Shopxare Team
A good reply to "Where is my order?" says three things: where the parcel is right now, the next date the customer can expect it, and what you will do if that date passes. Send it in the first reply, not after two rounds of "can you give me your order number". Below you'll find a table that tells you which reply fits which order status, eight short templates you can copy into chat or email, the delivery deadlines you're working against in the EU, and five ways to get fewer of these questions.
Why this one question fills your inbox
"Where is my order" questions have their own acronym in e-commerce support: WISMO. DigitalGenius, which sorts support messages for online retailers by intent, found that they averaged 21% of all customer questions in March 2023 and 36% from December 2022 to January 2023 (DigitalGenius, 2023). That is the vendor's own customer data, not an industry survey, but the pattern is clear: in peak season, more than one message in three was about a parcel.
The good news is that these are the easiest questions you get. The answer already sits in your shop system or the carrier's tracking page. The work is in answering fast and with a date, so the customer doesn't write again tomorrow.
The three-part reply
Every template below follows the same order:
- Status in plain words. "Your parcel left our warehouse on Tuesday and is with DHL", not "Status: in transit".
- The next date. A day, not "soon". If you don't know, give the date by which you will know.
- The fallback. What happens if that date passes: you chase the carrier, resend, or refund. This is the part that stops the second message.
Skip the long apology. One "sorry for the wait" is enough when you are late. When you are not late, you don't need it at all.
Which reply to send
Look up the order first, then pick the row.
| What you see in the order | What the customer needs to hear | Template |
|---|---|---|
| Not shipped, still within your promised dispatch time | When it ships and how they'll be told | 1 |
| Not shipped, and you are past your promised time | Why, the new ship date, an option to cancel | 2 |
| In transit, on time | Tracking link and expected day | 3 |
| In transit, past the expected date | That you've asked the carrier, a date for your next update | 4 |
| Tracking hasn't moved for 3+ working days | That you've opened a case, when you'll resend if nothing changes | 5 |
| Marked as delivered, customer says it isn't | Where to look, then what you'll do | 6 |
| Returned to sender (wrong address, not collected) | That it's coming back, and the choice: resend or refund | 7 |
| Carrier confirms it's lost | Resend or refund, their pick, no extra steps | 8 |
Eight templates to copy
They are written for chat, so they're short. For email, add a greeting line and your signature. Replace the parts in square brackets. If you use saved replies in Shopxare, {{contact.name | there}} fills in the customer's first name, or "there" when the name is unknown.
1. Not shipped yet, on time
Hi {{contact.name | there}}, your order [number] is being packed. Orders ship within [2 working days], so it will leave us by [Thursday]. You'll get an email with the tracking link the moment it does.
2. Not shipped, late
Hi {{contact.name | there}}, I'm sorry, your order [number] hasn't left us yet because [one item came back into stock later than planned]. It will ship on [date] and should reach you by [date]. If that's too late for you, reply "cancel" and I'll refund you in full today.
3. In transit, on time
Hi {{contact.name | there}}, your parcel is on its way with [carrier]: [tracking link]. It's expected on [day, date]. If the tracking page stays quiet for a day between scans, that's normal.
4. In transit, late
Hi {{contact.name | there}}, your parcel should have arrived by [date] and it hasn't, I'm sorry. I've asked [carrier] what's going on and will write to you by [date + 1 working day] with an answer, even if the answer is "still waiting".
5. Tracking stuck
Hi {{contact.name | there}}, the last scan on your parcel was on [date] in [place], which is longer than it should be. I've opened a case with [carrier]. If it hasn't moved by [date], I'll send a replacement right away, so you won't need to write to us again.
6. Delivered, but not received
Hi {{contact.name | there}}, [carrier] shows the parcel as delivered on [date] at [time]. Could you check with neighbours, your building's mailroom or a safe place at the door? If it hasn't turned up by [date], tell me and I'll take it from there with the carrier.
7. Returned to sender
Hi {{contact.name | there}}, your parcel is on its way back to us because [the carrier couldn't find the address / it wasn't collected from the pickup point]. Would you like me to send it again to [address], or should I refund you? Either is fine, just let me know which.
