How Can Order Tracking Process Improve Customers Purchasing Frequency?

The eCommerce order tracking process can be a turning factor for your business, whether you are growing or established. It helps to upgrade your supply chain management, gain profits, streamline processes, increase purchase frequency, and much more.

Order tracking is essential for your business growth. But, you need to implement a purchase order tracking system efficiently to provide a better post-purchasing experience. Even, this can be your huge profitable marketing channel.

In fact, 54% of large-item shoppers avoid online purchases due to concerns over delivery.

As the number of orders increases, it becomes daunting to handle emails and calls. It is the need of the hour that you improve your order tracking process! So that you and your customers may be satisfied from order placement to delivery. This will build mutual trust between you and your customers.

In this blog, we will talk about purchase order tracking, tracking order lists, order management, order view, order tracking system, order actions, and much more.

What Is An eCommerce Order Tracking Process?

Order tracking enables you to view the real-time status of purchasing orders. Track and monitor your orders that are placed online. It notifies the store owners and product buyers about the order’s current status. Furthermore, the eCommerce shipping tracking process keeps everyone on the same table and it removes chaos between the buyers and seller.

Source: Printify

It informs customers and website owners about the order status from scratch to end. In this manner, customers can regularly check the order status, when it is arriving, delays, etc. Hence, it ensures the smooth delivery of products. Order tracking includes shipping status tracking, tracking numbers, estimated delivery dates, etc. Also, it saves time by automating the entire order tracking process.

Mainly, the eCommerce order tracking process has five stages:

The Five Stages of the eCommerce Order Tracking Process

1. Order Received: The customer places the order from your eCommerce store. The purchase order is confirmed and sent to the vendor (if customizations are applied).
2. In-Progress/Processing: Seller begins the manufacturing and packing process.
3. Shipped: Seller sends the customer order (mostly using a shipping service) to the provided address.
4. Delivered: The order package is dropped at the final destination successfully at the customer’s address.
5. Completed: The delivery person marks the order status as completed after all the formalities are done. However, this procedure may differ. It may depend upon the nature of the business and store owner preferences.

Actually, the order delivery process depends on the store owner’s choices and preferences. The better the eCommerce order tracking system of the store owner, the more satisfied customers are.

According to Zippia, 19% of the customers abandoned their carts because their delivery would be extremely slow.

Different Types Of Order Tracking In eCommerce

Let’s see widely used types of order tracking in eCommerce

1. Manual Order Tracking

In simple terms, a manual order tracking process relies on a customer’s sales representative or a staff member to manually update order status and communicate with the customers. In this case, customers may need to call the sales representative for their order status or request updates.

This method is mostly used by small eCommerce businesses with limited automation capabilities or those who handle complex, non-standard, or custom packages. It allows more personalized customer interaction but can be less efficient and slower than the automated order tracking process.

2. Automated Order Tracking

In the Automated Tracking Process, tracking details are automatically generated and shared with customers. This automation system integrates with the eCommerce store and relies on data from shipping carriers.

This method can provide a smooth customer experience, as customers get regular notifications through emails or SMS as their order moves through various stages like order confirmation, shipping, and delivery.

This method of order tracking ensures timely and accurate order tracking information without requiring customer intervention. Furthermore, it also reduces the workload of customer support teams and provides a smooth and convenient tracking system for customers.

3. Hybrid Order Tracking

Hybrid order tracking is the combination of both automation and human efforts. They mostly apply automation systems for data entry and use manual human input on various points such as fulfilling orders and coordination with shipping providers.

The main advantage of this method is the ability to handle unique requests of customers and complex orders while still being able to get benefits from the efficiency of automation.

Benefits Of Online Order Tracking For Buyers & Store Owners

1. Control Order Fulfillment

With the order tracking process, you can quickly track orders & resolve any issue, if it arises during order fulfillment. Without it, you may lose any valuable information that can be crucial for you. Order tracking enables you to provide seamless customer service.

It helps you build loyalty and trust around your customers and it will definitely make your business more stable, thus leading to more sales.

2. Transparent Business Process

Order tracking makes your business process smooth and transparent as both the customers and store owners can regularly check the order fulfillment status. Hence, order tracking boosts your customer’s lifetime value and retention.

3. Meet Customer’s Expectations

According to 98% of consumers, shipping highly influences their brand loyalty. Usually, most customers want to track orders when they are in the shipping process.

The need for eCommerce order tracking becomes essential when you don’t want to lose business to imminent retailers like Amazon. If you implement an order tracking system in your eCommerce business, then your customers will ultimately become satisfied with you. Because they are able to fetch the information that they want. They will provide a positive review to you, share their experience with others, and buy again from you.

