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The world today is more connected than it has ever been at any other time in history. With these connections have come new opportunities to grow online businesses. In years past, many people were hesitant to embrace online commerce.
But now, with platforms like WordPress, Shopify, WooCommerce, etc. making it easier to set up online stores, businesses and customers alike have embraced e-commerce and opened up brand new shopping realities.
The evolution of technology has brought about many changes to commerce. The world has migrated from the traditional way, physical shopping, to eCommerce. eCommerce involves shopping online using a digital device connected to the internet.
In this new era, it is not uncommon to order goods from other countries worldwide. Hence, shipping tracking is one of the essential tools in modern eCommerce.
Modern e-commerce would not be gaining as much traction if shipping tracking was not at play.
Shipping tracking allows customers to access tracking data. With this data, they can receive accurate delivery dates and reassurance that the order is on its way to avoid missing the delivery.
Consequently, platforms such as WooCommerce have made it easier for everyone to be part of the new era.
In this article, we will focus on WooCommerce and how to set it up.
What is WooCommerce?
WooCommerce is a customizable platform built on WordPress. It allows one to take a normal website and flip it into a shop. Currently, it powers over 50 % of the entire e-commerce website over the internet.
WooCommerce has default email templates that give your customer’s order details. However, these only work if you are making the shipment yourself. Also, it does not allow for custom providers in its interface.
By default, most deliveries are made based on a recognized postal service such as PostNL or FedEx. Hence, your store needs a way that customers can track their orders directly through the shipping company of their choice.
This function is where WooCommerce comes in. In the next part, we’ll go into more detail on how the platform works and how to set it up on your WooCommerce store.
Setting Up WooCommerce
You need to have an online store on either the WordPress or WooCommerce platform right from the basics. The store needs to have the product catalog, payment modes, and, importantly, set up security for the website.
From there, you are ready to get into handling shipment orders for your products. Also, setting up a few order fulfillment services happen at this stage.
On WooCommerce, you will find a variety of shipping options and tax settings. As a store owner, you can calculate shipping costs. To do this, you can use various shipping methods and shipping classes available on the platform.
You will notice that the platform comes as the complete package. It has several basic core shipping methods for giving free shipping, local pickup, and flat rates.
For more shipping flexibility, you can choose from the wide variety of fee or premium shipping plugins offered on WooCommerce.
ALSO READ: Ultimate Guide to Advanced Table Rate Shipping for WooCommerce
Why is Order Tracking Necessary?
For any business, online or offline, the owner has to develop a way to maximize gains and ensure customer satisfaction.
In this modern-day age, the ability to reach and serve people anywhere is key to any successful business.
To understand why there is an emphasis on order tracking and why you need to adopt it, here are a few reasons that are worth considering:
Time-Saving
We have been told over and over that time is money. Just like all other businesses, an online business requires a working schedule that maximizes time consumption.
The time spent manually tracking orders and answering owners can use consumer questions in other running operations in the company. These could range from decision making, solving other issues to creating more products.
Hence, an order tracking solution should concentrate on saving time for both the store owner and the team in charge.
Of course, WooCommerce is such a solution. It allows the business owner to focus on other objectives and day-to-day operations of the business to bring the best to consumers.
Consumer Satisfaction
The way to make any business thrive is to make customers come back for more. If the services provided are good, some leave reviews, refer others, and even shop themselves again.
When it comes to order tracking, customers get to know where their goods are and when they will receive the goods.
With this information, they can derive satisfaction in knowing that their interests are on their way without contacting the supplier several times to confirm.
Also, they can plan ahead of time to pick up the products so as not to miss a delivery.
Automatic Aspect
Where order tracking is involved, automation is a crucial concept. One single business might have many orders daily.
If they do the work manually to track every order, it becomes tiresome. Also, due to human error, owners may make mistakes once in a while.
An automated system of order tracking such as WooCommerce handles all shipment tracking details.
That’s not all. The platform will also systematically arrange the details, and consumers can even access the information if need be. All done within a few clicks.
Saves Money
A more significant percentage of eCommerce is mainly small and medium scale businesses. Such businesses work with small budgets.
