"Where's my order?" automation for UK online stores (Royal Mail, Evri, DPD)

To automate "where's my order?", send dispatch and delay updates automatically, then let an agent look up the order and tracking when customers ask, and hand anything unusual to a person. Routine customer enquiries get an instant, accurate answer from your Shopify or WooCommerce data. Late, lost and "delivered but not here" parcels still reach you, with the details already gathered.

Why UK customers ask you, not the courier

If you sell online in the UK, delivery problems come back to you. That's what couriers and consumer advisers tell your customers.

What Evri, DPD and Citizens Advice tell customers

• Evri. Its complaints procedure says that if a parcel is "delayed, marked as delivered but you do not have it, or arrived damaged, you should contact the sender." It adds: "They can provide you with a refund or replacement - Evri cannot do this."
• DPD. Its help pages send customers back to you for some changes: "To change to a different address, please contact the sender of your parcel."
• Citizens Advice. Its guide for shoppers says "it's the seller's responsibility to make sure the item is delivered to you" and "If the seller used a courier, they should chase the courier to find out what's happened to your order".

Royal Mail customers usually start at Royal Mail's tracking page, and when that doesn't answer their question, they come to you too.

What that means for your inbox in December

Every slow scan and confused customer becomes a message to you, by email, chat, WhatsApp or phone. In peak it arrives more often, exactly when you have the least time. Yet most of those messages have an answer already sitting in your order and tracking data. That's the part you can automate.

The four questions hiding behind "where's my order?"

"Where's my order?" (often shortened to WISMO) is really four different questions. Each needs a different answer. The first three can mostly be answered automatically; the fourth can't.

Not dispatched yet

The order hasn't shipped. The answer comes from the order and your published dispatch times. An agent can answer this on its own.

In transit, or no scan update

The answer is the latest status, carrier, tracking link and expected date. If a parcel sits on an early status for a while, the agent should repeat what your delivery policy says, not guess at what the carrier is doing.

Delayed

The parcel is past its expected date. The agent can acknowledge the delay, share the latest status and explain what happens next, for example "if there's no update by Thursday, we'll chase the courier for you". It should also flag the order to you, because a delay is often where a real problem starts.

"Delivered" but not received: always a human

This needs a person every time. The outcome may be a redelivery, a replacement or a refund, and that is your decision. The agent's job is to collect the details calmly and hand over. It should never promise a refund.

Step 1: Prevent the question (proactive updates)

The cheapest WISMO message is the one that never gets sent.

Dispatched, out for delivery, delayed: by email, or WhatsApp if they opted in

Your store can already send the basic dispatch email. In Shopify, when you add a tracking number at fulfilment it appears in the shipping confirmation and shipping update emails, and once a tracking number is present, Shopify takes the delivery status from the carrier. WooCommerce doesn't add tracking numbers to orders on its own; you add them with a shipping plugin or an extension such as Woo's Shipment Tracking, which includes automatic tracking links for Royal Mail and DPD and lets you add others, such as Evri, as a custom provider.

The message most stores miss is the delay note. A workflow can spot orders past their expected date, or without a tracking update for a set number of days, and send a short, honest message before the customer asks. How much tracking detail is available depends on your carrier, account and shipping app, so this is checked store by store.

On WhatsApp, the WhatsApp Business Messaging Policy only allows you to contact people who gave you their number and opted in to messages from you. Messages you start, such as a dispatch update, must use an approved message template. WhatsApp also recommends getting a separate opt-in for each category, so "order updates" and "offers" should be two different choices. If a customer hasn't opted in, use email.

Clear delivery dates at checkout

GOV.UK's distance selling guidance says you must tell customers about "delivery arrangements, costs and how long goods will take to arrive" before they order. Show your dispatch cut-off time and a realistic range for each delivery service, and keep it up to date in peak.

A "Track my order" link in the footer and contact page

Many customers never find the tracking email. Put a "Track my order" link in the footer, on the contact page and in your order emails. On Shopify that can be the order status page. On WooCommerce, it's the order tracking page or the customer's account.

Step 2: Answer instantly where customers ask

Some customers will always message. Answer them where they already ask, using the same data.

WhatsApp

A WhatsApp AI agent reads the question, asks for the order number, looks up the order and replies with the status, carrier and tracking link. When a customer messages you, WhatsApp's 24-hour customer service window opens, so the agent can reply without a template for 24 hours after their last message. WhatsApp's policy also says that when you automate replies you need "prompt, clear, and direct escalation paths", such as handing the chat to a person.

Website chat

A support chatbot on your site can do the same lookup. The key is that it reads live order data, not just your FAQ page. A chatbot that only knows your delivery policy can't tell anyone where their parcel is.

Phone: AI voice agent

Some customers still ring. An AI voice agent can ask for the order number, check it during the call, give the status and log a summary for you afterwards. I've written separately about what an AI voice agent can and can't do.

Identity check before revealing order details

Before the agent shares anything beyond a basic status, it should confirm who it's talking to, for example by matching the order number with the email address or postcode on the order. Don't let it read out a full delivery address. It never needs payment details either, and WhatsApp's policy says not to ask people to share full card numbers.

Step 3: Hand off the exceptions properly

The exceptions are where good service is won or lost, so make the handover clean.

What the agent passes to you

One message or ticket with everything you need:

• Order number and customer name
• Carrier, tracking number and the latest tracking status with its date
• What the customer said, in their words
• What the agent has already told them

The agent should then tell the customer what happens next and when a person will reply, based on your real support hours.

Raising the carrier enquiry (seller side)

Evri's complaints page notes that "The sender can also contact Evri to find out more about your parcel." You raise the enquiry through your carrier account or shipping platform, using the details the agent collected. The agent prepares the case; a person decides on redelivery, replacement or refund.

Under the hood: Shopify/WooCommerce + carrier data + n8n

The setup I build uses n8n workflows between your store and the channels your customers use:

1. Store events. When an order is fulfilled, a workflow sends a WhatsApp dispatch update to customers who opted in. Your store's own emails cover everyone else.
2. Order lookup. When a customer asks, the agent calls a workflow that finds the order, checks the email or postcode, and returns the status, carrier, tracking number and link.
3. Tracking status. The agent works from the tracking your store records. Where your shipping app or carrier account provides more detailed tracking data, that can be added, checked carrier by carrier.
4. Delay check. A scheduled workflow looks for orders past their expected date and sends the delay note or flags them to you.
5. Logging and alerts. Every message and handover is logged, and you get an alert if a step fails.

It fits alongside your other order fulfilment automation, and the same set-up can grow into wider AI customer support agents.

See it working

The order-status demo shows this on WhatsApp. It runs on a demo store, Larkhollow Home & Candle Co., with sample data. The agent looks up the order and replies with the status, courier, tracking link and estimated delivery. When the customer asks to change the delivery address, it hands over to a person instead of guessing.

What it costs to run

The build is a one-off piece of work, quoted once I've seen your store, carriers and channels. Running costs are billed by the providers directly: WhatsApp message charges from Meta (check Meta's current pricing), voice minutes for a phone agent, AI usage and hosting for n8n. If you only get a few tracking questions a week, a clear tracking link and good dispatch emails may be all you need.

Frequently asked questions