Tendered for Delivery: Understanding the Shipping Process and What It Means for Your Package

October 17, 2024
Jax Zheng

What exactly does "tendered for delivery" mean? For many people, this shipping period is filled with anxiety because they have no idea when their package will reach them.

Knowing what the tendered delivery process is like and why you have to update your customers is essential.

Let’s dig in to find out everything you need to know about tendered for delivery.

Key Takeaways

  • The "tendered for delivery" phase signals that the package has been transferred to a local courier, indicating the final leg of its journey before reaching the customer.
  • Understanding the tendered for delivery process can help reduce consumer concerns about delays. Many shoppers report anxiety when their packages do not arrive as expected.
  • Providing clear updates during this phase builds trust, as 81% of customers who experience a positive delivery are more likely to make repeat purchases with the same retailer.

What Does Tendered for Delivery Mean?

The term "tendered for delivery" characterizes the stage at which your primary shipment company hands over your package to a local delivery company for the last portion of its shipping journey.

This status indicates that the parcel has been dispatched or handed over from the main shipping hub and is now with a third-party carrier or local courier who will bring it to your home. This shipping phase informs customers that their package is within the final delivery stage.

The final e-commerce mile of a delivery is usually more complicated and costly than any other stage. Business Insider says last-mile delivery usually makes up [53%](https://www.businessinsider.com/last-mile-delivery-shipping-explained?r=US&IR=T#:~:text=As a share of the total cost of,retailers and logistics partners to shoulder the cost.) of total shipping costs. This last-mile handoff to a local carrier is required to receive goods efficiently, especially in areas far from major shipping points.

This may confuse some, but at least you know that the final carrier has your package, and the customer can expect it soon. After being marked as "tendered for delivery," the package usually arrives in 1-3 business days.

Why Understanding Tendered for Delivery is Important for Customers

Customers tracking their parcels must understand the tendered for delivery status. This stage can help ease the stress and improve their shipping experience. Being in the dark about when their package will arrive can be stressful and make their shipping experience unsatisfactory.

Now, let's explore how understanding the tendered delivery status can help you when shipping your packages.

Reducing Delivery Anxiety

Many deliveries cause anxiety, particularly when packages in transit seem to have been delayed or stuck for a certain duration.

Most customers feel negative emotions like anxiety and even frustration when their package fails to arrive at the scheduled time. In fact, delays could cause your customers to interpret them as their products being damaged or never arriving.

Since many customers do not know what the term “tendered for delivery” means, they may be anxious until their package arrives.

This status means that the local courier is handling your package and that it will arrive soon. Communicating this to your customers will help them understand this and can alleviate anxieties, as you know that deliveries are moving through as planned.

Improved Tracking and Transparency

Tracking transparency is vital for e-commerce in the modern world. Today's consumers are interested in where their package is, when it left the shipping company, and how far away it is. A survey report uncovered that 88% of online shoppers expect regular order status updates. These examples show the significance of transparency in the e-commerce shipping process.

The "tendered for delivery" status is an important update, indicating the package is near its final destination. Again, this allows customers to track the whereabouts of their order and predict what time they might receive it. Businesses that communicate clearly and transparently can now foster trust among their customers.

These examples show the significance of transparency in the e-commerce shipping process.

Managing Time and Delivery Expectations

Understanding this status also helps customers manage their time and expectations. When customers see this update, they can typically expect their package within 1-3 business days, depending on the carrier and location.

Knowing that the package is close allows them to plan their schedule accordingly, avoiding the frustration of missed deliveries or unrealistic timing expectations.

Understanding Carrier Handover

The transition between primary carriers and local delivery partners is vital to the tendered for delivery process. This handover can sometimes cause slight delays, especially in remote areas. However, it’s necessary to ensure packages reach customers in all locations.

Understanding this can help customers be more patient during this delivery stage. For example, if the primary shipping company hands the package to a local courier, there might be a brief gap before tracking updates. Knowing about this handover can alleviate concerns about delays.

