5 Ways to Reduce “Where Is My Order” (WISMO) Calls This Holiday Season

Before you can effectively reduce WISMO, you need to quantify it. Understanding your current WISMO rate and its true cost provides the baseline for measuring improvement and justifying investments in better systems.

The core metric is your WISMO rate: the number of orders that generate a “where is my order?” contact divided by total shipped orders in a given period.

Here’s an example calculation: If your support team logs 2,000 WISMO tickets out of 40,000 orders shipped in December 2025, your WISMO rate is 5%. That percentage becomes your benchmark for improvement.

To estimate direct cost per WISMO contact, multiply average handle time by your agent hourly rate. If a typical WISMO call takes 8 minutes (including research and follow-up) and your fully-loaded agent cost is $25/hour, each contact costs approximately $3.33 in labor alone. Add in phone system costs, CRM overhead, and management time, and you’re typically looking at $4-$8 per ticket.

Multiply by thousands of tickets during peak season, and the expense adds up quickly.
Indirect costs often exceed direct costs:

• Lower NPS scores from frustrated customers waiting for updates
• More refunds and reships when delays erode goodwill
• Negative social reviews that affect future conversion rates
• Suppressed lifetime value when customers lose confidence in your ability to deliver

Track WISMO by root cause whenever possible. Common categories include:

• Missing or broken tracking links
• Carrier delay with no proactive communication
• Incorrect address requiring customer contact
• Unclear delivery promise at checkout

Compare WISMO rates across shipping methods. You may find that home delivery to apartments generates three times the WISMO rate of pickup location orders. Or that one carrier consistently underperforms on certain lanes. These insights from multiple sources help you determine where to focus improvement efforts.

Pull data from your helpdesk (ticket tags, categories) and shipping systems (carrier performance, delivery confirmation rates) to build a complete picture. This analysis should happen at the beginning of the season so you have time to implement changes.

Your delivery promise is the date or time window you communicate at checkout and on order confirmation. Vague estimates like “3-7 business days” or simply “Standard Shipping” create uncertainty that directly drives WISMO calls. Different customers have different expectations, but all of them want clarity.

Compare these two approaches:
Weak delivery promise: “Standard Shipping (3-7 business days)”
Strong delivery promise: “Arrives by Thursday, December 19, 2025”

The second version gives the customer a specific expectation they can plan around. It eliminates the mental math of counting business days and hoping for the best.

To create realistic promises, use carrier performance data from previous Q4 seasons rather than marketing claims. If your carrier’s December 2024 data shows that “3-day” service actually delivered in 3 days only 78% of the time, build that reality into your promises. Check current-year SLAs and any peak-season modifications carriers have announced.

Set earlier cut-off dates for holiday gifting and display them prominently:

• Order by December 18 for Standard shipping to arrive by December 24
• Order by December 21 for Express shipping to arrive by December 24
• Show these dates on product pages, in cart, and at checkout

Use dynamic delivery dates based on zip code, carrier, and order cut-off times. When a customer enters their shipping address or switches shipping method at checkout, the estimated arrival date should update in real time. This creates transparency that builds trust.

Underpromise and overdeliver. If your data suggests packages will likely arrive in 4 days, promise 5. When the package arrives a day early, you’ve created a moment of delight instead of anxiety. This approach may seem counterintuitive, but it dramatically reduces WISMO while enhancing customer satisfaction.

Be especially conservative for high-risk routes:

• Rural areas with limited carrier coverage
• Regions prone to winter weather during December
• International shipments with customs variables
• Areas experiencing known carrier capacity issues

Surface any special holiday constraints at checkout and in confirmation emails. If your warehouse closes December 24-26, customers need to know that orders placed on December 23 won’t ship until December 27. Carrier embargo dates (periods when carriers don’t guarantee delivery) should be clearly communicated.

The single biggest driver of WISMO calls is lack of clear, proactive tracking. Customers should never have to ask where their order is because they already know. When you manage communication well throughout the shipping process, you eliminate the conditions that create WISMO in the first place.

Your tracking experience should be branded and centralized. Instead of sending customers to carrier websites with unfamiliar interfaces, create a single, mobile-friendly tracking page hosted on your domain that pulls data from all carriers. This gives you control over the experience and keeps customers within your brand ecosystem.

