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

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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.

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Why it’s important

Customers that don’t see a carrier’s attempted delivery slip may contact customer service looking for their order.

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Recommended action

Inform the customer after 2 failed attempts or if the first attempt was made on the promised delivery date.

Alert: Delivery Delayed

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What it means

The shipment may be delivered late due to weather, road or flight conditions, sorting errors, etc.

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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.

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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.