Short answer
Most peak-season where-is-my-order questions only need live tracking and an honest expected date, so show both before shoppers ask and let an AI agent answer the rest for verified shoppers. Hand off what tracking cannot settle: exceptions, stalled parcels, missing deliveries, reships and refunds.- Tracking source
- Directly from UPS and FedEx; other carriers, including USPS, as Shopify reports.
- Who sees it
- Shoppers logged in, or with the order number and matching checkout email.
- Split orders
- Every shipment shown separately, with its own carrier and contents.
- Late or lost
- Late is still scanning. Lost has stopped past the threshold you set.
- Hand off
- Exceptions, stalled tracking, delivered but missing, reship or refund requests.
- Proactive messages
- A chat opener on chosen pages, by URL, time on page or visits.
Where is my order is the question every order can produce, and peak season produces a lot of orders. It is also the easiest question to answer well, because the answer already exists in the carrier's tracking. The work is getting that answer to the shopper before they write, and knowing which cases tracking can't settle.
Why WISMO surges in peak season
Three things stack up between Black Friday and Christmas: more orders, slower packing and slower carriers. Each one adds days between checkout and the shopper's parcel, and those days are when they write in.
The questions also carry more weight. A November order for a December gift comes with a date the shopper needs it by, so "it's on its way" stops being enough. The glossary entry on WISMO covers the term, and peak season support covers the wider picture.
Answer it before it is asked
The best-handled where-is-my-order question is the one nobody needs to send. Before the sale:
- Put your sale-week processing time on the site and in the order confirmation, so "not shipped yet" is expected.
- Make sure shipping confirmation emails carry a working tracking link, and that your order status page shows it too.
- Add a proactive chat message on the order status or tracking help page, offering to check an order.
- Add an Instruction such as "Never promise a delivery date. Share the carrier's expected delivery when there is one."
Tracking in chat for verified shoppers
When a shopper does ask, the answer should come from live tracking, not a template that says "5 to 7 business days."
Aide finds the order once the shopper is logged in, or gives the order number and the email used at checkout. It reads tracking directly from UPS and FedEx, and from Shopify for other carriers, and in chat shows a tracking card with the latest scan and expected delivery. A split order shows each shipment on its own. Shopify order tracking in chat covers how it works.
Set order tracking to AI Agent once you have watched it on Drafts for a few days. These templates cover the common cases:
- Where is my order, the general question.
- Order being prepared, for orders with no tracking yet. A procedure with Only if tracking does not exist keeps it to those orders.
- Order in transit and split shipment, for parcels on the move.
Late, lost or delivered but missing
These look alike to the shopper and need different answers. A procedure can tell them apart with Only if conditions on shipment status and tracking last updated.
- Late. Still scanning, slower than the estimate. Say so plainly, give the newest date, and say what happens if it slips. Use order delayed.
- Stalled. No scan for several days. Use tracking not updating, and set the number of days after which it goes to your team.
- Carrier exception. Weather, a bad address, a damaged label. Use shipment exception.
- Lost. Past your threshold or marked lost by the carrier. Use lost in transit, and hand off for a reship or refund.
- Delivered, not received. Ask the shopper to check the usual places first, then hand off after a day. Use delivered not received.
When to hand off
Hand off when the next step costs money or needs a judgment call. Write each case as a procedure with a When to use and a hand-off step, so it goes to your team as soon as it is recognised.
- Reships. Teammates can send a free replacement, a new $0 order to the original address, from the conversation.
- Refunds. They wait for a teammate's approval by default, even when the shopper asks Aide.
- Address problems after shipping. The carrier may be able to redirect, so your team takes it.
A shopper who is handed off at night gets your outside-hours message and is asked for an email, so the reply reaches them even if they close the chat. The Black Friday customer service guide covers coverage and staffing for the rest of the season.