Advanced Shipping Notice
Before we can talk about the importance of sending automatic shipping notifications to your customers, it is important to understand another term in the industry called an advanced shipping notice (ASN).
What is an ASN? This process is essentially an automated system that allows trading partners to communicate where a certain wholesale order is in the overall process. This includes stages such as pre-shipment, billing, packing, and more. Even the actual mailing process with the postal service or another carrier could be included in the ASN process.
The benefits of an ASN as a retailer are plentiful. Knowing exactly where your order is in the process of purchase allows you the benefit of preparing your warehouse space for inventory, adding items to your website for sale, and much more. If your e-commerce website is based around a dropship model, the ASN process flow helps ensure you know the status of your order and where it is at any moment in the shipping chain.
However, the process flow is still just as pertinent in a business-to-consumer basis, too. Utilizing the methodology behind ASN shipping tracking to create your own system to keep your customers informed throughout the purchase process is simply great business sense.
Advanced Shipping Notice Example
Understanding the process is quite easy if you consider this advance shipping notice example. Let’s say Susan purchases fifty pairs of shoes from an overseas retailer for her online clothing boutique. Luckily for her, the wholesaler she chose to buy from has a robust advanced shipping notice software program that automatically sends confirmation of her order through email. From there, Susan receives additional emails each time the status of the order change. For this sample ASN, let’s assume this is when the order is packed by an employee of the wholesale warehouse, when it has a tracking number and is awaiting shipment, and when it finally ships. Let’s also assume that she gets an email each step of the way as those shoes make their way through transit, customs, and ultimately to her doorstep.
We can also change our ASN sample slightly to take on the role of the consumer and assume Morgan wants to buy a pair of these shoes from Susan’s online store. Morgan is happy to receive a notice in her email to confirm her order. She’s a bit disappointed when she receives a message in her inbox that the shipment is being delayed a couple of days, but is excited to see a discount coupon for her next order is included for the inconvenience. Finally, she’s elated to track her new shoes from when it leaves the e-commerce site’s warehouse to her doorstep including the moment it arrives while she’s away at work. See how easy it is to utilize the same advanced shipping notice template and a shipping confirmation template to impress your customers?
Advanced Shipping Notice Software
Of course, the ASN process isn’t always perfect. There are times when data doesn’t update on time or process points are incorrectly added to the system manually by staff members. That’s why it is important to choose a program to help you streamline the entire process with software.
The great news is that today’s technology makes it easier than ever to automate most of the steps while still offering the same level of high communication your customers deserve. There are tons of excellent options when it comes to automating the advanced shipping notice process.
However, it is important to remember that the quality of advanced shipping notice software you utilize has a great effect on how well your process works. The advance shipment notice in Oracle Apps is a great example of a system that helps suppliers inform wholesale customers of where their orders are currently located. But that may not be what you need if you primarily operate in a business-to-consumer (B2C) environment.
That’s where we come in. Malomo helps you impress your e-commerce retail shoppers with beautiful and current updates on the status of their orders. In short, we help you deliver beautiful and memorable shipping tracking right to your customer’s email inbox—delighting them and giving you the brand recognition touch points you need for success.
Delivery Notification Email
A shipping information email is really just a business-to-consumer version of an ASN. However, it is important to realize that the biggest difference is who is likely to receive them and why using them for one audience is important to your overall marketing mix.
In most cases, an ASN is more of a process between companies to communicate the status of wholesale shipments. But what do your e-commerce shoppers care about? Shipping notification emails! They want to know when their product is arriving almost every step of the way. Have you ever received a delivery notification while you are at work and rushed home at the end of the day to happily spy that coveted package by your front door? (We know we have!)
In terms of marketing, these emails your system automatically sends to customers are crucial to creating awareness about your company. That’s is really important that your shipping information email template include a design branded to your particular website and business—i.e. it needs to look pretty! This also presents a huge opportunity for you to impress with additional sale information, other products they might enjoy, or even a coupon or two as a thank you for their loyalty.
EDI 856 Example
Another way to discuss advance shipment notifications (ASNs) is by using the code EDI 856 in SAP. Essentially, the SAP framework is designed to help companies streamline their shipping and inventory software and this code acts as a way to reference this part of the shipping process. Typically, an EDI 856 example includes things like tracking numbers, order numbers, and other pertinent information.
To take this a step further, it is important to understand what an EDI 856 mapping document is and what it includes. Usually, it features the particular codes and elements to what each section of the ASN means. The difficult part about reading an EDI 856 example is that it is often highly technical and requires advanced knowledge of the shipping process. Plus, you need to understand a thing or two about the SAP framework as a whole before you just dive in on codes like EDI 856.
But who really has time for all that? As an e-commerce website owner, your primary focus is on making your customers happy through a delightful post-purchase experience. Malomo gives you the ease and flexibility of providing shipping information straight to their inboxes without confusing jargon or boring visual design.
Shipment Delay Notification
Of course, sometimes disaster strikes and you can’t ship an item as immediately as you or our customer would like. Consider scenarios such as a shortage in the warehouse, a supplier delaying a wholesale shipment, or even Mother Nature making the actual movement of the items from your warehouse to their doorstep impossible—these things all happen and usually when it is super inconvenient!
One of the most important things you can do as an e-commerce retailer is to communicate these types of shipping delays quickly and with grace. Not only is it important for customer retention, but it also gives you an additional opportunity to earn their trust and increase the likelihood of a referral to others.
Sending a shipment delay notification not only makes shoppers feel as though their order is important, it provides an opportunity for them to be aware of when they should expect the actual arrival of the item without any guesswork. Likewise, an on-hold shipment notification form also acts as an opportunity to make contact for a future sale should you choose to include a discount or other consideration for the inconvenience. It’s a great bonus touch point that provides a really important aspect of offering excellent customer service.
Shipping Notification Meme
As an e-commerce retailer, you probably know all about the various shipping notification memes floating around the internet. There’s the one about shipping estimates taking four to seven days, but secretly hoping it only takes four. And there’s even one about turning into a skeleton while waiting for a delayed shipping notification to arrive!
These shipping notification meme examples prove that receiving shipping notification emails when we shop online has a dramatic impact on our emotions as consumers. We are intensely excited when we find out our beloved order has finally started to make way toward our doorstep, but also intensely disappointed when we discover there’s been a major delay.
These memes give great insight into why it is so important to use a shipping notification program like Malomo. By tapping into these emotions, you can help automate the process and ensure your online customers are delighted after every transaction.
