21-09-2017
Royal Mail has launched a new service that will give overseas customers of UK-based retailers a more convenient way to track their parcels. Through the Tracked Email Notifications, offered by Royal Mail as a free add-on with all its International Tracked products, cross-border customers will have a clearer idea of where their order is at any given time. Royal Mail’s new Tracked Email Notifications are relying on a new solution developed by IPC: the IPC Notification Service.
The IPC Notification Service aims to help postal operators supporting e-retailers large and small, by offering email or text message notifications to their customers about the delivery status of their cross-border parcels. The IPC Notification Service is a custom built multi-language application that can be enhanced and styled per postal operator and consists of two key components:
- a customisable web page template where the buyer can indicate his or her preferences for receiving tracking notification
- a customisable email or text message template that can be fully branded by the company using it.
By offering this service, posts can improve the delivery experience for their customers and therefore get higher cross-border e-commerce volumes. Upon purchase confirmation, consumers receive an e-mail to choose their notification preferences, entering an e-mail address or a mobile phone number, selecting the language and the events for which they want to be notified. Standard notifications include departure from origin country, arrival in destination country and final delivery. Other optional notifications include customs information and unsuccessful delivery attempts.
The service is easy to set up and based on data already being fed into the IPC Data Hub. The service captures all updates, combining delivery status updates from both origin and destination posts. The service can be activated or de-activated per route.
Cross-border consumers want to receive the same delivery notifications whether they’re buying from a web shop in the same country or abroad. This is, however, operationally more complex. The IPC Notification Service responds to the needs of e-retailers and consumers by offering them an easy-to-use service for cross-border e-commerce delivery.
The IPC Solution is now operational and is available to all postal operators who wish to subscribe to the service.
For more information about the IPC Notification Service, please consult our one-pager here.