Last-mile delivery tracking: a business’s secret weapon

Last-mile delivery tracking allows customers to monitor the exact location and ETA (estimated time of arrival) of their order while it’s in transit to its final destination—oftentimes within the final 10 miles. Today, it’s a capability that customers desire but don’t get often enough. Uber’s report found that more than half of consumers (53%) can’t track courier location with most delivery orders, leaving them out of the loop.

Offering last-mile delivery tracking can go a long way not only for customers but also for businesses and couriers. When every party involved in a delivery has visibility into the status of an order, it streamlines the process and creates less room for errors and miscommunications—obstacles that can erode trust and reduce the reliability of the fulfillment process.

Today, many delivery platforms—like Uber—offer tech solutions that enable last-mile tracking on orders. Depending on the solution, businesses can gain access to a suite of features that can help improve the reliability of a delivery experience for customers. Some of these features may include:

• Accurate ETAs: Businesses can share estimates of when a customer’s order will arrive, which sets realistic expectations. In Uber’s report, 80% of consumers rated accurate delivery times as a very important component of a satisfactory delivery experience.
  
  
• Real-time location tracking: Customers can view a map and watch a courier’s progress in real time. This gives customers reassurance that their order is on the way—and agency if something doesn’t go as planned (for example, a courier making a wrong turn or stopping for a long period of time).
  
  
• Contact options: If a customer notices an issue with their order while it’s in transit, many tracking solutions offer ways to intervene. Customers may have the option to contact a courier through in-app messaging to get the order back on track.
  
  
• Delivery alerts: Many tracking solutions let businesses send notifications by email, by text, or through an app to keep customers in the know. These notifications can indicate a change in delivery status and update customers as the delivery window gets more precise. If a delivery window is between 2pm and 4pm, for example, last-mile tracking can notify the customer that the delivery is expected by 3:20 or that the courier will be arriving in 10 minutes.

Last-mile tracking is a win for businesses, couriers, and customers alike. Providing visibility into the status of a delivery comes with several notable benefits, including:

When customers don’t know where their order is or when to expect it, it can cause confusion and concern. Delays happen, which is why it’s better for businesses to alert customers about the issue right away rather than keeping them in the dark. A customer who ordered delivery for their dry cleaning, for instance, would want to know as soon as possible if it won’t arrive on time for an event later that night.

The findings in Uber’s report support this: 63% of consumers say delivery tracking brings peace of mind, while 57% feel relief when a company keeps them posted about the location of their order.

Those good feelings can add up to a better relationship between customers and brands. Almost half (47%) of respondents in Uber’s report say real-time tracking increases their trust in a brand. That can translate to improved customer loyalty and repeat business: 94% of people say a positive delivery experience makes them more likely to order from a business again.

When businesses, couriers, and customers have visibility into the status of a delivery, it’s easier to spot and fix potential problems early. Say a customer discovers that they provided the wrong delivery address. Certain tracking solutions allow them to edit their pinned location in real time. Fewer delivery errors can mean fewer returns and refunds, potentially saving businesses time and money.

Last-mile tracking helps maintain a sense of order. When businesses know a courier’s ETA at the pickup location, employees can have orders prepared and organized in advance. Additionally, if customers have the ability to communicate with couriers directly about the status of an order, businesses might face fewer support calls—giving employees more time to focus on other pressing in-store priorities.

Last-mile tracking isn’t just useful in real time; it also automatically creates a record of all the deliveries that went out, where they ended up, and when. These elements can help businesses spot patterns in delivery performance and equip them with details they might need if customers reach out with questions or disputes.

Uber understands the importance of providing customers with seamless delivery, regardless of their preferred order channel. It’s why our team has baked real-time tracking into the experience when people order on the Uber Eats marketplace. And it’s why we’ve built similar features into Uber Direct, a tech solution that enables businesses to use Uber’s courier network to deliver orders placed on their own sales channels, such as their website or app. When using Uber Direct, businesses can offer the following features to customers who prefer to order from them directly:

• Real-time updates: Allow customers to track orders at every stage of the delivery life cycle: when it’s scheduled, when it’s being prepared, when a courier has picked up the order, and when it’s on the way.
  
  
• Customizable courier location tracking: Share tracking links with customers through SMS, or embed them into your own app or iframe.
  
  
• Courier connect: Invite customers to contact couriers directly to communicate handoff instructions without sharing their personal phone number.
  
  
• Uber-managed customer support: Subscribe to Uber-managed customer support to have our teams handle delivery issues. Even if you prefer to have more control over the customer support experience, you still have the option of escalating issues to our team as needed.

Using the Uber Direct dashboard, your business will have control over which features to implement and how you share them with customers. In the same place, you can keep track of past delivery records, follow current deliveries in real time, and get courier location notifications to help with prep-time optimization. Uber has designed these tools to be intuitive for your business and your customers.

If you already use Uber Direct, log in to your dashboard to gain more control over your last-mile delivery tracking options. If you haven’t signed up for Uber Direct yet, you can get started today to begin offering on-demand delivery options with tracking features for customers who order from you directly.

If you’re new to delivery—whether it's from a marketplace like Uber Eats or your own channels—learn more about different ways to partner with Uber.