Good shipping support starts before a customer asks, “Where is my order?” Set delivery expectations you can meet, make tracking easy to find, and contact customers directly when a shipment is at risk. If you sell to U.S. customers, the Federal Trade Commission’s Mail, Internet, or Telephone Order Merchandise Rule also requires covered sellers to meet shipment promises or give buyers the required choice to accept a delay or cancel for a prompt refund.
This guide focuses on practical policy and support workflows for U.S. ecommerce businesses. The FTC rule is federal guidance for covered transactions; it should not be treated as a rule for every country or every order circumstance.
Build a shipping promise your operation can support
A delivery estimate is not just checkout copy. It sets the customer’s expectation and, under the FTC rule, a seller needs a reasonable basis for any advertised shipment time. The promise should reflect what your business can actually fulfill, including the time needed to process an order before a carrier receives it.
Be precise about the event your estimate describes. “Ships in two business days” is a shipment estimate; “arrives in two business days” is a delivery estimate. Do not make one sound like the other. If an order needs extra processing, customization, or handling, account for that before presenting a date or range.
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If no shipment time is clearly stated, the FTC’s general baseline is shipment within 30 days after a properly completed order. Transaction details can affect the applicable deadline, so sellers with unusual order terms or timing should consult the rule itself rather than assume the baseline covers every case.
The FTC says, “The Rule requires that when you advertise merchandise, you must have a reasonable basis for stating or implying that you can ship within a certain time.” Treat each published estimate as an operational commitment: use fulfillment capacity, inventory availability, and order processing time as its basis, and revise it when those conditions change.
Put the answers customers need before checkout
Make shipping information easy to find in one place before a customer buys. The FTC’s 2020 business guidance puts the principle plainly: “The easiest way to avoid a delivery disappointment is to disclose important shipping information up front, in one place, and before people click the BUY button.”
A useful shipping policy explains the information customers otherwise have to ask support to clarify:
- Where you ship, including any destinations or products with restrictions.
- Available shipping services and their costs.
- Processing time and delivery estimates, with business-day or calendar-day terms made clear.
- Which carrier is used, where that information is known before purchase, and whether service can vary by destination or option.
- How and when tracking information will be sent, and where customers can find current shipment scans.
- Relevant return information, including how the shipping terms relate to a return.
Do not present a carrier’s estimate as a guarantee unless you can support that promise. Explain that carrier estimates and tracking events can change, and distinguish your processing time from carrier transit time. If an estimate depends on the customer’s destination or selected service, show the applicable information as specifically as you can before checkout.
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How to track an order and answer “Where is my order?”
Send tracking information as soon as the shipment has a usable tracking number. A concise tracking message should give the customer a direct way to open the carrier’s current information and tell them what the scans can show. Some shipments may not display a new scan immediately, so avoid describing a quiet tracking page as proof that a package is lost or stationary.
When a customer asks, “Where is my order?”, use the order record and the latest carrier information to answer the question they actually have: whether the order is still being processed, whether it has been handed to the carrier, what the latest scan says, and what is known about the next step. If the record does not support a confident arrival date, say what is known and give a specific time for the next update rather than guessing.
- Confirm the order and destination. Check the order details and confirm that the customer is asking about the correct purchase.
- Separate processing from transit. Establish whether the order has shipped. If it has not, explain the current fulfillment status and the shipment estimate that applies.
- Check the tracking record. Share the latest available carrier scan and the tracking route. Tell the customer where to see subsequent updates.
- Explain uncertainty plainly. If scans are delayed or the carrier estimate has changed, describe that without promising an unsupported delivery date.
- Set a next contact point. If the issue needs follow-up, tell the customer when you will update them and record the case so another agent can continue it.
Tracking is useful communication, but it is not a substitute for a required delay notice. The FTC cautions that posting an update on an order-status page alone may not be enough if a customer does not see it until after the promised shipment date. Use a direct communication method reasonably likely to reach the customer on time, such as email or phone, and use the status page as a supporting channel.
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Contact the customer as soon as you learn that the shipping promise may not be met. Do not wait for the customer to discover the problem through a tracking page or contact support after the deadline. The FTC requires covered sellers to notify the buyer within a reasonable time and no later than the applicable shipment deadline when they cannot ship on time.
A delay notice should explain the delay, state the customer’s right to cancel for a prompt refund, and give a definite revised shipment date when you have a reasonable basis for one. If you cannot support a new date, say that no definite date can be provided and explain why. Do not turn a delivery estimate into a new guarantee unless you have a reasonable basis for it.
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The buyer must receive a timely choice to accept the delay or cancel. Consent rules vary across delay situations; a seller should not assume that silence means acceptance in every case. Follow the FTC rule’s applicable notice and consent requirements for the particular delay. A seller that cannot fulfill the order may cancel it and promptly refund the buyer.
What to include in a customer update
- The specific order or item affected.
- What has changed and what is currently known.
- A definite revised shipment date, if you have a reasonable basis for one; otherwise, a clear statement that you cannot provide one and the reason.
- The customer’s option to accept the delay or cancel for a prompt refund, with any response method and deadline needed for the applicable consent process.
- When and how you will provide the next update.
Keep a record of the notice, when and how it was sent, the revised promise or explanation, and the customer’s response. A record helps support agents handle follow-ups consistently and helps the business show how it responded to the delay.
