How Does NDR (Non Delivery Report) Management Work For Indian eCommerce Industry

1)What is NDR (Non Delivery Report) in the Indian eCommerce Market

NDR stands for Non Delivery Report, a frequent occurrence in our eCommerce Market. NDRs essentially notify failed deliveries for ecommerce businesses. When a delivery fails, your business will only have a limited period of time within which to convert that failed delivery into a successful one. In case this endeavor is unsuccessful, the failed delivery gets marked as an RTO, or Return to Origin.

That basically means that the order now stands as cancelled and needs to be shipped back to the origin warehouse. There’s an immense amount of loss associated with RTO for ecommerce companies. NDRs account for a huge portion of RTO% for the eCommerce market. However, this number can be drastically reduced through the process of NDR management. That’s what we’ll be discussing in this article.

2)What Do NDRs (Non-Delivery Reports) Mean For an eCommerce Business?

An NDR refers to the status of an order after an initial delivery attempt has failed. When the delivery attempt is unsuccessfully carried out for any of the reasons that we will be enumerating later, the carrier marks that order as an NDR. Ecommerce enterprises then can monitor the NDR, keeping in mind the possibility of either converting it into a successful delivery or an RTO.

After an NDR has been notified, carriers typically make at least 2 - 3 more delivery attempts before marking the order as an RTO. NDRs can dampen the delivery experience for many customers, as a failed delivery attempt can be such a disappointment. However, that NDR turning into an RTO is an even greater loss to the company. It comes accompanied with the loss of a sale, forward shipping charges, and potential difficulties in returning the order to the origin warehouse to be resold.    

3)Benefits of NDR Management for eCommerce Businesses

NDR management is a process followed to deal with NDRs when they are notified so that future deliveries can be successful. However, having a clear and stable workflow for handling NDRs can have a multitude of benefits beyond potential saved delivery failures.

A good NDR management system can help your ecommerce business enhance overall shipping operations and complex parts of every delivery experience. Here are just a few of the immediate benefits you will receive if you employ careful NDR management techniques. 

3.1)Reduce RTO% by Half

A high number of NDR is a major contributor to a high RTO%. This is because many NDR end as RTO, instead of being converted into successful deliveries. Some NDR have a higher probability of being successfully delivered if communications are carried out properly. Through NDR management, you can severely reduce the number of NDR converted into RTO. 

3.2)Reduce Fake Delivery Attempts

Because NDR management requires a wealth of information to be collected regarding the cause of the failed delivery, it becomes easier to track fake deliveries. Once you are able to track fake deliveries consistently, you can begin to reduce the number of fake deliveries. 

3.3)Keep Customers Informed

Customers may hate delayed deliveries or any complications in their delivery process, but what they hate more is being left in the dark. A good NDR management workflow requires you to reach out to customers for information.

This not only ensures that they are updated but also lets them know that you’re working with them to deliver their order. 

3.4)Improve Last Mile Delivery Operations

Last mile delivery is where numerous mixups and delivery exceptions can occur, often contributing to negative impacts, like high RTO% and poor customer experience. By carefully observing how NDR occur and the sequence of events that lead to them, you can determine solutions for other frequent issues in your last mile delivery operations.

3.5)Increase ecommerce Order Fulfillment

This is perhaps the biggest benefit NDR management has to offer any ecommerce venture. At the end of the day, the road to growth and profitability is maximum order fulfillment. Through NDR management, you ensure a greater number of orders are being successfully delivered and therefore fulfilled. This adds to your order fulfillment rates.

4)How Does NDR Management Work For India eCommerce Market

Now that you know why you would need NDR management and the different ways you can potentially benefit from it, let’s take a look at the actual actions involved. Having a prepared workflow that helps you figure out how to carry out these requirements can ensure you deal with NDRs more effectively. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to make NDR management work well within the boundaries of the Indian ecommerce market.

4.1)Receive NDR Notification

Carriers will usually send information about all NDR notifications from a given day at the end of that day. This informs you which deliveries failed in which areas so you can act accordingly. 

4.2)Identify the Cause

The NDR notification for each order should ideally be updated with the cause of the NDR listed. This can help you determine whether or not the NDR can be resolved and what your next step should be. 

