Ecommerce tracking explained: What it is and how it works
Corinne D'Andria
·June 5, 2025
Ecommerce order tracking refers to the process of tracking the status and location of each customer’s order across every touchpoint of their journey. It’s an essential tool for brands to use in increasing conversions, driving customer satisfaction, curbing order-related customer support requests, and reducing the likelihood of package theft or fraud.
In this article, we’ll explore how ecommerce tracking works, and showcase the benefits of building a seamless order tracking experience.
How ecommerce order tracking works
A great post-purchase order tracking process relies on seamless integration with your technology tools to support real-time visibility around your order status, from the customer’s first point of contact after making a purchase to the last. A successful ecommerce logistics journey will include these stages:
- Order confirmation: When a customer places an order, your ecommerce platform should automatically send a confirmation message over email and/or SMS, with an order number and an expected delivery timeframe.
- Shipment created: This alert lets the customer know when the order has been picked, packed, and labeled for shipment, and provides an accurate timeline for shipping. This update will rely on data from your 3PL or warehouse management software.
- Order shipped: Once the order has been shipped, you can provide the customer with an order tracking number that they can use to track the order’s status in real-time. This will rely on a carrier integration that provides real-time shipping updates—but to deliver an enhanced user experience for your customers, consider setting up a branded order tracking page where customers can see live updates within your own environment.
- Order out for delivery: The day your order is scheduled for arrival, your customer should receive an alert with an estimated delivery window, relying on carrier data. This will help them plan for receipt of their package, reducing the chances of package theft or loss.
- Attempted delivery: If a package requires a signature confirmation and the customer wasn’t there to sign, your carrier will keep the package and attempt to deliver at a later time, or require the customer to pick up the package from the post office. While the carrier will likely leave a note on the customer’s door, you should also send them an update with the news.
- Package delivered: When your carrier has successfully delivered the package, you can send your customer an update that includes carrier data including the time of delivery, a photo of the package if left on premises, and details on where it was left (i.e., in the garage, in a parcel locker, in the mailbox). This timely message will help ensure that the customer is able to locate the package easily, and reduce the incidence of “order not received” fraud, since you have verifiable data proving that the package arrived.
When something goes wrong
So what happens if the ecommerce journey is not successful—say, a package got lost in transit, or the shipment was delayed?
In these cases, you’ll be able to send an automated alert letting your customer know about the delivery issue. The message should inform them of your brand’s next steps to resolve the problem, whether that means sending them a replacement item or providing them with a store credit to apologize for the delivery delay. Proactively notifying your customer about ecommerce logistics issues will curb order tracking-related customer service requests, ensuring that they feel seen and cared for even when things don’t go according to plan.
Reverse ecommerce logistics tracking
Your online order tracking system should also include tracking capabilities for the up to 30% of package deliveries that end up as returned items. In these situations, if your shopper isn’t going to receive a refund or credit until the item has passed a warehouse inspection, they’ll want complete visibility on the status of their product return. In these cases, it’s important to provide them with access to carrier updates when the return has been picked up, delivered, and inspected.
Upon a successful inspection, the shopper should receive a message letting them know that their refund has been approved, with an update on when they’ll receive their money back, or access to instant exchange credit.
Building a best-in-class ecommerce tracking experience
Delivering a seamless order tracking experience requires customizable workflows for each type of customer journey, and access to streamlined integrations to ensure that both your brand and your customers have access to the right logistics data at the right time.
In order to enhance the experience for your shopper, you’ll need a best-in-class solution like Loop, which provides a branded order tracking portal for every step of the customer journey, from the initial shipment to the return journey. Our order tracking pages keep shoppers informed about their order status at every stage, reducing customer support inquiries by up to 40%. Loop’s branded email and SMS campaigns also help you engage your shoppers at every touchpoint, resulting in more upsells and repeat purchases.
Ready to build an order tracking experience that will keep customers coming back? Book a demo of Loop.
In this article
Stay in the loop
Subscribe for product updates and Loop's biweekly newsletter.
Driving Repeat Purchases through Transactional Touchpoints
Retain more revenue with Loop today
With Loop, your brand can offer everything from refunds to direct exchanges to shopper incentives and more. Even better? These exchanges build your business.