Logistics
E-commerce: high volume, thin margins
Thousands of shipments where each incident costs more than the order.
In e-commerce the problem is not each shipment: it is the proportion. With three thousand orders a month, one per cent of incidents is thirty disputes, and each costs more in handling than the margin on the order that caused it.
Where the margin goes
| Incident | What is disputed | What closes it |
|---|---|---|
| "It never arrived" | Whether it was delivered and to whom | Proof of delivery signed by the recipient |
| "It arrived broken" | Whether it left that way or broke in transit | A certified photo at picking |
| "This is not what I ordered" | What went into the box | The picking record with its batch |
| Return in poor condition | What condition it came back in | A photo on receiving the return |
Important
At this volume you cannot document everything in detail: you document what gets disputed. Photographing three thousand orders is impossible; photographing high-value ones or those from customers with an incident history is half an hour a day.
The rule that makes volume sustainable
Document by exception. The normal flow leaves the minimum trail — what left, when and to where — and detail is reserved for the stretches where money is actually lost. Trying to document everything equally ends with nothing being documented.
Watch out
Watch the last one: returns are e-commerce's blind spot. They leave documented and come back with nothing, and three months later nobody can say what condition that now-unsellable product arrived in.
Worth knowing
If you use subcontracted couriers, proof of delivery signed by the recipient counts for far more than the courier's own record: it identifies who received, not who delivered.
›Is it worth it for low-value orders?
Proof of delivery yes, always. The rest no.
›What about pickup-point deliveries?
You document delivery to the point; what happens after is the point's.
›Can I filter by incidents?
Yes, and it is the list worth reviewing weekly.
A real case
The situation
An e-commerce operator absorbs the cost of thirty damaged returns a month.
What you do
- Certified photo on receiving every return
What you get
Damaged ones are claimed against the carrier with evidence, instead of being written off.
The situation
Volume makes reviewing delivery by delivery impossible.
What you do
- Reviews only what falls outside the pattern
What you get
Effort goes where things actually fail.
The situation
A client complains and there is no proof of delivery.
What you do
- Keeps evidence of every delivery
What you get
Refunding stops being the only way out.
The situation
Each delivery partner works differently.
What you do
- Agrees what is captured on each delivery
What you get
The evidence is consistent.
The situation
Complaints arrive weeks later.
What you do
- Keeps evidence beyond the order
What you get
The answer does not depend on someone else's retention.
The situation
Nobody knows which route generates most incidents.
What you do
- Checks incidents by route
What you get
The cause is tackled where it sits.
This article answers
- documenting ecommerce deliveries
- delivery incidents in online retail
- proof of delivery ecommerce
- online retail returns