Parcel tracking is an additional feature within the parcel delivery process that allows for you to track your delivery from when it leaves the sender, to the moment it arrives at your door. As a standard feature for most couriers today, understanding how this tracking works and how best to utilise it is a must and so here, we are going to look at parcel tracking and how to use it to your benefit.
What Is Parcel Tracking?
Parcel tracking is a system that is offered to you by your chosen courier that allows you to follow your parcel from the second it leaves the warehouse until the moment it is delivered to your door. This service can be crucial, particularly if you are sending a parcel over a long distance or have a time-sensitive delivery as it could become lost in transit or need to be handed over to a person rather than posted through a letterbox or left in a safe place. Tracking is more often than not applied to a parcel as the standard by your chosen courier. However, with certain companies, you may have to pay an additional fee in order to have tracking placed on the parcel.
How Does It Work?
When your delivery invoice comes through and your parcel has tracking on it, you are given a tracking URL as well as a unique tracking number. This URL can be accessed through a standard browser and the unique ID can then be placed within this webpage and will allow you to track your parcel at every stage by pulling up the status up from the courier’s records. Additionally, if you have added tracking to a parcel that you are sending, you can share the tracker ID number with them and allow them to see the approximate time of arrival of the parcel. This, therefore, helps the process to be much more streamlined and efficient in B2B, B2C and C2C services.
What Are The Benefits?
The benefits of tracking your parcel are numerous and can often vary depending on the situation you find yourself in. By utilising or offering a tracking number, you can better provide information regarding the approximate or guaranteed time of arrival. For larger or time-sensitive parcels, this gives the recipient the opportunity to ensure they are home to sign for a parcel or reorganise delivery if they are unable to be.
Tracking can also help increase transparency within the supply chain. If a business runs into issues during the delivery process, the customer can better see when this might be the case and can work with the courier, as a result, to ensure that the rest of the delivery runs smoothly or compensation is given in some cases.
What Are The Draw Backs?
The drawbacks of parcel tracking are that it is not always the most accurate service despite the technology on hand today. The chances for inaccurate information are often high for couriers that don’t have the best technologies or who may rely on their drivers to provide information, and it can have a profound effect on the success of your parcel delivery. In addition to this, the unique URL could be down for maintenance or could crash, or the tracking ID could have a single typo which could then cause problems when you want to get to your required information. With further improvements and streamlining of the service, however, these drawbacks could be reduced in the future.
With all this in mind, parcel tracking is a must whether you’re sending or receiving a parcel and particularly if it is a high ticket or time-sensitive item. Additionally, it is the second layer of security for only a small price allowing you to ensure that you have the best possible parcel delivery experience.
