You promise customers “delivery today,” but your ops floor is juggling phone calls, screenshots, and carrier portals. A VIP order goes dark for two hours. Dispatch can’t reach the driver. Customer success escalates, finance waits on proof of delivery, and your brand takes the hit—again. The truth is, last-mile visibility breaks when tracking lives outside your system of record and ‘Where Is My Order?” (WISMO) sets in. You need live status inside your ERP where orders, routes, and invoices already live.
Here’s how to fix it with real-time shipment tracking embedded directly in your ERP.
WISMO, in the context of e-commerce, stands for "Where Is My Order?". It represents a common customer inquiry when they haven't received their order or are unsure of its status or delivery timeframe. WISMO queries are a significant concern for online businesses as they can impact customer satisfaction and potentially affect brand reputation.
What “real-time tracking in your ERP” actually includes
At a glance, this capability lets you define routes with multiple delivery orders, assign them to drivers, and track progress live via GPS. Customers, drivers, and your back office all see the same source of truth. It’s not just a dot on a map—it’s the workflow and proof that prevent support tickets and accelerate cash.
Here’s what that looks like in practice:
- Driver app with live GPS and low battery impact: Drivers can accept or decline assignments, view routes, and stream location reliably without draining their phones. Adoption hinges on this working smoothly in the field.
- Real-time visibility for everyone: Customers, dispatchers, and drivers get synchronized, live progress, which lowers “where is my order?” inquiries and boosts first-attempt delivery rates.
- Proof of delivery, built in: Capture signature, photos, timestamp, and location. You get an evidentiary record to resolve disputes quickly and reduce write-offs.
- Push notifications and in-app chat: Dispatch can nudge drivers, drivers can request help, and customers receive proactive updates when an order is assigned, out for delivery, delayed, or delivered.
- Exception handling in context: If a delivery fails, the driver logs a structured reason on the spot. That data feeds continuous improvement and tighter SOPs.
- Status management and history: From “On Hold” to “On the Way” to “Delivered,” every event is tracked and searchable by date, route, and driver.
- Maps and routing: Drivers see destinations and optimal routes via integrated maps inside the workflow, improving on-time performance.
- Invoicing on delivery: Trigger invoicing and use your standard document templates the moment delivery completes, pulling revenue forward.
- Multi-company and PWA-ready: Progressive Web App support enables easy device access, consistent UI, and low-friction rollout across subsidiaries.
Why this matters: Outcomes you can bank on
Real-time tracking pays for itself by tightening the loop between dispatch, the field, and your customers. The benefits are tangible and show up quickly in your KPIs and your customer feedback.
- Higher first-attempt delivery rate: Live routing and status clarity reduce missed windows and failed drops.
- Fewer support tickets: Proactive updates and customer-facing tracking slash “WISMO” volume.
- Faster cash cycle: Immediate proof of delivery and invoice generation accelerates days sales outstanding.
- Reduced shrink and disputes: Photo/signature/location evidence lowers chargebacks and “not received” claims.
- Better driver utilization: Route visibility and exception analytics improve scheduling, territory design, and coaching.
- Continuous improvement loop: Structured failure reasons and feedback uncover fixable root causes.
Where this fits in your ERP stack
For teams running Inventory, Sales, and Accounting, this is the missing last-mile layer in the order-to-cash flow. Orders become deliveries, deliveries generate proof, proof triggers invoicing—without bouncing between tools.
A typical flow: Sales Order → Delivery Order → Route Assignment → Driver App → Live Tracking + Notifications → Proof of Delivery → Invoice.
Implementation notes from a consultant’s lens
A smooth rollout is less about the technology and more about the operating model—clear statuses, practical training, and feedback loops with your drivers. Start focused, measure rigorously, then scale.
- Start with a pilot route: Choose one region or team, stabilize the rhythm, then scale.
- Standardize statuses and exceptions: Define event states and failure reasons up front so reporting is meaningful from day one.
- Train on the “why,” not just the “how”: Drivers adopt faster when they see fewer phone calls, clearer routes, and faster closeouts.
- Bake in privacy and consent: Ensure driver policies cover location sharing during active shifts and that proof-of-delivery data meets your compliance needs.
- Plan for edge cases: No-signal zones, low battery, customer not home, gated entries, and weather delays need SOPs in the app and in training.
- Curate your notification strategy: Send updates that matter (out for delivery, arriving soon, delivered) and avoid noise that drives opt-outs.
- Measure the right KPIs: On-time rate, first-attempt success, average delivery duration, exception rate by reason, WISMO volume, and DSO impact.
What it takes to get live
The path to production is straightforward when you align process, data, and devices. Think configuration, mobile readiness, clean addresses, and actionable dashboards.
- Configuration: Set up routes, roles, permissions, and notification rules. Align status names with your existing operations language.
- Mobile rollout: Distribute the PWA/app to drivers, confirm GPS and notification permissions, and run a dry-run day before launch.
- Data hygiene: Clean addresses and geocodes; good inputs drive good routing.
- Reporting: Stand up dispatcher and leadership dashboards—route performance, exceptions by driver, delivery throughput by hour/day.
Common pitfalls and how to avoid them
Most failures come from overcomplicating alerts, underusing exception data, or skipping field feedback. Build a simple foundation, then iterate.
- Over-notifying customers: Stick to milestone events. Too much noise leads to opt-outs and missed critical alerts.
- Ignoring exception data: Weekly reviews of failure reasons are gold—assign owners to fix systemic issues.
- Rolling out without driver feedback: Field input surfaces constraints you won’t see from a desk. Include them early and often.
- No offline plan: Ensure drivers can capture proof of delivery offline and sync when signal returns.
Is this the right move for you?
You’ll likely see fast ROI if you experience high WISMO volume, subpar first-attempt delivery rates, multiple daily routes, manual call/text dispatch, or frequent proof-of-delivery disputes. Real-time tracking inside your ERP delivers pragmatic, end-to-end visibility and control of the last mile without forcing your teams to juggle multiple systems.