Reduced Risk of Missed Deliveries

Customers often wait several days for their package to arrive, so a significant concern is a missed delivery. The biggest reason a customer can miss a delivery is the lack of information or updates on when the package will arrive.

When customers learn that their package is tendered for delivery and about to be delivered to their doorsteps, they will do whatever it takes to get their hands on it. Understanding this status helps you reschedule or proactively track it with tracking alerts (where possible) to reduce the chances of a missed delivery.

Enhancing Customer Experience

Delivery is everything when it comes to a positive customer experience. Forbes survey reports that 81% of respondents (consumers) said they would likely buy from the same store again because of positive delivery.

A tendered for delivery status will greatly enhance the customer experience since it allows the recipient to know when the package is on its way to their doorstep. If the retailer forthrightly informs those customers about this status, it keeps them in the loop with what's happening to their shipping, which increases satisfaction and customer loyalty.

Recognizing Delivery Delays Early

Delays are sometimes inevitable. Towards the final delivery step, in particular, this can become a bottleneck, especially at moments of high demand, such as the holidays.

Knowing what to look out for at this stage may warn customers about potential delays. For example, if the package stays on 'tendered for delivery' status for over three days, it might indicate an issue with its final carrier.

You should update the customer or, at the very least, provide them with easy communication access to customer service. By being proactive and open about issues, you can respond promptly and avoid long-term bottlenecks.

By providing transparency and telling customers what “tendered for delivery” actually means, you can reduce the chances of them becoming upset.

Building Trust with the Shipping Process

For online businesses, shipping is one of the most important parts of the customer experience, and transparency throughout every touch point is key to earning trust. Customers are power users, and when they know the whereabouts of their packages and especially when they understand what tendered for delivery means, they are satisfied with the purchase and the entire shipping process.

Retailers who promote transparency in the shipping stages, particularly during the critical shipping period here (the tendered for delivery stage), can increase customer loyalty and trust.

According to PwC's e-consumer survey, trust influences [91%](https://www.pwc.com/us/en/services/consulting/library/consumer-intelligence-series/trust-new-business-currency.html#:~:text=In this survey%2C nine out of 10 (91%25),whopping 73%25 say they would spend significantly less.) of consumers when deciding where to purchase. Laying transparency and updates out like a trail of breadcrumbs only heightens trust, especially during the final hours of the shipping and delivery process.

Key Elements of the Tendered for Delivery Process

Among the most important stages in your shipping process is tendered for delivery. This is a stage where the packages are finally delivered to local carriers (last-mile delivery). Whether it is for logistics or customer service, each business needs to understand the basic elements of this step to do well.

Some of these aspects include the handover to local carriers, last-mile delivery problems, and the need for real-time tracking coupled with fixed delivery time slots.

  • Transfer to Local Delivery Carrier: This is when the main carrier, say Federal Express (FedEx) or DHL, gives the package to the community or local carrier. This handoff is essential for carriers to control a delivery's "last mile" efficiently. This is probably the most significant stage of the shipping cycle, as it usually results in huge delays.
  • Final Mile Delivery and its Challenges and Solutions: The final mile is the last section of the shipping process to get a product to the customers' doors. This delivery phase is typically the hardest and most costly, as 53% of monthly shipping costs occur in this stage.

This stage experiences delays due to traffic congestion, the long distance for rural delivery, and unsuccessful delivery attempts. Consequently, nearly all last-mile delivery operations use a combination of delivery router optimization software and smart locks to solve these problems.

  • Importance of Real-Time Tracking After Tendering: Today, customers expect same-day delivery, so they must be able to trace their parcels from collection to delivery. This also ensures the proper setting of expectations (an effective tool for managing customer satisfaction) through real-time tracking. In fact, 90 % of customers expect to be able to track the progress of their parcel in real time. This strategy increases customer loyalty for companies that offer this data.
  • Expected Delivery Timeframes After Tendering: This is performed 24-48 hours after the tendering. Of course, this may vary by region and carrier availability. However, consumers in urban areas will often get their deliveries much faster than those in rural areas, who may have to wait for days.