4. Lower Costs

Handling customers’ issues, complaints, and inquiries becomes extremely expensive when they happen in the long run. Your business will suffer if you fail to reply and resolve customers’ concerns.
If you have an efficient order tracking system, then you will get fewer customer complaints through online tracking. As will be easier for your customers to access their order information. Also, it will be easier for store owners to resolve any customer concerns.

You can easily immediately look over the customer issues and resolve them by checking the customer order status. In this manner, you can save time and automate your tasks.

“Order tracking keeps me updated with my product location. It helps me to track my order at the expected delivery time. So, I don’t have to worry about my order. I never receive it unexpectedly. The order tracking process helps customers identify their orders. It provides benefits to eCommerce marketers in gaining genuine business leads.”

Efficient Tool Which Can Be Used For Order Tracking Process by WP Swings

What are the things you should look for in an eCommerce order tracking system? For a good eCommerce order tracking tool, you should make sure of

• Effective integrations with your eCommerce store
• Automatic notifications and minimum manual handling
• Customization Options (for brand logos, colors & templates)

Now let’s check out the plugin that can be used to manage orders and provide a complete real-time tracking system.

Track Orders for WooCommerce

Features of Track Orders for WooCommerce

• It enables tracking orders from their creation to delivery.
• Create custom order status according to the third-party shipment services for providing interactive frontend.
• Engage your customers with 4 different interactive tracking templates
• Admins can send notifications and email reminders to their customers on changing order status.
• Easily Integrate third-party shipment tracking services like USPS and Canada Post.
• Customers will get complete information about delivery tracking numbers, shipping services, and delivery dates.
• Set up the Google Maps integration to provide a real-time tracking functionality to users.
• Admin can create pages and forms for order tracking via shortcodes.
• Admins can apply for custom order status as bulk actions on products.

Benefits of Track Orders for WooCommerce

• Both customers and store owners remain updated with their orders.
• Customers are able to track their orders if a third-party shipping service is used.
• Builds trust with customers as it makes the entire ordering process very transparent.
• Enables admin to create custom order status as much as they want.
• Guest users can track orders via Order ID.
• Customers will get complete information about the delivery & shipment of their ordered products. Hence, improved the shipping experience.

Tips To Manage Order Tracking Effectively In Your eCommerce Business

• Develop a Return Policy: Consider Developing a specific page for return policy information and add the link to the product page so that customers can easily navigate to the return policy and read the terms and conditions that clearly outline how a customer should initiate a return and what types of products eligible for return and exchange. It can make the process 10 times easier for customers as they’ll know what steps to take to initiate a return or refund request.
• Maintain Customer return request details: Prepare a database of customer return requests to ensure that all details are recorded accurately so they can be referred in the future if required. It can minimize the need for customers to repeat themselves when they contact you with queries and questions related to their order tracking.
• Work with suppliers and vendors: Collaborate with your suppliers and vendors to ensure that products are available in sufficient quantities. I may require planning and adjusting your product inventory as per the trends on popular items.
• Choose a Good Plugin: Ensure that the order tracking plugin in your eCommerce store is user-friendly and offers detailed information about customer orders. This can help your customers to gather order info more efficiently.

What Is Purchase Frequency?

Are you eager to precisely analyze your business insights? Purchase Frequency can be a significant metric for it. Specifically, Purchase Frequency refers to the number of times an average customer purchases a product or service from your store in a specified period of time.

It becomes crucial to calculate sometimes as it helps to better understand customer purchasing behavior, retention rates, and satisfaction levels by organizing your marketing efforts.
You will be able to inspect whether your repeat rates are higher or not. And plan & strategize your decisions.

What Is The Relationship Between Order Tracking And Purchase Frequency?

eCommerce order tracking updates the buyer on the progressing stages of orders from order creation to completion. In this manner, sellers can give a better shopping experience. They can meet customer expectations and process orders easily.

When a business succeeds in serving its customer base, the customers automatically increase their purchasing frequency. Along with this, their loyalty to the business also increases.

How To Calculate Purchase Frequency?

For calculating purchase frequency, divide the total number of orders by the number of unique customers for the same time period.

Source: Vero

Purchase Frequency is usually calculated over a year (365 days). Make sure to calculate it taking a long time period. Also, consider unique customers only. Counting repeated customers will result in duplicate purchases which will not provide actual results.

