Despite the pandemic and a large fall in average online spending for all major categories, international package delivery is still in high demand. Besides, the UNCTAD (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development) reports a significant rise in online shopping. This means a potential rise in demand for international package delivery tracking in the US and globally. If you are already making orders in various online stores and wondering “why my package tracker doesn’t track all the deliveries in one place,” read this package tracking guide.
Contents
1. Figure Out The Tracking Numbers
Source: Shipping School
Depending on the delivery services available in an online marketplace, you will receive a package tracking number. There are three ways you can get it:
- Check your email for a letter of shipping confirmation – in most cases, you will receive a letter with the approximate date of delivery. If you don’t receive it within 3 days, contact the retailer for information. The email could have gone to the spam folder, so check it out as well. The message will also contain a long string number (10-30 digits). This is your tracking number. If it’s highlighted with blue, you can simply click it to receive the tracking information. Otherwise, copy and paste the number to a tracking website.
- Call the retailer – you are free to contact the customer service of the marketplace to request the tracking number. Get ready to share some personal information to identify yourself and prepare a note to jot the number down.
- Check the SMS inbox – sometimes retailers send tracking numbers or links by SMS. Be attentive as these messages are usually not from the marketplaces, but from delivery services and they rarely include the purchase description along with the package number.
- Check the deliveries on your account in the retailer’s app/website – the tracking numbers or tracking links can be available right there as well.
2. Tracking Methods
Source: UPS
Depending on your situation, you can track package shipping via the link that you get from the retailer or by entering the tracking number on the shipping company website. While the first requires you only to click the link in the app, the second includes the following steps:
- Launch the shipping company website – the sellers always inform you of the shipping service provider so that you can visit its website to check out the current package status. Enter the company name in Google or any other search engine to find the official website.
- Select your location – when on the shipping service website, select your home country to narrow down the search area and speed up the search. Signing in and providing your actual residence address can be even better as it lets you upload the info about all your current deliveries on the dashboard without the need to enter the tracking numbers. This feature is available on major delivery services only, though.
- Select the tracking option – it’s usually located on the homepage. As you select this option, the search bar will appear on the screen. Enter the tracking number and press Enter to reveal the current package status. All package tracking services display real-time information about deliveries, which makes them a reliable tracking method.
If you are waiting for multiple packages to be shipped by the same company, you can enter up to 20-30 tracking numbers at once. This lets you view the information about all of them on the same page. If your packages are shipped by different companies, the best solution is to use a package tracker, which aggregates tracking information from multiple shipping companies in one place. These services allow tracking both international and national deliveries simultaneously.
Of course, there is no need for such a service if you use only USPS or UPS, but you will save a large amount of time on tracking multiple packages from 2 or more international shipping companies. To use this type of tracking, you have to:
- Open a universal tracking website or install a tracking app – you can use pkge.net (iOS/Android app available) or any other universal tracker that supports your preferred package delivery services.
- Gather all the tracking numbers – you can simply copy all the tracking numbers to a note on your computer or smartphone and then copy and paste them into the search bar altogether.
- Paste multiple numbers into the search bar – the results will be available in a few seconds.
- Enable notifications – if you don’t want to waste time and paste all the tracking numbers every time you need to check delivery statuses, enable push notifications or SMS notifications. The tracking service will automatically notify you when packages arrive at the delivery point.
3. Is There a Way to Track Packages Without Tracking Numbers?
Source: FedEx
Some of the popular international delivery services, including UPS and USPS, allow you to find your parcels if you don’t have the tracking number. Instead, the tracking website will request your address to scan the log for current deliveries that come to and from your address. However, you will have to register and confirm your personality to enable this tracking feature. It takes a bit more time than simply copying the number. You may have no choice if you don’t have the numbers for some reason, though. Another option is to find the Door Tag (DT) number in the shipment details if the tracking number is not present. The DT number usually works the same and lets you track your parcel.
Unfortunately, both features are provided only by the parent delivery services. Tracking data aggregators cannot access such detailed information about your deliveries. You will use them very rarely anyway!
4. Save Your Time
Source: Shopify
Now that you know about the best package tracking practices, you will never lose the shipping date anymore. Use the websites of the shipping companies or download their applications for convenience. If you need a versatile solution for quick tracking of multiple packages, universal tracking apps and websites are at your service. Both methods are available for free in all web browsers as well as on Android and iOS.
