Shipment Monitoring and Proactive Notification
Many online retailers are not proactively monitoring shipped packages. They are not even aware that a delivery is late, damaged or lost until their customer initiates a WISMO (Where Is My Order) call or submits negative seller feedback. 11.5% of shipments experience an issue in transit and these exceptions cost retailers time and money. In fact, each WISMO call costs about $5. These issues if not handled proactively damage merchant’s reputation and hurt customer loyalty. They should hence be given higher priority. There just isn’t enough time in the day to do everything that should be done, so this one typically falls by the wayside.
Cahoot solves this problem for its merchants by continuously tracking every shipment and sending real-time notification of any carrier-related issue that might impact your customer’s buying experience from purchase to delivery and everything in between. Things like weather delays, damaged packages, undeliverable addresses, change requests, missing scans, etc.
Use the Cahoot Automated Shipment Monitoring and Proactive Notification feature for pre-emptive customer service which leads to happier customers and higher ratings.
Alert: Attempted Delivery
What it means
The carrier was unable to deliver the shipment as intended, such as when an office is closed for the day, apartment building is locked, or mail box is full.
Why it’s important
Customers that don’t see a carrier’s attempted delivery slip may contact customer service looking for their order.
Recommended action
Inform the customer after 2 failed attempts or if the first attempt was made on the promised delivery date.
Alert: Delivery Delayed
What it means
The shipment may be delivered late due to weather, road or flight conditions, sorting errors, etc.
Why it’s important
It is well known that pre-emptive customer service mitigates the vast majority of negative customer sentiment related to late deliveries.
Recommended action
Send a notification to the customer about the possible delivery delay.
Alert: Undeliverable
What it means
The carrier is unable to reach the address or the customer.
Why it’s important
The customer must contact the carrier to arrange for collection of their shipment or it will be Returned to Sender.
Recommended action
Let the customer know about the carrier requirement and that the package will be returned if not collected soon enough.
Alert: Returned to Sender
What it means
The customer may have moved, or it could be the wrong address, or perhaps the shipment was a duplicate or damaged in transit.
Why it’s important
The customer may still be waiting for their order
Recommended action
Reach out to the customer to confirm address and work together on next steps
Alert: Shipment Correction
What it means
The carrier corrected the shipment weight, dimensions, or hazard classification.
Why it’s important
It’s good to know in case a customer service issue arises after delivery.
Recommended action
None. It’s just nice to keep a record of such things.
Alert: Customer Change Request
What it means
The customer asked the carrier for a future delivery date, an address change, a package hold, a change in service level, or similar.
Why it’s important
It’s good to know in case a customer service issue arises after delivery.
Recommended action
None
Alert: Damaged
What it means
The package or its contents were damaged by the carrier. Additionally, part of the shipment may be missing as a result of the damage.
Why it’s important
The customer wants their order ASAP.
Recommended action
Work with the customer to replace or refund the order for the best customer experience possible.
Alert: Unshipped Orders
What it means
You have Unshipped Amazon orders that must be shipped today.
Why it’s important
Late shipments impact your Amazon and Cahoot performance ratings.
Recommended action
Look into the orders right away and either ship them ASAP or communicate the delay to the customer.
Alert: Delivery Exception
What it means
The shipment is delayed for a less common reason than the other specific alerts monitored.
Why it’s important
From carriers replacing shipping labels to lost packages and everything in between, it’s your business to know the status of your shipments.
Recommended action
Have a defined plan for each delivery exception that aims to delight the customer.
Alert: Missing Scan
What it means
Yesterday’s shipment is missing an origin scan.
Why it’s important
The package may not be in transit to the customer.
Recommended action
Investigate the shipment to confirm it was processed properly. Wait another day and either ship again or reach out to the customer to communicate the delay.