Delivery Exceptions: Meaning & How to Handle Them
In this post, you will read about delivery exceptions meaning and how to handle them.
You will learn about:
- The importance of delivery exceptions
- Typical shipping exception causes
- Possible outcomes
- Ways to respond to delivery exceptions
- Strategies to prevent exceptions
Let’s get started!
What Is a Delivery Exception?
The delivery exception is when an unexpected event changes the delivery date of a shipment.
Even with the most advanced technologies and logistics procedures, issues can happen before the package is delivered.
Although unintentional, delivery exceptions can cause customer frustration.
Is a Delivery Exception a Late Shipment?
Receiving a delivery exception notice can be confusing or frustrating for recipients.
Some examples of such notices are:
- Delivery Exception: Action Required, by UPS
- Delivery Exception: Attempted Delivery, by DHL
- Delivery Exception: Retrieved Shipment, by FedEx
However, a shipping exception’s meaning is that the package is stuck in transit, but it does not necessarily lead to a late shipment.
Delivery exceptions often result in just a brief setback.
Why Are Delivery Exceptions Important for E-Commerce?
Online shoppers have high expectations when it comes to accurate tracking information and delivery speed, and having their shipments stuck in transit is a frustrating experience.
If there is not proper shipment tracking in place, delivery exceptions lead to a high volume of calls where customers are asking about their orders. This can lead to product returns and a high churn rate.
83% of online customers are less likely to purchase from a retailer again after they’ve had a negative delivery experience.
Frustrated customers are also very unlikely to recommend your online store to others.
Ecommerce companies need to pay attention to the most common causes of shipping exceptions and be ready to efficiently resolve potential issues and delays whenever they happen.
7 Typical Causes of Delivery Exceptions
Every business encounters delivery exceptions from time to time. Take a look at the seven most common causes of shipping exceptions:
#1 Customs Delays
When you ship internationally, there is plenty of room for delays and delivery exceptions.
Packages are often held at customs longer than planned, and that leads to later delivery dates.
One way to improve the shipping process and prevent delays is to ensure that you have proper tariff codes at the product SKU level, and all the necessary documentation.
#2 Holidays
Shipping carriers normally do not operate on national holidays, and when they come back to work, they may have difficulties getting back on track because of a backlog of shipments.
If a national holiday occurs while your package is in transit, it may be delivered later than expected.
#3 Weather
Weather issues and natural disasters such as tornadoes, wildfires, hurricanes, and floods can obstruct delivery routes and cause delays.
Such delays are beyond human control and are usually regional.
If your business uses more than one fulfillment center, you may be able to ship the package from an alternative location that is outside of the zone affected.
Many carriers have developed contingency plans that help them resume delivery paths as soon as possible.
#4 Damaged Items
Although shipping companies have safety measures in place, accidents sometimes happen.
Whenever an accident happens during transit, carriers prefer to put the shipment on hold rather than proceed with delivery.
Damaged packages are then returned to the original dispatch station with a note that reads ‘damaged’.
To reduce the risks of damage in transport, make sure your products are carefully packed and protected.
#5 Missing Labels
Incorrect, damaged, or missing labels lead to issues with delivery.
In order to avoid this, make sure a team member checks the shopper’s address before the order is shipped.
One small mistake such as a wrong number in the home address or in the zip code can cause problems.
When the label is missing or showing incorrect or incomplete information, carriers return the package to the logistics center or to the sender, which extends the delivery times.
#6 The Driver Can’t Find the Drop-Off Address
Sometimes the driver is unable to find the recipient’s address or the address listed for the scheduled pickup.
If the address on the shipping label is incorrect, incomplete or unclear, the driver will hardly be able to finalize the delivery. This commonly happens with international delivery.
When something like this happens, you can re enter all the information correctly and reschedule the delivery for another date and time.
#7 Customer Isn’t at Home to Accept the Order
A delay will also happen if the package requires a signature upon delivery, and there is no one home to sign and accept it.
When the recipient is not available, the carrier usually attempts the delivery again the next day.
There are some free delivery management tools that recipients can utilize to choose when and how the deliveries should occur so they would fit in with their schedules.
3 Outcomes of Delivery Exceptions
When delivery exceptions occur, they can result in three different outcomes:
#1 The order is delivered on time anyway
Issues that cause delivery exceptions are not always severe, or they happen at the beginning of the shipping process, leaving enough room for timely delivery.
It can happen that a shipping exception is just a notice about a possible delay due to a specific reason, but in the end, the package is delivered on time.
#2 The order is delivered late
Delays caused by delivery exceptions are usually short and the package often arrives the following day. For example, if the recipient was not home the first time, the carrier will try the delivery the next day.
This also happens when the driver does not manage to arrive at the drop-off location during his work hours.
#3 The order is returned
If the carrier is unable to deliver the order for any reason, the package may need to be returned to the sender.
Package returns are usually caused by incomplete or incorrect addresses.
Damage during transit, especially when it affects barcodes and shipping labels, also results in returns.
How to Respond to Delivery Exceptions?
Depending on the reason for the exception in delivery, there are certain actions you can take to get the most out of the situation.