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Do not compare shipping services only by their displayed price. The FTC’s business guidance highlights carrier price estimators and the value of tracking; for customer service, the choice also affects how confidently you can set expectations and communicate exceptions.
| Decision factor | What to compare | Why it matters to support |
|---|---|---|
| Total cost | Carrier charge and the price shown to the customer for each option. | Clear cost disclosure reduces checkout confusion and later questions about shipping charges. |
| Destination coverage | Whether the service reaches the destinations you sell to. | Coverage affects which options you can offer and whether the same policy applies to every order. |
| Estimated transit time and reliability | The estimate for the customer’s destination and how well your own fulfillment history supports the promise. | Agents need to distinguish a carrier estimate from a date the business can reasonably stand behind. |
| Tracking and delivery confirmation | Whether tracking is available and what delivery information the service provides. | More usable shipment information gives customers and agents a clearer basis for updates. |
| Customer access to tracking | How easily tracking details can be delivered and opened by the customer. | A tracking number only helps if the customer can find it and understand where to check for scans. |
| Exception communication | How the business can identify a problem and send the customer a direct update. | A status page can support the conversation, but may not reach a customer in time on its own. |
FedEx’s 2025 E-Commerce Playbook reports that 91% of consumers value proactive and accurate order communication. That is a figure published by FedEx, not an independently established universal benchmark; the playbook’s underlying methodology is not established here. The practical lesson is to build communication into the shipping process rather than rely on customers to ask for updates.
Why orders are delayed—and how to respond
A delay can arise before shipment or after carrier handoff. Identify which stage is affected before choosing the explanation or next action. Do not tell a customer that a carrier has the package if fulfillment records show it has not shipped.
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Before carrier handoff
Check whether the order is awaiting inventory, payment or order review, packing, or a fulfillment partner’s action. Give the customer the status you can substantiate. If the applicable shipment promise is at risk, send the required direct notice and offer the choices required by the rule; do not wait for a tracking number that may never arrive on time.
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After carrier handoff
Check the latest tracking scan and carrier estimate. Tell the customer what the carrier currently reports, make clear when the estimate is uncertain, and say when you will check again if the shipment does not progress. If a shipment exception means your shipment promise cannot be met, handle the notice and customer-choice requirements based on the applicable deadline rather than treating tracking as the whole response.
When there is no useful new scan
Explain that tracking has not provided a new event and avoid claiming more than the record shows. Tell the customer when you will follow up. If you later learn that the promised shipment time cannot be met, send a timely direct notice with the required options; a customer’s failure to refresh a status page is not a reliable way to communicate a material delay.
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A written workflow prevents one agent from offering a refund while another tells the customer to keep waiting without explaining the choices. It also connects the support response to fulfillment operations.
- Set the promise at checkout. Publish shipping costs, destinations, available options, processing and delivery estimates, carrier information where available, tracking method, and relevant return terms.
- Send tracking when usable. Provide the tracking information promptly once a usable number is available and explain where to check current scans.
- Watch for risk signals. Use order and fulfillment information to identify shipments likely to miss their promised time, instead of waiting only for inbound contacts.
- Notify directly. If you cannot meet the applicable shipment promise, contact the customer in time through a method reasonably likely to deliver the notice. State the delay, the supportable revised date or the reason no date is available, and the cancellation/refund choice.
- Record the outcome. Keep the notice date and channel, what you told the customer, the revised date if any, and the customer’s response.
- Close the loop. Send the promised follow-up, update the order record, and make sure any cancellation is promptly refunded.
Monitor fulfillment and support patterns
The FTC’s business guide recommends systems for monitoring fulfillment and complaints. It also points to requiring a fulfillment house to report problems, placing test or “seed” orders to monitor fulfillment time, and watching for unusual complaint surges. These steps can reveal issues before they become a larger customer-service problem.
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For day-to-day diagnosis, a business can track its own on-time shipment rate, time between detecting a delay and notifying the customer, tracking coverage, and repeat contacts about the same order. These are practical operating measures, not metrics the FTC mandates. Set targets from your own order history and fulfillment model rather than treating a figure from another business as a universal standard.
Review both the number and the pattern of contacts. A rise in “Where is my order?” questions may indicate that estimates are unclear, tracking is not reaching customers, a fulfillment partner is falling behind, or a carrier exception is affecting a destination or service. Compare contact timing with order and shipment events so you can address the cause, not just answer the same question repeatedly.
How to choose what to fix first
Start with the failure that creates the greatest risk to customers and compliance, then improve the parts of the process that make the problem visible sooner.
- Promises routinely missed: Revisit the estimates shown at checkout and the operational assumptions behind them.
- Customers cannot find tracking: Improve the timing, placement, and clarity of the message that provides the tracking number.
- Customers learn about delays too late: Add a fulfillment-risk signal and a direct-notice step before the shipment deadline.
- Agents give inconsistent answers: Standardize what to check, what can be stated, when to follow up, and how delay choices are explained.
- Complaint volume suddenly changes: Compare the timing and affected orders with fulfillment-house reports and shipment events, then escalate the operational cause.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the FTC 30-day rule mean a package must arrive within 30 days?
No. The general baseline described in the FTC guidance is that a covered seller ships within 30 days when no shipment time is clearly stated. Shipment and delivery are different events.
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That can be inadequate if the customer does not see it in time. The FTC says to use a communication method reasonably likely to deliver the required notice on time; a status page can supplement direct notice.
Does no response from the customer always mean they accepted a delay?
No. Consent requirements differ by delay situation, so silence should not be treated as consent under one blanket rule. Apply the notice and consent requirements that govern the specific delay.
What should I say if I do not know when a delayed order will ship?
Say that you cannot provide a definite revised shipment date and explain why. Do not invent a date; communicate the customer’s cancellation and prompt-refund option and give a clear next update point.
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