Online shoppers rely on timely shipments, and it’s good business to keep them in the loop. One McKinsey & Company survey found that roughly 50% of online shoppers awaiting packages actively track the status of their deliveries. Such shipping notifications can improve the customer experience and encourage repeat purchases for your business.
To help keep your customers in the know, learn more about how shipping notifications work, the automated notification systems you can use, and how to optimize them.
What are shipping notifications?
Shipping notifications are messages that inform customers about the status of their package deliveries. These updates typically include tracking numbers, estimated delivery dates, and real-time shipment location details. Businesses use ecommerce shipping software or apps to automatically send these messages through a variety of communication channels.
For example, Shopify merchants can set up automatic shipping notifications using Shopify’s built-in shipping software, including text message notifications, email notifications, and push notifications on the Shop app. They can also set up automatic updates for other messaging or social media channels such as WhatsApp, which syncs with Shopify to send automatic order updates through the messaging system.
Automatic shipping notifications help merchants set clear customer expectations and create a smoother delivery process. These shipping notifications include key details such as product type and quantity, origin address, recipient address, contact details, delivery time frames, and tracking information that customers can use to check real-time updates about shipment status.
Companies also benefit from these automated messages, as they help reduce customer inquiries and provide an opportunity to make additional product recommendations.
How shipping notifications work
Businesses can configure shipping software like Shopify Shipping, AfterShip, TrackingMore, or ShipStation to automatically send order confirmation notifications after successful payment processing triggers. These software tools can connect orders and customer data with specific tracking numbers to automatically send shipping notifications after an order ships or arrives at a carrier’s distribution warehouse for last-mile delivery.
Common types of shipping notifications
Here’s a breakdown of the main types of shipping notifications businesses can send to customers using automated shipping software.
Shipping confirmation
After a processed order is sent to a logistics center, items are prepared for shipping. Once a shipping carrier picks up a shipment from a merchant’s logistics center, the merchant updates the order status to “fulfilled” in their shipping software, triggering an automatic shipping confirmation message to the customer.
This shipping confirmation notification provides essential details about a shipment, including the name of the shipping carrier or courier and an estimated delivery date. Examples of shipping confirmation notifications include messages like “Your order has shipped” or “Shipment in transit.”
Delivery notifications
When a shipment arrives at the nearest distribution center, it’s packed onto a smaller truck or delivery vehicle for last-mile delivery. Customers then receive delivery notifications to inform them their delivery is on the way with messages like “out for delivery” or “tendered to delivery service provider”—meaning a shipping carrier has passed a shipment off to a localized delivery service for last-mile delivery.
These messages confirm the customer’s address and any delivery instructions they requested.
Shipment exceptions
Shipment exceptions are messages that let customers know if there are unexpected issues with their delivery, from supply chain issues to bad weather or damaged goods. Shipping carriers update the order status with shipment exceptions, and merchants can customize exception notification messages using their shipping software. These notifications may include discounts or store credits to mitigate the disappointment of the delay. Examples of shipment exception notifications include phrases like “delivery delayed” or “delivery rescheduled.”
Merchants typically send shipment exception notifications as soon as issues occur to explain the problem, establish a new delivery time frame, and apologize for the inconvenience.
Returns notifications
Depending on your company’s return policy, you can send shipping notifications to keep customers updated about how they can return merchandise they don’t want. For example, when a customer sends a return request, you can approve the request and send a return notification with a shipping label the customer can print to use.
Return notifications can include shipment tracking information for the return shipment, so that customers can check the status of their return as it travels back to the seller. Notifications like “return requested” and “return approved” let customers know they can ship items back, while notifications like “item received” or “refund issued” communicate that the process is complete.
How to optimize your shipping notifications
- Choose an all-in-one ecommerce platform with built-in shipping software
- Personalize your shipping notifications
- Avoid sending too many shipping notifications
- Improve the customer experience after shipping delays
Consider these best practices when you want to send effective shipping notifications to your customers.
Choose an all-in-one ecommerce platform with built-in shipping software
Manually sending shipping notifications is time-consuming and can result in costly errors. Find an ecommerce platform with built-in systems to send automatic shipping notifications after a trigger event, like an order being placed or shipped. An integrated, all-in-one ecommerce platform creates a more automated process than mixing several different technology tools.
Using Shopify’s integrated shipping and order management software tools, you can purchase a shipping label from a carrier directly on the Shopify admin dashboard for a specific order. The order tracking number will automatically connect to that order since everything takes place within the same ecommerce ecosystem. Once a tracking number is connected to an order in the system, it will automatically send a shipping confirmation email or SMS message to the customer, as well as notification updates at different stages of the shipping process, such as when the order is out for delivery.
Personalize your shipping notifications
Send shipping notifications that are personalized both to your brand identity and to the customer. Use your brand name, logo, and color scheme, as well as your brand’s established voice and tone. Include the customer’s name in the message and product recommendations based on their previously purchased items. For example, Shopify merchants can customize their shipping notifications under the Notifications section on their Shopify admin dashboard to add brand assets and change the language used in messages.
Avoid sending too many shipping notifications
No customer wants to be bothered with a flood of package delivery notifications. Sending too many messages can annoy customers, potentially making them ignore them altogether. Consider limiting your notifications to key events like an order being confirmed, shipped, sent out for delivery, and delivered. Shopify merchants can configure which notifications will automatically be sent to customers by checking or unchecking specific notifications under the Notifications tab on the Shopify admin dashboard.
Another factor to consider is what hours you send shipping messages. Notifications—especially text messages—sent too late at night or early in the morning can appear unprofessional and even disrupt your customer’s sleep.
Improve the customer experience after shipping delays
When your shipments experience unexpected delays or issues, you’ll receive a notification from your shipping carrier. To maintain good customer relationships, avoid relying on simple automatic shipment exception notifications alone.
Reach out to customers directly and offer incentives like special promotions, discounts, or store credits. Provide customers with a clear explanation for the delay, along with an updated delivery time frame provided by your shipping carrier. Offer discounts or credits with well-informed product recommendations as a gesture of goodwill.
Shipping notifications FAQ
What is a shipping notification?
A shipping notification is a message sent to a customer about the status of their package delivery. Ecommerce merchants send shipping notifications to set clear customer expectations about delivery times and create a smoother delivery process. These messages help build trust and reduce support inquiries by keeping customers informed at every stage.
What information is typically included in a shipping notification?
Shipping notifications include key details such as product type and quantity, origin address, recipient address, contact details, delivery time frames, and tracking information that customers can use to check their shipment status. Many notifications also include direct links to carrier tracking pages for real-time location updates.
How do I inform customers about shipping?
Use shipping software tools like Shopify Shipping, AfterShip, or ShipStation to send shipping notifications to your customers after a trigger event, like an order being placed or shipped. For example, Shopify merchants can use the platform’s built-in features to facilitate automatic shipping notifications for customers.
