Setting Up Order Tracking for Your Store
Why Order Tracking Matters
"Where is my order?" is the number one reason customers contact ecommerce support teams. WISMO tickets account for 30% to 50% of all customer service inquiries for most online stores. Each support interaction costs $2 to $8 in agent time, and the customer is already frustrated by the time they reach out. Proactive tracking notifications eliminate most of these contacts by answering the question before the customer thinks to ask it.
The post-purchase window, from order placement to delivery, is also one of the highest-engagement periods in the customer lifecycle. Customers open shipping notification emails at rates of 60% to 70%, compared to 15% to 25% for typical marketing emails. They check tracking pages an average of 3 to 5 times per order. This attention is an opportunity. A branded tracking page that includes product recommendations, loyalty program information, or a discount code for their next order converts at 2% to 5%, turning a logistics touchpoint into a revenue generator.
Step-by-Step Tracking Setup
When you print a shipping label through your shipping software (ShipStation, Pirate Ship, Shopify Shipping, etc.), the tracking number generated by the carrier needs to flow back to your ecommerce platform and attach to the customer's order. Most shipping platforms handle this automatically through their store integrations. In Shopify, when you fulfill an order and print a label through Shopify Shipping, the tracking number is added to the order and the customer is notified automatically. In WooCommerce, plugins like WooCommerce Shipping or ShipStation for WooCommerce sync tracking numbers back to orders. Verify this connection is working by placing a test order, printing a label, and checking that the tracking number appears on the order in your store's admin.
Configure automated emails for three key milestones: Order shipped is sent when the label is printed and the order is marked as fulfilled, containing the tracking number, carrier name, estimated delivery date, and a link to track the package. Out for delivery is sent when the carrier scans the package onto the local delivery vehicle, telling the customer their package arrives today. Delivered is sent when the carrier confirms delivery, asking the customer to check for their package and providing a link to your returns page if anything is wrong. Most ecommerce platforms include basic shipping notification templates. Customize them with your brand colors, logo, and tone of voice rather than using the generic defaults. Include the order contents (product names and images) in each email so the customer remembers exactly what they ordered.
By default, tracking links send customers to the carrier's website (usps.com, ups.com, or fedex.com), where they are surrounded by the carrier's branding and have no reason to return to your store. A branded tracking page hosts the tracking information on your own domain with your own branding, product recommendations, and marketing messages. Tracking page platforms include AfterShip ($11 to $239/month, supports 1,100+ carriers worldwide), Malomo ($99 to $199/month, Shopify-focused with strong marketing features), and ParcelPanel (free to $99/month, lightweight option for smaller stores). These tools pull tracking data from carriers and display it on a page that lives at yourstore.com/track or a similar URL. The customer sees your logo, your colors, real-time package status, and recommendations for related products or upcoming promotions.
SMS notifications have 98% open rates compared to 60% to 70% for email, making them the most reliable way to keep customers informed. Send text messages at the same three milestones as email: shipped, out for delivery, and delivered. SMS tracking works best for mobile-first customers and for high-value orders where delivery anxiety is highest. Platforms like AfterShip, Malomo, and Klaviyo support SMS tracking notifications alongside email. The cost is $0.01 to $0.03 per text message in the US. For a store shipping 500 orders per month with three SMS notifications per order, the total cost is $15 to $45 per month, a small price for the support ticket reduction and customer satisfaction improvement.
Track your on-time delivery rate by carrier, service level, and destination zone. If you promise 3 to 5 business day delivery but 15% of packages arrive in 6 to 8 days, you have a carrier reliability problem that needs to be addressed through carrier discussions, service level upgrades, or switching to a different carrier for underperforming lanes. Your tracking platform or shipping software should provide delivery performance reports. Review these monthly. If a specific carrier consistently underperforms on certain routes, adjust your shipping strategy to route those shipments through a more reliable carrier, even if the cost is slightly higher. The cost of one WISMO support ticket ($2 to $8) often exceeds the savings from choosing a cheaper but less reliable carrier.
Reducing WISMO Support Tickets
The combination of proactive email notifications, SMS updates, and a branded tracking page addresses the vast majority of WISMO inquiries before they reach your support team. But some tickets will still come in, typically for packages that appear stuck in transit, packages with no tracking updates for several days, or packages that show delivered but the customer has not received them.
For stuck packages, set up automated alerts in your tracking platform that flag shipments with no scan events for 48 or more hours. Proactively reach out to these customers before they contact you, saying something like "We noticed your package has not been scanned by the carrier in a few days. We are monitoring it and will follow up within 24 hours with an update." This proactive communication turns a frustrating experience into a positive customer service moment.
For delivered-but-not-received cases, have a standard process: ask the customer to check with neighbors and any alternate delivery locations, verify the delivery address matches what they entered, contact the carrier for GPS delivery confirmation (UPS and FedEx provide this), and if the package cannot be located within 48 hours, either reship the order or issue a refund. Shipping insurance covers the cost of replacement for lost packages, making it worth considering for orders above a certain value threshold.
Tracking as a Marketing Channel
Your branded tracking page gets 3 to 5 visits per order, making it one of the highest-traffic pages on your site on a per-customer basis. Use this attention strategically. Include product recommendations based on what the customer ordered (complementary products, accessories, refills). Display a discount code for their next purchase with a time limit to create urgency. Promote your loyalty program or subscription options. Link to your social media accounts and encourage the customer to follow you.
AfterShip and Malomo both report that stores using branded tracking pages with product recommendations see 2% to 5% conversion rates from tracking page visitors, generating additional revenue from customers who are already in a buying mindset. The typical ecommerce marketing email converts at 0.5% to 2%, so a tracking page with product recommendations outperforms most of your email campaigns with zero additional customer acquisition cost.