In case you take the same time period for both unique customers and orders, then the purchase frequency that will come out will always be equal to one or greater .

Tips To Increase Purchase Frequency

Let us look over some of the tips for motivating your customers to purchase from you frequently:

1. Loyalty Programs

The loyalty program encourages your customers to purchase from you again and again. They prioritize you rather than your competitors. With the help of loyalty programs, you can improve your purchase frequency and customer retention.

Source: mbaSkool

Make sure before creating loyalty programs, think and strategize them so that you will not fail.

You can send email campaigns to your customers to remind them of the reward points they have. You can tell them to spend those points on holidays. For instance, you can create loyalty programs that have VIP benefits, tiers, gamification, etc.

2. Use Upselling and Cross-Selling Techniques

“91% of consumers say they are more likely to shop with brands that provide offers and recommendations that are relevant to them. – Accenture”

Upselling and cross-selling are one of the best techniques to boost your purchase frequency, it focuses on selling more expensive products while Crossselling mostly focuses on selling add-on services or products to your customers.

3. Marketing Campaigns

You can create email marketing campaigns in order to develop strong relationships with your customers. Collect your customer’s data and analyze your sales. Based on it, send personalized emails to them. In this manner, you can re-engage your customers.

Look at the behavior of your customers and segment them accordingly. How many times have the transactions been done by them in what period of time? Then, send sale-boosting emails to your customers.

Send retargeting ads to them. Provide personalized experiences to your customers in order to delight them.

In this manner, email marketing can be an effective strategy for you to increase your purchase frequency. Also, you can create a sense of urgency among your customers such as Limited Stock Left, 24 Hour Sale, etc. In order to make them buy your products and services instantly. I assure you that your conversion rate will definitely increase if you use this strategy in an efficient manner.

4. Subscriptions-based Services

Increase your purchase frequency, get recurring revenue, and bring more predictability to your stocks by offering subscription-based products and services at your store.

Subscriptions lead to repeated purchases which you can offer for your FMCG products. You will be able to manage your cash flow in a better way, increase customer loyalty, and increase customer lifetime value.

You can even try charging the bare minimum, less or free shipping charges. More than 90% of online buyers buy more products if free shipping options are available.

Source: Invesp

The eCommerce order tracking process does not only guarantee you a customer shopping experience. If done correctly, here is an impressive chronology:

Customer places an Order from your Store > As you have an excellent eCommerce Order Fulfillment & Tracking process > Customer had great Shopping Experience > The customer then, Highly Recommends your Store to friends and relatives > Customer leaves back great Reviews highlighting the outstanding Products and Timely Delivery > Customer then Shop more frequently on your Store > Voilla!!! A Win-Win (Revenue continues…)

Instances Of Order Tracking Process

The order tracking process works everywhere from textiles, healthcare items, and groceries to stationery.

Let’s now see how brands and businesses worldwide carry out their delivery/shipping process, order management, and track shipment.

• • Arrow’s Order Tracking Page

• • Sephora’s App Order Tracking Page

Here, there is also an option to sign up through a mobile number to get real-time updates of the order location and updates:

• • ASOS App Order Tracking Page

• • B&H Photo’s App Order Tracking Page

In these shipment tracking examples, they mention

1. Expected delivery date and time
2. Status of the delivery package
3. Track Another Package
4. Offer Feedback Option

Real-Time Order Tracking

Real-time tracking provides customers with an accurate picture of the delivery location. As it moves through the supply chain. I’m sure you must have used Google Maps. It’s similar to that.

Real-time order tracking allows buyers to monitor the exact order location.

Source: OptimoRoute

It has become possible because of the combination of real-time updates from the field and GPS tracking.

• Shippo
• ClickPost
• ShipStation
• Aftership
• MetaPack
• ShipWell

Order Tracking Process: A Boon to Increase Sales

The online stores that offer order tracking functionality give a better shopping experience to the buyers and regularly update them about processed orders. They gain more attention. Customers want to track their products because they love doing it. It gives them an overwhelming pleasant vibe to track the approaching newly bought products.

The eCommerce order tracking process increases customers’ purchasing frequency. It improves retention rates.

If you are looking for a dedicated order tracking tool for your WooCommerce store, then I would suggest Track Orders for WooCommerce from WP Swings. It offers an efficient online order tracking system that keeps you and your customers aware of the order status via a captivating graphical design.

Quality Is Remembered Long After the price Is forgotten.

Investing in eCommerce order fulfillment is one of the most effective ways to create a better shopping experience for your customers. If you have any queries regarding the eCommerce order tracking process, you can comment below.