1 Introduction

Solution and scope

Shipping notifications are a service customers have come to expect from most e-commerce sites, but one that Laddawn is not yet providing.  We would like to implement timely notification of shipments to our customers, via email.

We will send individual notifications for each sub-order/shipment which makes up a master order. The notifications will not be sent in real time (as soon as Clippership generates the tracking number or literally when the cartons land on the truck), but will be sent in a batch, triggered by the "close carrier" event at each warehouse shipping station. Meme feels this is soon enough to make a significant dent in most customer calls.

Rather than include tracking links which send the recipient directly to the carrier's website, our email notifications are going to drive customers back to our website to get shipment status. This is because our orders can consist of multiple shipments of varying sizes coming from different locations via different carriers on different dates, and because our carriers' online tracking capabilities vary greatly.  By driving users back to our site, we will enable them to see individual shipments within the complete context of a master order (and their own purchase order); it will also give them a relatively consistent experience, regardless of the carrier(s) used. So that users are not tempted to bypass our website, we will not include tracking numbers in the email.  We can revisit this decision should customer reaction warrant it.

Background and strategic fit

Customers frequently call CE to check on whether their orders have shipped. We think a significant portion of these calls could be eliminated if customers received timely shipping notifications. Not only will shipping notifications improve service and efficiency, but by driving users back to the site, they will also promote awareness and adoption of new features, particularly predictive ordering and the narrative thread, which when implemented will be visible from all Shop pages, including Order History.

2 Definitions

 "PRO number" - A PRO number is used by carriers to organize and track the progress of each shipment. A PRO number is defined in the industry as "progressive + number." They layman's term is tracking number.

"Close carrier" - This is an event in Clippership that happens when ...

3 Assumptions

Shipping notifications do not duplicate invoices, because invoices are sent several hours after the "close carrier" event, and in many cases, are sent to the distributorship's A/P department, not the individual who is most concerned about shipping status - the person who placed the order.

4 User Interaction and Design

Notification - regular shipment

• For each shipment within the master order we will send a separate shipping notification.
  
  • Each split shipment under the same order number will have separate notifications. (For example order 130827A, consisting of 4 cases of item 627 coming from Iowa + 4 cases of item 627 coming from Sterling will generate two notifications, one from Iowa and one from Sterling.)
    
  • Notifications cannot combine one master order with another master order even if Shipping physically ships multiple master orders together.
    
  • Stock riding with a MOD, within the same master order, should be on a single notification.
   
• The shipment that the notification is for will be shown in the expanded form within the orange container as shown below; we will also reference past and future shipments from the order (in a collapsed form) as shown.
  
  • If there are multiple prior shipments, they will be sorted by order #, then ship date. So if the A and B orders were shipped on 12/1 and the A order had another shipment on 12/4, they would show as:  12345A shipped on 12/1, 12345A shipped on 12/4, 12345B shipped on 12/1/15.
  • When the notification is for a shipment consisting of a MOD and a stock line riding with it, the order numbers will stacked (12345C then 12345F underneath).  When these two orders show as prior shipments, they will be sorted separately in order# sequence.
  • Future shipments which are "Ship to arrive on" shipments will display as "Shipping from Atlanta GA to arrive on 7/10" (not shown below). (Clarification added 1/12/16)
    
• Notifications will be sent to the contact who placed the order, but not addresses entered on the CC line for order acknowledgments. Note, however, that we are adding a new field for entering additional addresses for shipping notifications - see section called "Notifications to individuals other than purchaser" below. 
  
• Track link will log the user in, and bring them directly to order history filtered to this order, with its tracking pop-up opened.
  
• If the order was shipped Best Way, since we know the carrier, we will show the actual carrier in place of "Best Way" for Ship via, and we will use the past tense: "Shipped from ..." such and such warehouse on such and such date.
• For orders which third party or collect, we will include freight billing info below the last line in the shipment, similar to what we show in order acknowledgments.
• For prepay and add shipments, we will show freight costs below the last line in the shipment.

Email subject line: Your order, PO 19642015, has shipped (Chex Mix, 11767C)

Notification - customer pickup

• These notifications will be triggered as soon as Shipping ships the order "to hold" in Clippership.  
• For shipments that have already been picked up, we will say "Picked up in <warehouse city, state> on <m/d>" as shown with order A below.  (When the goods are picked up, shipping releases the order from Clippership Hold.  This is when the data is sent back to Avante for inventory and invoicing purposes; that will be our "picked up on" date.)
  
• Hours & Directions link brings you to "Contact Us" footer content.
• Shipping will no longer have to email CE when orders are ready for pickup, as they do today:
  
  
  
   
• ...and CE will no longer have to create a tie in request for each of these orders and call customers when orders are ready for pickup.
  
  • Instead, we will program such that when Shipping ships these orders to "hold" in Clippership, this event will fire off a CPU shipping notification.
• We will include info about number of cartons, pallets and weight below the line item, as shown below.
  
  

Notifications to individuals other than purchaser

We will add a field to the checkout summary screen to enable customers to enter additional email addresses to have shipment notifications sent to. It will be pre-popluated with the purchaser's address; they may opt out of receiving a shipping notification if they wish. 

