Why Old-School Package Tracking Is Dead (And What To Use Instead)

Shipping matters more than ever. 

Businesses like Amazon have helped drive those trends over the years. Now, customers will decide if they want to buy from you based on how you ship. In some cases, it’s as important as your product offering.

Studies have shown that one of the main reasons why consumers leave your cart and end up with abandoned items in there is because your shipping process is either too complicated, expensive, or long.

For many brands, that’s a hard pill to swallow. And while you might not have the ability to upgrade your shipping prices right now, what you can do is let your customers know where their packages are in real-time.

Here’s what we mean.

The old way of package tracking

Imagine this scenario:

You get an email about a flash sale and decide to buy something you’ve had your eye on for a while. The FOMO finally kicked in! You’ve bought your package, so you get a confirmation email. It looks like everything is going smoothly. 

Nearly a week passes, and you realize you haven’t gotten your package. In fact, you don’t think you’ve gotten any updates at all. You go back to your email, search for the brand, and hope something’s there. 

Sometimes, you’ll have an email you missed; maybe it went to spam. It tells you your package is in process and you get some sort of tracking number. Now you have to copy the tracking number, open a new page, and paste it into the next site. Or you can track from the company’s site, but you’ll need your order and account number to log in.

The worst-case scenario is you never got any email at all. Now you have to call the company’s customer service department and wait on hold while trying to figure out where your package is. 

Eventually, it arrives.

Sound familiar? Up until recently, those were the options when it came to package tracking. Annoying, but doable. 

Now, there is a better way.

Real-time moment-of-open package tracking

Instead of spending your valuable time chasing down package tracking information, what if you could just open an email and it’s there, in real-time?

And even better, the message updates every time you open your email, giving you get the most up-to-date information.

You’d probably love that. Now, imagine how much your customers would too. The great news is you can give it to them, and it’s really simple.

All you have to do is drag and drop a live image content block that features package tracking updates in your email set up. It’s quick and easy. With live images, all the heavy lifting is done for you. The shipping data you have is automatically updated and displayed in your customer’s email the moment they open it up. 

And, the content is personalized for each customer. Jose and Jules aren’t going to get exactly the same email. The live image blocks ensure that they get content that’s personalized to their interests and needs.

What’s really cool is this feature isn’t just limited to package tracking emails. The secret is using notification banners. With this live image content block sitting at the top of your messages, you can turn any email, from a monthly newsletter to an event update, into a personalized shipping update email.

Check out the example above. It’s a standard newsletter. But with a notification banner, this customer gets personal information without needing to click anywhere else or go out of the inbox.

This customer gets an update on her package in real-time, even if the email has nothing to do with shipping. And, if she opens this email later, the notification banner will update with the latest and most up-to-date information.

When you use live images in your emails, your customers can always get the best information available to them, in real-time, right from their inbox.

It will make them happier customers. And it can save your customer service team from fielding dozens of where is my order calls, leaving them to concentrate on the problems that need the most attention. Even something as simple as updating your package tracking abilities can have a positive trickle-down impact across your team.

Check out the future of package tracking

From retailers to eCommerce brands, shipping is the name of the game. Give your customers the best tools at your disposal to help them always know where their packages are in the delivery process.