Take a look at three possible routes you can take when you notice an exception during transit:
Contact the Driver
It is very important to contact the driver as soon as possible to see where the package is.
Both you and the recipient should have the option to check online for the exact location of the package, and the reason for the exception in shipping.
Besides the basic tracking information, the driver may add some additional details.
If the carrier’s problem is something you can solve, e.g. the package had the incorrect label, you can help the driver complete the delivery on time.
Contact the Customer
In case the customer’s shipping address is incorrect or unknown, you should contact them to confirm the right mailing address for the delivery.
Whenever you find out about a possible reason for a delay, you should inform the customer about it. You can send an email to customers affected, apologize for potential delays, thank them for their understanding and patience.
83% of online shoppers in the United States expect businesses to perform regular communication about their orders.
It is always good to transform a negative situation into a positive experience with your delivery performance that a customer will remember for future orders.
Refund the Order or Resend It
In case the package was damaged during the transit, or it cannot be delivered for any other reason, talk to the customer about giving them a refund or resending the order.
In the United States, 59% of online shoppers claim that they expect to receive notifications about their refund and its status.
When the package suffers damage in transit, the cost might be partially or completely covered, depending on its shipping insurance.
How to Prevent Delivery Exceptions?
Let’s go through some of the ways you can prevent delivery exceptions:
Check Order Information
Before you call the shipping company and send the order, make sure you checked the order information.
Make sure your staff members understand the importance of every piece of information entered, and the damage every typo could cause.
If the customer is placing the order on the phone, it is always good to read the information back to the customer.
With online orders, double-check if the address section is completed correctly including a zip code. This will help you avoid sending shipments to non-existing addresses.
Another good idea is to email customers with the order information to check if all the shipping data has been entered correctly.
Forward Inventory Stocking
Keep inventory stored closer to your clients with forward stocking locations.
Forward stocking locations or field stocking locations are smaller warehouses whose purpose is to ship the SKUs that customers that are geographically closer are buying.
With forward inventory stocking, orders can be distributed throughout the country of choice much faster than they do when the entire inventory is kept in one central warehouse.
In-stock availability and fast delivery are mentioned by 43% of online shoppers as the two most important factors when deciding whether to order products online.
Analyze your supply chain data and figure out which SKUs could be stored in forward stocking locations to achieve faster delivery and avoid delivery exceptions.
This strategy can even help with issues out of your control such as the weather since it cuts the delivery path significantly.
Account for Delays in the Schedule
When you are planning a delivery schedule, you need to take potential delays into consideration.
This will help you to provide delivery times that are as accurate as possible.
53% of online shoppers in the United States are not willing to buy a product if they can’t see the delivery date.
Your delivery times must be calculated based on the expected transit time, and additional criteria that might disrupt or extend the delivery route.
Planning ahead means monitoring different factors that affect delivery times such as:
- Emergency stocks
- Expected weather conditions
- The proximity of national holidays
Moreover, carriers normally offer specific pickup and shipping times, and if your packages are late, they won’t be able to pick them up on that day. To prevent delivery exceptions, stay one step ahead and consider preparing the orders earlier than scheduled.
If an unforeseen delay happens, make sure you notify the recipient about the change in the expected delivery time.
Route Vehicles with Software
Vehicle routing software is used to help businesses create and schedule the most optimal routes for each delivery.
The software will also help you:
- Assign tasks
- Reschedule tasks
- Schedule pickups and drop-offs
- Manage vehicle type and volume
- Automate reports
- and more
Vehicle route optimization systems are designed to consider all relevant factors and create efficient multi-route plans with several stops along the way.
These tools also offer additional help for couriers so they could successfully navigate different road conditions and deliver products faster.
Besides creating more efficient routes with lower chances of delivery exceptions, introducing vehicle routing and scheduling tools will allow you to maximize the use of labor, fuel, and other resources.
Merge Forward and Reverse Logistics
The difference between reverse logistics and forward logistics is in the directions that the product takes while moving through the supply chain:
- Forward logistics: products are being delivered to customers
- Reverse logistics: products are coming back to businesses
Since businesses experience product returns all the time, making use of reverse logistics is a logical step to take.
The number of ecommerce orders that were returned in the United States rose by 60% from 2016 to 2019.
So how do you combine forward and reverse logistics?
If a driver is already delivering an order at a certain location, it would be a waste of time and resources to send another courier to pick up a package in the same area.
Combining pickup routes from reverse logistics and drop-off spots from your forward logistics can shorten the travel time in half, which leaves less room for delivery exceptions and delays.
Here are the nine free guides that will show you exactly what we do to optimize the last mile and dominate delivery logistics.
1. How to work SMART not hard with Route Optimization Software.
2. See how to plan a route with multiple stops that doesn’t waste resources.
3. Build a brand people love by providing what customers value in last-mile delivery.
4. Everything you wanted to know about COVID-19 and Last-Mile Delivery.
5. Route Optimization Software: Our Complete Guide
6. How to crush logistics and achieve last mile e-commerce delivery success.
7. Last-Mile Delivery Solutions: How to Use Them to Scale Your Operations
8. Route optimization using Google Maps: Is it possible and does it work?
9. The BIG Challenges of Last-Mile Delivery (And How to Overcome Them)
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