In the digital age, e-commerce businesses are on the rise. Consumers can access online stores and then place orders for products and services via personal devices. Since the payment is made before the order is delivered, the consumer expects the order to be delivered without delay, and most online stores are keen to deliver parcel orders on time. Circumstances when orders delay because the process of delivery demands some attention, it is referred to as a delivery exception.
The delivery exception is simply an interruption of parcels while in shipment. The result is a delayed or undelivered parcel, and consumers may get upset if there is no good communication. Important to know is that delivery exceptions are not intentional and mostly cannot be escaped.
Reasons for Delivery Exception‘s
- Parcels ordered by consumers may not be in an online store from where the order was made and require shipping from outside. The parcels could get held up at customs much longer than expected, leading to delivery exceptions.
- Should there be a National Holiday either in the country of origin or destination country, shipping carriers cannot operate. In this case, parcels can delay extending the time for shippers to catch up because of the backlog of shipments.
- A delivery route can become unpassable due to weather conditions. Weather issues like hurricanes, tornadoes, wildfires, or floods are unpredictable and beyond control resulting in delivery exceptions.
- If by reason of damaged labels a carrier is not able to read the delivery address or scan the shipping bar code, the parcel can delay. Likewise, if a carrier shipper does not recognize the address or the address is undeliverable or incomplete, the result is a delivery exception.
- In most cases, when a carrier delivers a parcel, the recipient is supposed to sign. If the shipper reaches the parcel destination and finds no one, the delivery fails and is rescheduled for the next day.
Different carriers have different reasons for delivery exceptions. The consumer is, therefore, able to choose which carrier service to use. The carrier delivery exceptions include;
- FedEx Delivery Exception.
The most convenient of all the major carriers. Its area of specialization is overnight and express shipping. The most likely delivery exceptions include flat tires or poor weather. They may not necessarily mean late delivery.
Since it deals with larger and valuable products, its main delivery exceptions include unknown addresses, damaged goods, or lack of signature upon delivery.
- USPS Delivery Exception.
By the virtual USPS under the United States Federal Government, its delivery exception is the federal holidays. In case of a delay, customers can know while tracking their parcels.
- DHL Delivery Exception.
DHL is an international carrier making the delivery exception be the customs.
What are the Consequences?
- Late delivery and often the delivery arrives the next day. If a carrier fails to find anyone to receive the parcel, they can try the next day.
- The parcel is returned to the sender in case the carrier is not able to know the address because of a damaged label.
- There are instances where a delivery exception is an alert to the customer that a parcel may be delayed due to certain reasons, but then the parcel ends up being delivered on time.
What are the Solutions to Delivery Exception?
- Refund.
If delivering a parcel fails for any reason, the customer should be informed about issuing a refund.
- Resend the Package.
If a customer gets to know of a parcel delivery failure and the customer issues an authorization for resending the parcel, then the parcel is put on delivery again.
- Contacting the Customer.
If a delivery exception is due to an unknown or incorrect address, the customer should be contacted to verify the correct address. Informing a customer of a possible delay in delivering parcels may be due to poor weather conditions, is important. Contacting the customer can be done through an email and giving an apology to the customer is expected.
- Reaching the Carrier.
Being able to get information from a carrier as to why a delay has occurred can help. Having a tracking number to be able to track the shipment location and also share it with the customer can help.
Conclusion
Offering clear tracking information and updates on delivery status is a very critical measure for an online store. This will help avoid the many expected calls from customers after experiencing a delay in parcels due to frustration. If measures are not put in place, customers may end up canceling orders and that would mean a loss of money for an online store. Customers may also opt to change the online store if they fail to understand that the delivery exception is not caused by the service provider.
