Fewer failed deliveries, fewer wasted trips
Wrong addresses, customers not home and late arrivals waste a whole trip. Practical steps to get more orders delivered the first time.
4 min readUpdated Outlet owners
A rider rides twenty minutes, knocks on a door, and nobody opens. The order goes back to the shop. The customer is annoyed, the food or flowers are wasted, and you have paid for a whole trip that earned nothing.
Failed deliveries are the most expensive kind. They cost the trip, the product and often the customer. And most of them have a small cause that can be fixed.
Here is why deliveries fail, and what you can do about each reason.
Why deliveries fail#
Reason | What goes wrong |
|---|---|
Wrong or unclear address | The rider cannot find the house, or goes to the wrong lane. |
Customer not at home | Nobody knows when the rider will come. |
Phone not answered | The rider cannot ask for directions. |
Order not ready | The rider waits, or leaves without it. |
Late arrival | The customer has gone out or changed their mind. |
Look at your own last ten failures. You will probably find that most fall into one or two of these rows. Start there.
Keep addresses saved and correct#
The most common cause is a wrong address. MiniDrop saves your repeat customers' addresses in Saved addresses, so a customer who has been delivered to once does not need to explain the way again.
When a rider delivers to a place slightly away from the saved pin, Delivery location mismatches shows it to you. You can update the saved address, and the next rider goes to the right door. Over time your saved addresses get more accurate, which is the best protection against wrong pins.
Let customers know when to be home#
A customer who does not know when the rider will come may step out. A customer who can watch the rider approach is at the door.
Send every customer their tracking link. It shows how many stops come before theirs and an arrival estimate once the rider is on the way. They can plan around it, and they stop calling to ask.
Let the rider call the customer#
The rider app shows each customer's name, address and phone number. If the rider cannot find the house, a quick call usually settles it. Ask your riders to call when they are close, not after waiting at the wrong gate for ten minutes.
Record every miss with a reason, then fix the pattern#
When a delivery cannot be completed, the rider marks it as not delivered or on hold and gives a reason. In the outlet portal, you open the order and read the rider's reason. See what to do with on-hold and not-delivered orders.
Once a week, read the reasons. If "customer not available" comes up again and again, send tracking links earlier. If it is "wrong address", fix the saved address first. If it is "order not ready", look at your packing. One pattern fixed can remove many failed trips.
Check the pattern once a week#
Failed deliveries feel like bad luck, but they repeat. Spend ten minutes every week with the orders that were not delivered and ask three questions: which area, which time of day, and which reason. Two or three in the same lane means a bad pin. Several at the same hour means a rider is overloaded.
Share what you find with your riders. They often know the reason already and will be glad you asked.
Frequently asked questions#
What should I do with an order that could not be delivered?
Call the customer, agree a new time, and create a new order for it. The portal does not resend an undelivered order by itself. If the reason was a wrong address, correct it first.
Should I charge for failed deliveries?
That is your own policy. Many shops tell customers upfront that a repeated failed delivery may be charged. Decide a clear rule, and apply it fairly.
How do I find out why orders fail?
Open the order and read the rider's reason. Look through a week of them together and you will see the pattern.
Can I stop customers from ordering the wrong address?
You cannot stop it, but you can reduce it. Ask for a landmark, check the address with new customers, and use saved addresses for regulars.
Count your failures for a week, find the main reason and fix that one first.
Related guideHow to reduce your delivery cost per orderWork out what each delivery really costs you, then lower it with grouped trips, planned routes and better use of every rider's time.Related guideEnd "Where is my order?" calls for goodGive every customer a live tracking link with your shop's name and logo, so they stop calling and your staff can focus on the counter.Was this page helpful?
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