracking numbers, and consistent communication through delivery notifications. Without these essential factors put in place, the customer will feel as if they’re taking a gamble with your business – when they should feel confident in their purchase instead.
Order Tracking
Order tracking allows you to monitor all of your online orders and shipments while communicating the order status to your customers. As mentioned before, order tracking includes features like parcel tracking, estimated delivery dates, and consistent updates on the order statuses through forms of email notifications and SMS (Short Message Service or text message).
Letting customers know exactly what to expect regarding their purchase and delivery is the backbone of earning their trust and in turn, customer loyalty. Without order tracking and constant communication, you can expect customer complaints or inquiries – which may hurt your business’s reputation and reviews.
Meeting Customer Expectations
Did you know: 97% of customers expect the ability to monitor their orders throughout every step of the shipping process. 98% of consumers say that shipping impacts their brand loyalty and nearly 84% of consumers would not return after a single bad shipping experience (whether it’s shipping speeds, false delivery dates, or poor communication). Click here for more sources.
Shoppers are now used to having full transparency in their orders. If you can’t provide a mandatory order tracking system, shoppers will realize their expectations and standards are not being met. This means confusion for the customer and poses a risk to customer loyalty. You could see your potential returning customer turn to a competitor. By providing order tracking that gives your customers real-time information, their expectations will be met and are likely to purchase from you again.
Fulfillment Control and Conclusions
Order tracking allows you to address any issues that may arise within the order fulfillment process. Without an order tracking system in place, the fulfillment process may be subject to many mistakes such as missed tracking information (un-automated), resulting in dissatisfied customers. When you have a correctly set up order management system, you’ll minimize unnecessary issues and build essential trust with your customers.