On CPU orders, however, this field must be populated with at least one valid email address. If the field is blank when "place order" is clicked, we will generate an error message:

To prevent users from inadvertently sending shipping notifications (which contain costs and Laddawn branding), we will give unrecognized email addresses the same visual treatment we give them on the CC line, and generate a similar error message when "place order" is clicked:

Unrecognized Order Summary Email	Unrecognized Order Shipping Notification Email	Unrecognized Order Summary & Shipping Notification Email

IMPORTANT:

If the shipping notification line contains any email address other than the purchaser's, the Directions & Hours link (CPU orders) and Tracking link (shipped orders) cannot have auto-login functionality. Ideally we'd compose a link that brings the recipients to a login wall, then the specific content, however, this is not technically feasible at this time. So we will remove the "Directions & Hours" button and link from CPU notifications, and "Track my item(s)" button and link from shipped order notifications.

Shipment tracking - revised tracking pop-up

Key features/changes

• Top section: rearranged PO, date and ship to; removed master order number from top section.
• Added columns for order number (master + A/B/C suffix) and warehouse of origin.
  
  • Use horizontal rule only to separate orders within the master order (as shown).
  • Keep split shipments that have the same order number together, do not separate with horizontal rule (item 627 below).

• Add external link symbol to the right of the tracking link.
• Carriers who do not have online tracking:
  
  • Remove hyperlink formatting from tracking number (as shown)
  • Add "Call <carrier customer service number> for tracking info" below tracking number
    
    

CPU tracking pop-up

Date shipped is the date the order shipped to "hold" in Clippership, and the date the shipping notification was sent. In place of a tracking number in the tracking column, we will state whether the order has been picked up, is ready for pickup (notification sent, but not yet picked up), or expected to be ready. When the goods are picked up, shipping releases the order from Clippership Hold.  This is when the data is sent back to Avante for inventory and invoicing purposes; that will be our "picked up on" date.

Not Doing

• We are not going to include tracking numbers in the notifications. See Introduction for explanation.We may revisit this in the future based on customer feedback.
• We are not going to CC shipping notifications to individuals who were CC'd on order acknowledgments. We may revisit this in the future based on customer feedback.
• For shipped orders, we are not going to show total shipping weight in the shipping notifications as Tina thinks this will unnecessarily generate scrutiny by customers. However, as noted above, we will show weight, plus pallet and carton count on CPU notifications so their truckers can plan accordingly.
• We will not fax shipping notifications to fax only customers - this includes CPU orders. (See Change Management section RE fax only customers who place CPU orders.)

Analytics

• Shipping notifications generated, by type.
• Clicks on "Track my item(s)"
• Clicks on "Directions & Hours"

5 Testing

Shipping Notification - Test Script -  (Updated as of 02/11/16)

There are 6 worksheets in this workbook.

S1 = Stock Riding w/Mod (Stacked) (Auto-Login = Yes)

S2 = Stock & MOD Orders w/ Cancel (Auto-Login = No)

S3 = Stock Order, Multiple Days (BO) (Auto-Login = No)

S4 = 2 MOD, CPU Orders (Auto-Login = No)

S5 = Split Shipment, 2 Warehouses – Same Day (Auto-Login = Yes)

MockUp = Screenshots & Annotations of Shipping Notifications & Pop-ups.

When running through each scenario, please keep your order acknowledgement at hand – as you’ll be referring to it frequently to verify the Shipping Notifications contain accurate information. Also, make sure you have access to the email address being used.

Pay close attention to formatting, layout, and order in which items/rows are displayed, etc.

Shipping Notifications should be almost a mirror image of the mockups.

If you need a list of accounts to test the script with, click the Wiki link below.

https://laddawn1.atlassian.net/wiki/display/web/Joan+-+Bette+-+Sally+login+credentials

If you have any questions, or notice any inaccuracies within the script – please contact Jason Burke.

Download File:

6 Change management and rollout planning

Fax customers

Because we will not be faxing shipping notifications and we hope to eliminate the need to call customers when CPU orders are ready, Customer Relationship partners will need to reach out to the small number of fax customers who a) are fax only and b) place CPU orders, to convince them to accept email shipping confirmations (as well as order acknowledgments and shared carts).

When customers call regarding shipping status, check to see if they are fax only. Have a conversation about switching to email for all notifications. (Develop script with selling points.)

Alternatively, reach out in advance?

Data

Fax only customers who placed at least one CPU order in the last 6 months (what's up with the ones who don't have fax numbers?)

Email customers

When customers call to request tracking numbers, or complain that they are not included in the email, what do we say? We need to keep track of this feedback without falling into the trap of empathizing too much or making it seem like it's a mistake. We need to have talking points about "what's in it for them" to go to the website to get their own numbers.

<< Which departments are affected by these changes? What are the possible negative perceptions of these changes, and how do we manage them? Articulate "what's in it for me?" for all internal and external stakeholders. Are call scripts necessary? Is advance customer outreach/communication necessary? What lead time is needed for training and other advance preparations? >>