Sample Emails: Delivery Notice
If you’re an e-commerce business, you know that shipping is one of the most important aspects of your success. You could offer competitive prices, great shopping experience, and excellent customer service, but if your shipping stinks, you won’t get repeat customers. Besides flawless shipping, today’s customers want real-time shipping updates. That means they want to know the status of their packages anytime. Real-time updates tell the current location of a package and its estimated arrival date.
If you’ve ever purchased anything online, you know that you always want to be in control of the package from purchase to delivery. The same is true about your customers, which is why it important to offer them real-time shipping updates if you want to retain them.
Importance of real-time shipping updates:
- Increases customer retention rate
- Increases customer engagement rates (transactional delivery updates have the highest email CTRs of any email you'll send)
- Customers experience it with all the big eCommerce brands
- Now they're seeing it all the time with various sized Shopify brands thanks to order tracking software
When customers know the status of their package in real-time and the exact day and time it will be delivered, they feel informed and delighted, driving up CSAT. Even when things go wrong, providing proactive alerts, saves them the stress and you the annoyance of "where is my order" support tickets. Regardless of the efficiency of your shipping, sometimes a delay of shipment happens. Worse still, the package may go missing. When this happens, communicating delays by sending an apology letter to the customer for the delay will save your reputation. An apology letter to the client for the delay in service aims to maintain a good relationship with the customer.
In this post, we'll look at:
- Real examples of sample emails for a variety of situations
- How to explain late deliveries
- Considerations for apology letter for delay in delivery
- Order confirmation template
- Delivery lead time letter
Sample Emails for Delivery Notices
For Malomo's full swipe file of post-purchase sample check out our inspiration board of order tracking emails!
Sample emails: Your order is on the way!
Here are various examples from our swipe file of Shopify brands using branded transactional emails to notify customers that their orders are on the way. The shipping experience is an exciting time and you can tell these brands are leaning into that with the fun they're having with these emails. They are consistent and on-brand with their other emails and contain limited marketing so they can still be marked as "transactional" in Klaviyo.
Sample Emails: Your Order is Out For Delivery!
Here are various examples from our swipe file of Shopify brands using branded transactional emails to notify customers that their orders are out for delivery. There's no question what this update is when customers open these emails. Each Shopify brand does a wonderful job highlighting where they are in the delivery process and making it easy to continue to track the package on their branded order tracking page.
Sample Emails: Your Order Was Delivered
Here are various examples from our swipe file of Shopify brands using branded transactional emails to notify customers that their orders are were delivered.
Sample Emails: Delivery Exceptions
Here are various examples from our swipe file of Shopify brands using branded transactional emails to notify customers of delivery exceptions such as:
- Partial order is on the way
- Delivery Attempted
- Order was delayed
- Available for pickup
- Order being returned
How to explain a late delivery to a customer
Multiple ways exist that you can use to explain a late delivery to a customer and provide a customer service response to late delivery. But, email is the best. First, send a delay notice email apologizing for the delay of shipment and communicating delays to the customer. You can explain to the customer how the shipping process works, the challenges involved, and things that might cause shipment delays. Most importantly, take responsibility for the delay. Customers love transparency and honesty. The late delivery notice email should also explain the reasons for the delay, how you’ll manage it, and prevent it from reoccurring and give them a new realistic delivery timeline.
Sample Apology Letter to Customer for Delay in Delivery
Below is a sample apology letter to a customer for a delay in delivering their item(s). We highly recommend editing this example email to be on brand with your company's tone of voice! Depending on the length of the delay and the value of the order, you can decide if a promo code or discount should be provided. Many Shopify brands have begin using order tracking and transactional marketing to stay ahead of these issues which can decrease the need to provide discounts or partial refunds.
Subject: Apology and Explanation for the Delay in Your Order
Dear [Customer's Name],
I hope this email finds you well. I wanted to reach out to you regarding your recent order #[Order Number] with [Your Company Name]. I regret to inform you that there has been a delay in the delivery of your items, and I want to sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you.
We understand how important it is for our customers to receive their orders on time, and we take our commitment to providing a seamless shopping experience very seriously. Unfortunately, in this instance, we encountered some unforeseen issues that have caused the delay. We would like to provide you with an explanation for the delay and assure you that we are doing everything in our power to resolve the situation as quickly as possible.
The delay was primarily caused by [Brief Explanation of the Delay]. While we had initially estimated your order would arrive on [Expected Delivery Date], we are currently working diligently to expedite the shipping process and ensure your order reaches you in the shortest possible time. Please rest assured that our team is actively monitoring the situation, and we are in constant communication with our shipping partners to minimize any further delays.
Your satisfaction is our top priority, and we are committed to making this right for you. We understand that this delay may have inconvenienced you, and we would like to offer you [Compensation, if applicable, e.g., a discount on your next purchase or free shipping on a future order] as a token of our appreciation for your patience and understanding.
If you have any questions or concerns regarding your order or the delay, please do not hesitate to contact our customer support team at [Customer Support Email or Phone Number]. We are here to assist you and provide any further information you may require.
Once again, we sincerely apologize for the delay in delivering your order, and we appreciate your understanding during this challenging time. We remain committed to delivering high-quality products and services, and we will continue to improve our processes to prevent similar delays in the future.
Thank you for choosing [Your Company Name], and we look forward to serving you better in the future.
Warm regards,
[Your Name]
[Your Title]
[Your Company Name]
[Contact Information]
Delivery Emails
Delivery emails, also known as shipping update emails, or delivery lead time letters are emails sent by e-commerce businesses to customers to update them on their order status. The ability of a business and customer to track order status is critical to the success of the shipping process. Typically, e-commerce businesses send delivery emails (letters to inform delivery date) when a package leaves a warehouse, and when it’s about to reach the customer. Ideally, delivery emails are meant to enhance customer satisfaction and not to drive sales. While you have an opportunity to market and upsell with delivery emails, you should prioritize important details first, such as order number, shipping address, order status, and expected delivery time.
How businesses can use delivery emails to supercharge their brands
Delivery emails are powerful marketing tools. They're among the most opened and clicked emails you'll ever send. Top brands are leveraging branded order tracking and transactional marketing to increase repeat revenue and decrease WISMO tickets. With branded order tracking, you can send customers to tracking pages that promote cross-sells, educate buyers on their new products, drive referrals and subscriptions and more--something you just can't do on a bland carrier tracking page.
Need a sample email of delivery notice? Check out our e-book, featuring examples of real, high-converting shipping emails.
Related Articles:
What is WISMR and WISME? And how to reduce WISMR and WISME support tickets
Shipping Notifications: All you Need To Know + Templates
Eight shipment marketing campaigns
6 Shipping Notification Best Practices to Reduce Costs and Increase Sales
