What to say to your customers when shipping times are slow due to Covid-19 restrictions

If you use an international supplier such as Aliexpress to fulfil your orders, you’d know that shipping times are much longer than normal due to Covid19 restrictions. As a result, you may be receiving emails from customers wanting delivery updates or irritated customers who are frustrated with these shipping delays.

I’m often asked my opinion on the best way respond to this, so I’ve put an example email reply below for you to model from. Above all, stand in your customers shoes to understand how they are feeling and always be courteous, friendly and helpful.

I hope this helps.

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Email subject line:  Re: Order shipping update

Hi there {Customer name},

Thanks for reaching out. We sincerely apologise for the extended delay in delivery and understand how frustrating this must be for you. We are feeling the same 🙂

In case you haven’t seen the tracking details from your order, you can check your parcel tracking here: {insert tracking link}

Or simply  go to {insert courier link} and input  {insert tracking number} on the tracking field.

As mentioned on our Shipping and Returns policy page, the items you ordered actually ship from overseas, except for those under the Express Delivery section which can be found on this link: {insert your express delivery page link if you have one}

With that said, we just want to let you know why there have been some delays in receiving your order.

Our shipping and delivery terms and conditions found on this link:  {insert your shipping and returns link} states that on normal operational days, our shipping usually takes 14-21 days. However, due to the increased restrictions as a result of the Covid19 global pandemic, it now takes around 5- 6 weeks for the parcel to arrive.

The various global shipping companies and Australia’s customs have implemented extra measures to help fight the disease, which is very important.

You can also find information on Australia Post’s Corona Advisory outlining their current shipping timeframes which you can read here: https://auspost.com.au/about-us/news-media/important-updates/coronavirus

We sincerely appreciate your patience and understanding that this is out of our hands. Hopefully your parcel will arrive soon!

Kind regards,

Your Business Name