If you are an e-commerce leader across operations, logistics and CX seeing high volumes of delivery-related customer support tickets that cost you a share of margin per order, keep reading for a three-layer framework for reducing the cost of WISMO. It spans from deflection to triage to agent-side resolution, including the most persistent bottleneck — context switching inside the agent workspace.
WISMO tickets as a margin problem
Every e-commerce support team knows the pattern. Order volumes climb, and delivery-related tickets climb with them. E-commerce research suggests 'Where is my order' (WISMO) tickets drive between 25-35% of customer inquiries on average, depending on season and the maturity of the retailer's delivery experience operations. During peak periods like Black Friday and Christmas, that share can spike upwards of 50%.
The direct costs add up fast. Support agents spend 2-5 minutes per ticket, as they navigate carrier portals and tracking systems. Industry benchmarks put the average cost of a manually handled support interaction between €4 and €10, depending on channel, team structure, and tech stack. For a mid-market retailer processing 50,000 orders a month, even a conservative WISMO rate translates into thousands of tickets per week and tens of thousands of euro in support cost that scales linearly with growth.
WISMO tickets as an experience problem
While 90% of consumers want to track their orders for peace of mind and a sense of control, the reality falls short — one in three online shoppers couldn’t track their most recent order. Quite often, they are flooded with generic carrier notifications, having to enter order numbers and generating pins. All they really need to know is when their parcel will arrive.
Inbound shipment such as the returns process can be an equally frustrating process. 'Where's my return?’ (WISMR) inquiries tend to arrive with higher emotional stakes, as the customer has already parted with the product and is waiting on money back. Tolerance for delay is lower, and data fragmentation increases. For agents, resolving a return status inquiry typically means navigating even more systems than an outbound shipping question.
Where the market stands
The retail tech industry has made meaningful progress on the customer-facing side, like branded tracking pages, proactive post-purchase notifications, AI chatbots. These tools capture a significant share of delivery status pain points before support requests reach a human agent. Proactive, automated delivery status communication keeps customers informed every step of the way, because they can see the shipping progress without asking.
One agent side, the gap remains. When a customer does contact support about delivery delays or split shipment, the workflow in most e-commerce teams hasn't changed in years and looks something like this:
- Open the help desk;
- Find the order status;
- Switch to a carrier portal;
- Cross-reference the OMS;
- Piece together a response.
That's two to five minutes per ticket, repeated hundreds of times a day... in 2026, the era of intelligent integrations, automations, and AI. Most retailers have invested in deflection and triage. Far fewer have tackled resolution by giving agents the delivery data they need, in the workspace where they already operate, without switching systems. That's where the efficiency gains are still waiting.
The 3-layer framework to cut the cost of WISMO
Solving WISMO and WISMR requires a layered approach across deflection, triage, and resolution. Here's what each layer looks like in practice.
1. Deflection
Stop tickets before they start with your brand's post-purchase experience. The highest-impact move is eliminating the need for customers to ask in the first place. That means setting accurate customer expectations before purchase, as early as marketing ads and product pages, and maintaining proactive communication after checkout.
Set precise delivery promises
Generic '3–5 business days' estimates create ambiguity, and ambiguity creates tickets. Precise delivery promises — calculated dynamically from zip code, stock location, and carrier capacity — give customers a specific delivery window before they buy. When shoppers know exactly when to expect their order, they have less reason to follow up with customer support agents. Surface your delivery promises and potential delivery delays on product pages and checkout.
Communicate proactively
Most delivery anxiety builds in the gap between order confirmed and out for delivery. Automated, branded notifications at each milestone — dispatched, in transit, out for delivery, delivered — keep customers informed and excited. Ideally, post-purchase tracking should cover multiple communication channels like a branded tracking page, proactive notifications via email and SMS, as well as an integration with marketing and CX platforms like Voyado and Klaviyo for on-brand messaging and personalized experiences.
IDEAL OF SWEDEN, a lifestyle brand for mobile accessories and bags, slashed WISMO support ticket volume from 37% to just 4% using Ingrid Tracking to ease the burden on their support team and win at customer experience.
2. Triage
Even the best deflection strategy won't intercept every inquiry. Customers will still reach out about edge cases or simply because they prefer human contact. The goal at this layer is to resolve simple delivery questions instantly through automation, and route complex ones to the right agent fast.
AI chatbots handle the repetitive volume
A well-configured chatbot can pull real-time order and tracking data to answer 'Where is my order?’ without human involvement. AI chatbot platforms like Kindly integrate with delivery and CX systems to provide instant, accurate responses that deflect routine tickets and escalate genuine issues to human teams.