Many processes are related to the tendered for delivery phase, all shaping a customer's service experience. Good logistics will also involve optimizing the overall handover point, minimizing last-mile challenges, enabling effective live tracking, and providing visibility into delivery windows.

How Shippie Can Improve Communication During Tendered for Delivery Phase

Last mile logistics is not a challenge for Shippie – it offers innovative solutions for such problems. Such targeting solutions focus on customers’ needs, transparency, and speed. In the tendered for delivery phase, Shippie helps companies improve their communication. Such include:

Transparent Communication with Customers

Shippie delivers individual solutions, as customers can track their packages every step of delivery. Shippie also allows you to select a specific service level (same-day, next-day, standard) so that you steer clear of the uncertainty of how your order will get delivered to your doorstep. This way, it assures consumers by providing real-time tracking of their orders to ensure they can be satisfied.

Accurate Delivery Updates

Shippie delivers speed and accuracy by providing quick delivery options. This builds trust with customers, as they have a good idea when their package will arrive, which smoothens the customer journey and helps increase retention rates.

Shippie is a standout because it can predict with high accuracy when the delivery will reach the doorstep. Most companies sometimes struggle to deliver as the accurate timings become a bit hit-and-miss, which causes obvious frustrations with customers.

For its part, Shippie prioritizes full disclosure. This informs customers of when their shipments will arrive and avoids misleading information throughout all stages of shipping, instilling customer trust in the process and keeping them content.

Shippie has really taken the time to provide speedy delivery along with very accurate details. This enables the customers to trust and plan accordingly, as they know when their package will arrive, hence establishing a long-term relationship.

Customer Service Responsiveness

However, some problems may arise, such as delays or handover difficulties, and our team resolves these concerns quickly.

Our customer service team ensures that businesses are kept in the loop. One important fact is its responsiveness (keeping the customer in the loop ). Quick responses are also useful in setting expectations when dealing with delayed items.

On the flip side, shipping with Shippie reduces customer friction. It keeps things pleasant even when things do not go well, which ultimately benefits the business in terms of customer retention.

In short, Shippie is all about transparency, fairness, and timely delivery. This makes it a dream partner for businesses logistics-wise. Better communication processes during the tendered for delivery phase cement great customer relationships.

Frequently Asked Questions

What happens after a package is “tendered for delivery”?

Once a parcel is handed over for delivery, it is given to a domestic or local transport carrier that provides last-mile transportation. At this point, the package is already en route to the recipient's address. Tracking information updates will include the progress report, and usually, the package is received within a short period.

Can I change the delivery address once the package is “tendered for delivery”?

Once a package is tendered for delivery, it means that the package has been accepted and processed by a local carrier. So, changing the destination becomes a challenge. This is because the parcel is already under the local delivery carrier for final delivery.

For instance, some carriers may allow changes to the delivery address. However, this would depend primarily on the carrier's policies and what part of the delivery process the package is at. It is best to contact their customer service as soon as possible.

Why does the status remain "tendered for delivery" for so long?

The "tendered for delivery" status can persist for an extended period due to delays with the local carrier, high delivery volumes, or logistical issues such as bad weather or route changes. Delivery to rural or remote areas can also take longer, as these locations typically have fewer delivery runs than urban areas.

Begin Your Journey with Shippie for a Better Delivery Experience

At Shippie, our dedication to efficiency and customer service allows your eCommerce business to maintain a frictionless delivery process.

We provide support across every stage of the shipping process, including continuous real-time updates and responsive customer service. With Shippie, you can enhance your customers' satisfaction, trust, and experience by offering them low-cost and fast shipping.

Are you ready to elevate your delivery game? Join the brands that trust Shippie with their logistics done right. Partner with us today and find out how Shippie can streamline your business's shipping logistics. **Book a discovery call today.**