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4 Comments

How many packages did you have delivered in the last 1 month?

I'm trying to validate how painful the problem is that I'm trying to solve with https://wheresmystuff.co.

Question: How many packages did you have delivered in the last 1 month?

Also, if you could leave a comment about what you used to track those packages -- or if you didn't track them -- I'd appreciate it.

How many packages did you have delivered in the last 1 month?
  1. None
  2. 1
  3. 2-5
  4. 6-10
  5. More than 10
Vote
  1. 2

    I think it's a fear based issue, that means it gets more exposure and more views than it is actually common statistically.
    Honestly most sites are pretty good at updates, that if I cared I'd just set my email right for it, for example I used to keep my order emails on unread and starred in the inbox to track them.
    But nowadays I feel at least the major sources have good updates, examples:

    • anything I order within Australia, the moment they print shipping, is already sent to me, than when they have expected delivery date, than the day before...
    • ebay and aliexpress which take way longer up to a few weeks, would remind me when that package should have arrived or some date has expired to review if I got the item or open an issue...

    That said:

    • Other providers might not be as good, these are big players
    • When I just started ordering online years ago I was way more stressed and wanted tracking, cause I didn't trust I guess, didn't think it ahead of time, and the return/cancel and other policies sucked there it was more on me than them, which I feel changed in the big sites, which is what I love about them nowadays.
    • Some items I care more about tracking, but usually besides refreshing and seeing nothing change, there is nothing for me to do anyways.... like I currently have a laptop on order that is like 2.5 months till it is built :/
    • I wonder if google/gmail is already working on something around... how about a gmail extension? so for bills they would ping with due-dates..

    So I do wonder if it's either a fear play...
    or as you try to focus on huge volumes... but than I wonder the more orders the less people tend to care unless it's a business or something, no?...
    Again, besides organising it in like a dashboard, you can't add to the info people really care about... maybe when you get a lot of data, you can add some intelligence which might make this interesting, like knowing a route / provider has major delays like a GPS app with traffic data..

    1. 1

      Wow, thanks so much @hatkyinc for such a detailed reply! Super helpful. Your point about volume is spot on. My assumption is that a service like this would appeal more to someone (or a business) who shops a lot and has multiple deliveries out at a time. Because, yeah, most big box retailers do a pretty good job of notifying you about the status of your deliveries. But if you have multiple packages coming from different retailers, if could be overwhelming to keep track of them all individually. That's why I added a consolidated daily "calendar" email that lists, by day, what package is due to arrive on what day.

      Also, not all retailers or shipping carriers provide the same level or ease of notifications. This service hopefully provides a better, more consistent experience across a wide range of retailers / shippers.

  2. 1

    @ethanteng - As a shopper, it's not a pain point I have, so I personally wouldn't have use for the service. There are other similar tracking aggregator tools available too.

    But, as brand shipping orders everyday, I think there may be an opportunity to use the concept of your service a different way.

    One notable issue we have, and even moreso lately with all the USPS shipping delays, is we don't know when there are potential delivery issues.

    We ship out orders every day, USPS picks them up (or we drop them off), and most of the time everything works fine.

    However, there are times where packages either don't start moving through the postal system, or there are really strange delays or misrouting.

    We never know about the issue until a Customer contacts us. At that point, they're usually frustrated (or mad) that they don't have the package yet.

    Since Covid, the delivery issues have gotten a lot worse, and we've been getting tons of complaints.

    To assist the customers, we have to open incidents with USPS (which is time consuming), communicate the issues to the Customer, and if we can't find remedy with the USPS within a short period of time, we have to send out a replacement order free of charge.

    Sometimes after we open incidents with USPS, even if the shipment has been missing for weeks, and we've sent out a replacement, the original shipment magically starts moving again and eventually gets delivered. So now the Customer has two orders, when they only paid for one.

    It would be nice if we could design a system that would pro-actively identify of shipping issues, and automate some of the stuff we're doing manually.

    If you'd like to discuss further, drop me a line at [email protected]

    1. 1

      Thanks @iammike! Really great info. I've been considering pivoting to business customers since I've yet to see much traction with individual shoppers as, for the most part, it seems people (a) don't have that many deliveries out at once to make it frustrating enough, and (b) the existing solutions (apps, checking websites) seem to be ok for most people.

      But, I hadn't considered focusing on shipping delays and pro-actively notifying users of them. Definitely great food for thought...and testing :)

      I'd love to talk and learn more. I'll plan to reach out to you via email. Thanks again!

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