4.3)Reach Out to the Customer

Armed with the knowledge of what caused the NDR, you can send communication to the customer requesting the requisite information needed to ensure successful delivery. This may be a contact number, address related info, alternate delivery timings, etc.

4.4)Update New Information to Carriers

Once you’ve received the needful information from the customers, this information must be passed on to the respective carrier. The delivery agent can then perform the next delivery reattempt with the updated and relevant information. 

4.5)Follow Up After Each Attempt

There may also be possibilities of the 2nd delivery attempt or even the 3rd delivery attempt failing. It is important to follow up with customers and carriers after each attempt. Make sure the reason for the failure of the new attempt is still noted and check with the customer to know how to resolve the issue. 

5)How Shipping Software Improve NDR Management?

NDR management looks like a relatively easy process from the outset, but as you would have discovered, it is riddled with complexities and difficulties. Determining which NDRs to act on, what distinct actions are required for each and coordinating communications can become a herculean task.

Especially if you’re dealing with multiple NDRs on a regular basis. Shipping software can play a huge role in simplifying this process. It can be configured in accordance with your ecommerce requirements and automate various tasks that previously had to be carried out manually. The goal of a shipping software in NDR management is to help you pick up the pace and handle NDRs fast, before they can come close to becoming RTOs. 

5.1)Track NDRs in Real-Time

Shipping software make use of API integrations to speed up the process of receiving tracking updates. A good shipping software uses both push and pull API to ensure notifications are received in double time. Accordingly, you can receive NDR notifications as soon as your carriers do, instead of receiving them in bulk at the end of each day. 

5.2)Allocate NDRs By Cause

We’ve noted the importance of identifying the cause of an NDR to manage it. This very same process also helps in allocating NDRs to different teams for handling. The cause tells you whether or not the NDR can be resolved and how. A shipping software uses an AI to make this process of allocation quick and effective. It can be configured to identify the most common causes for NDR that your business faces. 

Common Causes for NDRs:

5.2.1)Wrong Delivery Address/Phone Number : When the customer submits an incomplete or incorrect phone number or address, the address cannot be located to complete delivery. 

5.2.2)Fake Delivery Attempt : When the delivery agent does not actually make the delivery attempt but chooses to go ahead and mark the delivery as failed. 

5.2.3)Customer Rescheduled : When the customer notifies the delivery agent that they will be able to take possession of the order only at a later specified date and time. 

5.2.4)Customer Unavailable/Unreachable : When the customer is unable to be found or unable to take possession of the order at time of delivery without any prior notice or giving an alternative delivery date and time. 

5.2.5)Customer Rejected Delivery : When the customer rejects the order and refuses to take possession of the order. This could be due to the order being damaged, an inability to pay, or simply because they changed their mind. 

5.3)Simplify NDR Workflows

One of the biggest bonuses of a shipping software that comes equipped with an NDR management system is that it can help guide you in the creation and implementation of your NDR management workflow. This is done through the use of AI, automation and machine learning. Overall, it makes the process of responding to NDR extremely simple and requiring minimum effort from your business. 

5.4)Speed Up Customer Response

It's important for customers to know that you care about their orders. So when an NDR notification is received, the sooner you reach out to the customer for the right information, the sooner they are informed of your intention to solve their problem. With a well-equipped shipping software, reaching out to customers and receiving their responses becomes a fast automated process which is triggered by identification of the NDR cause. 

5.5)Automated Follow-Ups

Following up after each failed delivery is important as it can be the one thing that stops your customers from giving up the order. However, with multiple NDR being handled at any given point of time, it can be difficult to handle multiple follow ups as well. Automating customer follow ups with the help of a shipping software can save you a significant amount of time without interfering with any other operations. 

6)Conclusion

Last mile delivery exceptions are a major problem in the Indian ecommerce market, which is why NDR management is such a vital function. Ecommerce businesses in India may find their growth rates declining dramatically after they hit a higher volume of orders. This is because the number of NDRs will go up as you increase your customer base.

You would accordingly need to find faster and more streamlined methods of dealing with NDRs. Having a clearly designated NDR workflow is only the first step. Making that workflow airtight and active is a job for shipping software that provide NDR management services. The right shipping software will give you the perfect blend of interaction and automation to keep your customers happy and keep your RTO numbers low.