Hence, they may not have enough to use on a standalone solution that will track their packages while still making a sizable profit.
On WooCommerce, as a small or medium-sized business owner, you can access reliable order tracking free solutions. When it comes to large businesses, they can always use premium tools to manage more orders.
ALSO READ: A Comprehensive Guide on Adding Discounts in WooCommerce
The Best WooCommerce Order Tracking Plugin
What makes WooCommerce so reliable and trusted is that it is based on WordPress, an open-source platform.
Whenever an issue arises from either WooCommerce or its users, the problem-specific plugin will take a short while to develop.
For order tracking, there are many plugins you can use. With such a wide variety, you might get confused, as a store owner, as to which one best suits your business. The plugin used should have the following:
Tackles Several Shipping Carriers
WooCommerce, being a popular e-commerce platform, store owners will not use just one shipping carrier. What’s more, the customers come from anywhere globally.
If the shipments are global, you should choose a plugin that supports several shipping carriers.
Tracking Order on Email
In this modern age, emails are a popular way for businesses and customers to communicate. Choosing a plugin that allows customers to click a link from their email to track their shipment is a plus.
Complete Order Automation
We have talked about the importance of automation in the previous section. For order tracking plugins, the order status must show ‘Complete’ to update tracking details regarding the order.
Tracking Details From Any Platform
The plugin should incorporate import tracking details. You can then use the feature across platforms to fill out order details from a CSV file. It saves you time spent manually inputting each order and details.
My Accounts Page Tracking
For multiple orders, the plugin should allow the customer to access their order from the WooCommerce website.
The work is made easier for them as they can track by simply logging into the website and selecting an order.
FTP Import
In a business setup, mistakes are bound to happen once in a while. However, choosing a plugin that can make changes to your store via FTP is a definite dream come true.
You can simply enter the FTP credentials in the plugin settings. From here, the importation of tracking details is done automatically to the orders.
You should note that these are just some of the points you should look out for in plugins. They do not encompass everything.
However, you now have a rough idea of what you should be looking for when choosing the best plugin that best suits your store.
ALSO READ: WooCommerce Setup Tutorial on Your WordPress Website
WooCommerce Shipment Tracking Pro
The WooCommerce Shipment Tracking Pro is among the best plugins you can use on WooCommerce.
As the name suggests, it is a powerful plugin that enables business owners to directly track their shipments from the Orders Page.
Also, customers receive an email once the order is complete. So, what is unique about it?
Supports Multiple Shipping Carriers
The plugin has a long list of shipping carriers it supports. You can add or remove additional shipping carriers based on your preference.
Bulk Import Tracking Data
The feature, Bulk Import, can help you quickly add tracking details. You can do it for multiple orders using a CSV file at once. Hence, save energy and time used in adding individual information.
Custom Tracking Messages
On the WooCommerce pro version, you can add a personal touch to the Order Completion Email. You can write a personalized tracking message to the recipient. In this way, you can establish a close relationship with your customers.
FTP Import and Auto-Import
For this function, you can add the FTP details directly in the plugin settings. In this way, you can add the shipment tracking details now to the WooCommerce site.
As for the auto-import functionality, business owners can add automation to their order tracking. You can schedule importing time and details to the store.
ALSO READ: WooCommerce SEO Tips and Tricks to Boost Traffic and Sales
Conclusion
In such an era and all the ones to come, technology will continue to evolve. It is either one adapts to the system or gets put out of business.
WooCommerce and other tracking services make the work easier in connecting the buyer to the seller.
Such methodical solutions allow users to save time and energy spent on tracking orders. Customers can track their orders and get exact days to arrival.
All the work that involves shipping gets reduced to mere clicks. You are also a few clicks away from getting it all done for you through WooCommerce.
Acowebs are developers of Woocommerce discount rules that will help you add bulk discounts to products on your stores. It also developed the plugin for adding various extra product fields which is called Woocommerce product addons, that are lightweight and fast. You can easily update your store with these add-ons and enjoy a hassle-free experience, check out the best options for additional Woocommerce product addons.