An integration between Kindly and Ingrid Tracking helped Cellbes reduce delivery-related ticket volume by 77%, as the chatbot provides customers with the real-time delivery status updates and enables the customer support team to focus on higher-priority initiatives.
Smart routing gets the rest to the right place
Tickets that do require a human should be classified by intent and urgency, then routed to the agent best equipped to resolve them. Modern help desks like Dixa, among others, offer AI-powered classification and routing that keeps delivery inquiries from clogging general queues.
Layer 2 handles a significant share of remaining volume, but it still depends on the agent having the right data when a ticket lands on their screen.
3. Resolution
That's the layer most retailers have not addressed. When a customer reaches a human agent about a delivery issue, the resolution speed comes down to one thing — how fast the agent can access accurate shipment data.
In most setups, that means switching between the help desk, one or more carrier tracking portals, and the order management system (OMS). Each platform has its own login, its own data format, its own gaps. Multiply that by hundreds of tickets a day, across multiple carriers and markets, and the inefficiency becomes structural.
The fix is embedding carrier-agnostic delivery data directly inside the agent workspace, so the agent sees real-time shipment status, tracking timeline, carrier details, and order items without leaving the conversation to check multiple tabs and copy paste tracking numbers.
That's what the integration between Dixa and Ingrid Tracking addresses, and where the next section picks up.
Introducing the single-screen integration
The integration between Dixa and Ingrid Tracking embeds unified delivery data directly inside the agent workspace as a conversation card. When a customer contacts support, the integration automatically looks up their orders by email and surfaces shipment information alongside the conversation, no manual search required. Below, you can click Get started to play in the demo environment.
What agents see without leaving the help desk:
- Order details including items, quantities, and order value;
- Real-time parcel status across 350+ carriers in a single, unified format;
- Estimated delivery timelines with specific date and time range;
- Delivery type and pickup location for locker or service point deliveries;
- Carrier tracking ID with a direct link to the carrier's tracking page;
- Split-shipment visibility when an order ships in multiple parcels.
The operational difference is straightforward. Instead of opening carrier portals, cross-referencing order management systems, and piecing together a response across multiple tabs, the agent has everything on one screen. A delivery inquiry that previously took two to five minutes to resolve can be answered in seconds.
Retailers working with multiple carriers across different markets face the worst version of the context-switching problem, where each carrier has its own portal, its own status terminology, its own data format. The integration normalizes this into a single, carrier-agnostic view. Whether a parcel ships via PostNord, Royal Mail, DHL, or any other carrier integrated with Ingrid, the agent sees the same structured data in the same place.
Paul Smith, Get Inspired, and Widforss are already using the integration. Not only does it help reduce WISMO ticket volume but also enables personalized interactions based on the customer data and order status.
What it means for your teams and operations
Operational efficiency
Proactive tracking and delivery status self-service reduce inbound delivery tickets, handle time on remaining inquiries drops by 50–70%, support costs decouple from order volume growth, and agent productivity improves when every resolution happens on a single screen.
Customer experience
Customers get faster answers to delivery and WISMO questions backed by accurate, real-time data from Ingrid's carrier network, consistent across every carrier and delivery method. Proactive communication throughout the journey reduces the need to reach out in the first place.
Strategic benefits
The integration creates a unified delivery data layer across the CX stack, which gives teams better visibility into what drives delivery-related support volume. Ultimately, it provides a scalable foundation for retailers expanding into new markets.
Where to start
If your operations and CX teams are evaluating your delivery and support stack, the three-layer framework offers a practical audit opportunity — map your current WISMO and WISMR volume against deflection, triage, and resolution capabilities.
Most retailers will find the first two layers partially covered, and the third barely addressed. The cost of delivery- and return status tickets doesn't have to scale with order volume, and integrations that break that pattern exist already today.
Set it up minutes, not sprints
If you are a retailer already using Dixa and/or Ingrid, follow this step-by-step setup guide to connect the integration and start optimizing your team's operational efficiency from a single screen.
About Dixa
Dixa is the AI-powered customer service platform for e-commerce brands. We unify all channels, automate routine inquiries with agentic AI, and give agents the context they need to deliver exceptional experiences. Trusted by 500+ brands, including Rapha, GANT, and Hobbii, Dixa is headquartered in Copenhagen with teams across Europe and the US.
About Ingrid
Ingrid helps retailers turn delivery and returns from a cost center into a competitive advantage. We help you optimize checkout delivery options, manage returns strategically, and increase conversion and shipping profitability. Trusted by 250+ retailers including Paul Smith, Samsøe Samsøe, NA-KD, Nudie Jeans, and Axel Arigato.
