Anyone who sends a lot of parcels is certainly familiar with the following situation: the phone rings or a customer e-mail arrives and the potential recipient asks where his parcel is. Because you have long since handed it over to the carrier of your choice, you have no choice but to look up the consignment number and use it to track the parcel status on the corresponding tracking page of the carrier.
Particularly for frequent shippers, this constant search for the parcel status takes up a considerable amount of time and disrupts day-to-day business. It could be all the easier if the parcel status could be found directly in the ERP/WMS system in the corresponding order. And this is exactly what can be done with an incredibly useful tool that we would like to introduce to you in today’s blog post. But first things first.
What is the package status actually?
At the beginning of this blog post, we would like to make the term “parcel status” fruitful so that it is clear what we are talking about. The current parcel status refers to the current status message that the contracted carrier issues during tracking and tracing. Practically, the status entries of a parcel during the runtime of the process of delivery.
A typical parcel status may be as follows:
- Parcel was picked up.
- Parcel has been delivered to depot.
- Parcel is on its way to the destination depot.
- Parcel has been handed over to the recipient.
- Or also: Parcel could not be delivered.
If, by the way, the latter case occurs and the delivery failed, it could be because the parcel was sent to an incorrect address. We explain how to avoid this in this blog post: Address check in the shipping process.
If the parcel can be successfully handed over to the recipient, some carriers will also record a corresponding proof of delivery. The so-called POD (= Proof of Delivery) could be, for example, a signature of the recipient, which in turn is provided by the carrier and can be helpful in the case of customer complaints (package not received).
How do I check the status of my parcel with the carrier?
To find out the current status of your parcel, you need to go to the online tracking website provided by the carrier (or download the status data only if it is a carrier that does not provide a tracking website). There you can enter the assigned parcel number. In order to be able to view the current status quo, most carriers require an additional comparison to exclude a number error in the parcel number. This additional comparison can, for example, be the entry of the recipient’s postcode.
So when a customer e-mail or call comes in, not only does your customer service staff have to go through all these steps (visit the website, enter the parcel number, check the postcode), but they usually have to look up this data in their own ERP system first.
This takes up resources that could be used otherwise if the parcel status of the carrier could be retrieved directly in the ERP/LVS/shipping system or a central interface. And that is exactly what you achieve with our practical tool.
To read the parcel status without visiting the carrier’s tracking page
If you work with HEIDLER’s practical HVS32 shipping system, you can use the Status Data Manager extension to load the status data of a wide variety of carriers directly from their servers (note: for some carriers, this step is a service that may be associated with costs. Appropriate agreements must always be made between the sender and the carrier).
The respective parcel status can be automatically imported into HVS32. This allows you to query the last imported status of the parcel directly in the shipping system via the so-called information function in the corresponding parcel entry. This status can in turn be reported back via the existing interface to the host system (ERP/LVS).
This procedure means that you do not even have to look in your shipping system, but can even track the parcel status directly in the order in your merchandise management or warehouse management system.
If the parcel status indicates a successful delivery, but the customer has not received the goods, you can of course also view the POD (= Proof of Delivery) in the status data, inform the customer who received the parcel for clarification and also argue with the carrier if the parcel cannot be found.
The prerequisite for this is, of course, that the carrier offers and provides such a proof of delivery.
Possible additional function: Automatically integrate the parcel status into your webshop
If you run an online shop, you could also use the data read out on the parcel status to store it in your webshop. In this way, a customer can easily log into your webshop with his customer access to find out where the parcel with his order is at the moment and track the status there.
This means that the HEIDLER Status Data Manager extension can not only help you to provide information by telephone much more quickly if you have a query about the parcel status. As a webshop operator, you can also significantly reduce the number of possible queries by using our tool to pass on the information directly to the customer.
Please note, however, that our tool only provides the information! The automated integration of the data into your webshop is not a function of the tool, but rather a suggestion on how you can use the data to optimise processes.
The parcel status as an opportunity to take proactive action
The data that our practical HVS32 Evaluation Status Data Manager collects can be used in the next step in the most diverse ways. We would like to show you two ways in which the tool can help you to be proactive.
If, for example, you are a frequent shipper and evaluate the status data of the parcels in an ERP/LVS system, you might notice that a certain parcel is on the way for a suspiciously long time without the final delivery having taken place. One step towards process optimisation could be to proactively ask the carrier why these “suspicious” parcels have not yet been delivered, if no reason can be found in the parcel status.
It would also be possible to proactively send a final e-mail to the customer for each parcel that has reached the final status (for example: “Parcel has been handed over to the recipient.”). For example, with a short enquiry as to whether everything was satisfactory and with a request for a positive evaluation.
Please note, however, that our Status Data Manager only provides the data on which to base potential proactive steps. The opportunities described in this paragraph are of a purely theoretical nature and are intended to show how you could use the data collected anyway, for example, to work with it in a meaningful way.
Transparent overview and quick analyses with the “SEM Web” web interface
Back to practice: If you really want to get the absolute maximum out of the Status Manager, you can also use our web interface “SEM Web” (= Status Data Event Manager), which we developed especially for the Status Data Manager. This is a browser-based interface that can clearly display the parcel status independently of the dispatch or host system. The great advantage of this is that the display works via your local network and not via the Internet.
In the “SEM Web” web interface, you can use the “Tracking” overview to display all items that were sent with the HVS32. Various filters are available to you to immediately identify certain status messages. For example, you can have all errors (for example: “Parcel damaged.”) immediately displayed clearly.
The target delivery time is also stored for each package or consignment. You can use the filters to display all deliveries that have exceeded the target delivery date. In this way, you can immediately view all delays at a glance and, under certain circumstances, use this data to follow up with the carrier if certain guarantees regarding the maximum delivery time have been made but not met.
You can also proactively search for how long a parcel usually takes to reach a certain destination in the web interface “SEM Web”. Under the item “transit time” you can calculate a comparative value based on past status messages, how much time there was on average between the posting of the parcel and its delivery. In this way, you can give potential customers in similar areas (for example with a similar postcode) a very accurate estimate in advance of what delivery time to expect.
However, this information can also be important for you as a frequent shipper. Especially if you work with more than one carrier. For example, if you work with both DHL and GLS, you can compare the data in the “SEM Web”. It is possible that such evaluations will provide you with basic decision-making aids as to which carrier you want to work with in the future and for which destinations.
Individual statistics with the “SEM Web” web interface
If you want to optimise processes, you can also display individual statistics with the practical web interface “SEM Web”. It doesn’t matter whether you want to evaluate all consignments for which the target delivery date was exceeded in general, or whether you want to create a descriptive overview in particular that informs you how many consignments were delivered late for different carriers.
With the web interface “SEM Web” you can have all the statistics you want displayed in various diagrams. Of course, you can also download a list with all included consignments as a CSV file and then process the information further.
Conclusion
HEIDLER’s Status Data Manager is a practical and useful extension to the HVS32 shipping system that allows you to provide information in a much more targeted and time-saving manner in the very first step when dealing with customer queries. This alone saves valuable resources, especially for frequent shippers.
The collected parcel status data can also be imported into a webshop so that the customer can easily track the status of his parcel in your webshop interface.
In addition, the data offers you further diverse possibilities to optimise internal company processes and to identify the best possible carrier for every conceivable freight destination.
Are you interested in the HEIDLER Status Data Manager, our extension module to retrieve the parcel status outside the tracking page of the carrier? Then please read on for more information on the product page: Extensions.
Do you have any questions about this tool? We will be happy to answer them in a personal conversation and clear up any uncertainties. Simply scroll down a bit and send us a message right now using our contact form!