8. Lost
Hi {{contact.name | there}}, [carrier] has confirmed your parcel is lost. I'm sorry. I can send a new one today, arriving around [date], or refund [amount] to your original payment method. Which do you prefer?
Notice what's missing: no "please allow 5–7 business days for an investigation" and no asking the customer to contact the carrier themselves. In most cases that's your job, and the law in the EU says so too.
The deadline you're working against
If you sell to consumers in the EU, the Consumer Rights Directive sets the default. Unless you agreed on another delivery time, you must deliver "without undue delay, but not later than 30 days from the conclusion of the contract" (Article 18). If you miss it, the customer can set you an extra deadline and then cancel. And until the customer has the parcel in hand, the risk of loss or damage stays with you, not with them, unless they chose the carrier themselves (Article 20). Source: Directive 2011/83/EU, consolidated text and the EU's Your Europe page on delivery.
In practice: a lost parcel is your problem to solve with the carrier, which is why template 8 offers a resend or refund straight away. This is a summary, not legal advice. Check the rules for the countries you ship to.
Five ways to get fewer "where is my order" messages
- Send the tracking link the moment the label is printed. A customer without a tracking link has exactly one way to find out where the parcel is: ask you.
- Write before they do. If an order will ship late, send template 2 yourself on the day you know. A proactive message takes the same two minutes as the reply, and the customer reads it as good service instead of a complaint.
- Put your shipping times where people ask. A short shipping page, linked in the order confirmation and in the website chat. If you have a help center, publish it there as an article.
- Let an AI agent answer the routine part. In Shopxare, Are AI answers from your shipping and returns pages, help center articles and saved replies. With a data connector to your shop's order API, it can look up the actual order: it asks the customer for the order number and replies with the status your system returns. By default, connectors only run for identified customers, so a stranger can't look up someone else's order.
- Send the hard cases to a person. Templates 5 to 8 involve money and judgement. Are AI hands a conversation over when the customer asks for a person, is angry, or when it isn't confident in its answer. You can also add "lost parcel" and "refund" to the topics that always go to your team.
When not to automate
If your shop has no order API, or your order data is messy (half the orders shipped by hand, tracking numbers added days later), don't connect an AI to it yet. A wrong "your parcel is on its way" is worse than a slow correct one. Start with the shipping-times answer and the templates, and add the lookup once the data is reliable.
Example: a small coffee shop on Shopify
A two-person shop selling coffee beans in Germany ships with DHL. On a Monday in December, a customer writes in the Messenger at 22:40:
Customer: Hi, I ordered on Wednesday and still nothing. Order 4417.
Are AI: Hi Anna, order 4417 left us on Friday and is with DHL. The tracking shows it at the Leipzig hub since Saturday, and the expected delivery is tomorrow, Tuesday. Here is the tracking link: [link]. If it hasn't arrived by Wednesday evening, write here and the team will check with DHL.
The reply comes from the order data (through a data connector) and the shop's shipping page. On Wednesday morning the parcel is still in Leipzig, so the customer writes again, asks for a person, and the conversation lands in the team inbox. The owner opens a case with DHL and sends template 5.
Try it on your own shop
Shopxare is free, with no credit card. Add the Messenger to your store (install guide), save the eight templates above as shared saved replies, and connect your shipping page to Are AI. If you're still choosing a chat tool, our comparison of free tawk.to alternatives lays out the free plans side by side.
FAQ
How do you respond to "where is my order"?
Look up the order, then reply with three things: the current status in plain words, the date they can expect it, and what you'll do if that date passes. Include the tracking link.
What does WISMO mean?
"Where is my order?" It's the support term for all questions about order status and delivery. In DigitalGenius's 2023 data it made up 21% to 36% of all customer questions.
How do I tell a customer their order is delayed?
Tell them before they ask, give the reason in one sentence, a new date, and an option to cancel if the new date doesn't work for them. Template 2 above does exactly that.
What if tracking says delivered but the customer didn't get it?
Ask them to check neighbours, the mailroom and safe places, give it one working day, then open a claim with the carrier yourself. In the EU, the risk stays with the seller until the customer actually has the parcel.
How long does an online shop have to deliver in the EU?
30 days from the purchase, unless you agreed on a different delivery time with the customer (Article 18 of the Consumer Rights Directive).
