How does it work?
The IPC Notification Service responds to the needs of e-retailers and consumers by offering them an easy-to-use service for cross-border e-commerce delivery, which sends them notifications at various stages of the delivery process. The IPC Notification Service was built for postal operators to support e-retailers (large and small), by offering email or text message notifications to their customers on the delivery status of their parcels.
The Notification Service is a custom-built API hosted by IPC, that can be enhanced and customised for each postal operator and consists of two key components:
• A customisable web page template where the buyer can indicate his or her preferences for receiving tracking notifications
• A customisable standard email template
Posts can connect their e-retailers customers directly to the Notification User Interface, thus no IT work is needed. By offering this service, posts can enhance the delivery experience offering for their e-retailing customers, satisfying consumers and contributing to gaining increased cross-border e-commerce volumes.
How does it work for consumers?
Upon purchase confirmation, consumers receive an e-mail to choose their notification preferences, entering an e-mail address or a mobile phone number, selecting the language and the events for which they want to be notified. Standard notifications include departure from origin country, arrival in destination country and final delivery. Other optional notifications include customs information and unsuccessful delivery attempts.
Benefits
For posts
- The service is easy to set up, as it is based on data already being fed into the IPC Central Data Store
- The service captures all updates, as it combines delivery status updates from both origin and destination posts
- Easy pre-filled notifications from confirmation URL
- The notification preference form can be branded in line with the origin post template
- No IT work for posts as e-retailers can be directly connected to the IPC portal
For e-retailers
- The e-retailer can provide their buyers tracking notifications without any custom development
- The notification email includes a track and trace URL
- Enhances consumer experience and satisfaction
For consumers
- Customers can choose to receive notifications by email or text message
- Customers can choose the tracking events for which they want to receive notifications
- Customers can choose the language for which they receive the notification. Notifications are available in English, French, German, Greek, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Danish, Mandarin Chinese, Dutch, Japanese, Thai, Cantonese and Malay
- Buyers can unsubscribe to their notifications if desired
More information
To find out more about the IPC Notification Service, contact us via e-mail at [email protected].