Key shipment milestones that should trigger automatic updates:

• Order confirmed and processing
• Label created and awaiting carrier pickup
• Picked up by carrier and in transit
• In transit
• Out for delivery with expected time window
• Delivered with confirmation
• Exception alerts (delay, failed delivery attempt, address issue)

Use multi-channel notifications to reach customers where they prefer. Email remains the foundation, but SMS significantly increases open rates for time-sensitive updates. Allow customers to choose their preferred channel at checkout or in their account settings. Some brands also leverage push notifications through their app for customers who have opted in.

Each notification should include concrete, current information:

• Last scan location in plain language (“Your package is in Memphis, TN”)
• Updated ETA reflecting current tracking data
• Any actions needed from the shopper (reschedule delivery, confirm address, etc.)

Rewrite default carrier messages into customer-friendly language. Carrier jargon like “arrival scan,” “departure scan,” or “line haul movement” means nothing to most consumers. Translate these into “Your package arrived at the local facility and is on schedule for delivery tomorrow.”

Include a clear link to your branded tracking page in:

• Every shipping notification email
• Customer account order history
• Guest order lookup pages
• Post-purchase SMS messages

Proactive tracking also reduces internal WISMO. Sales teams, customer success managers, and B2B clients often need status updates for high-value or time-sensitive orders. A great customer experience extends to these internal stakeholders as well. Give them access to the same tracking tools so they don’t need to contact operations for routine updates.

Many customers just want a quick status check. They don’t want to call, wait on hold, or explain their situation to an agent. If you give them easy self-service tools, they’ll gladly avoid contacting support entirely. This approach lets you create a better experience while reducing WISMO volume.

Start with a simple guest order lookup tool on your website. Customers should be able to enter their order number plus email address or ZIP code to instantly see real-time status. This feature serves customers who didn’t create accounts and those who can’t remember their login credentials.

Add a prominent “Track my order” or “Where is my order?” entry point in:

• Website header navigation
• Order confirmation emails
• Help center landing page
• Mobile navigation menu
• Footer links

Dedicate an FAQ subsection specifically to shipping and delivery questions. Address the scenarios that typically generate WISMO contacts:

• “My order is late—what should I do?”
• “Tracking hasn’t updated in several days”
• “Carrier says delivered but I can’t find my package”
• “How do pickup locations work?”
• “Can I change my delivery address after ordering?”

Keep answers concise and actionable. Include relevant links to tracking tools and contact options for issues that genuinely require human intervention.

Implement chatbots or virtual assistants on your order status page and in support widgets. These tools can instantly answer WISMO-type questions by pulling in tracking data, providing the same information an agent would give. Modern AI-powered support agents can handle inquiries 24/7, which is critical during December when customers check orders at all hours.

Availability matters during peak season. Shoppers track packages on evenings, weekends, and holidays. Self-service tools provide support when your dedicated team isn’t available, preventing customers from stewing in uncertainty until Monday morning.

Include clear guidance on what to do in specific scenarios. Tell customers how long to wait before declaring a package lost (typically 48-72 hours past the expected delivery date). Explain steps to open an investigation. Outline how to request a reship. This additional information empowers customers to solve problems on their own timeline.

Ensure all self-service tools work well on smartphones. Many holiday shoppers track packages on the go while commuting, shopping, or waiting in lines. Mobile responsiveness isn’t optional—it’s essential for accessibility.

Not all WISMO can be prevented. Storms happen. Carriers experience bottlenecks. Addresses get entered incorrectly. Supply chain disruptions occur. What separates brands with low WISMO rates from those drowning in tickets is how they handle exceptions before customers need to ask.

Implement automatic exception alerts from your carriers or shipping platforms. When a package experiences a delay, failed delivery attempt, or misroute, your team should know before the customer does. This advance warning gives you time to act proactively rather than reactively.

Set internal SLAs for reacting to exceptions during holiday season. For example: contact affected customers within 12-24 hours of an exception with an updated ETA or resolution path. Speed matters here—the longer a customer waits without hearing from you, the more likely they are to contact support or leave negative feedback.

Create standard operating procedures (SOPs) for common exception types:

• Damaged parcels: How to process claims and arrange replacement
• Lost in transit: When to declare lost (X days past delivery date), how to investigate, when to reship
• Customs holds: What documentation is needed, expected delay timeline
• Incorrect addresses: Process for address correction or return to sender
• “Delivered” but not received: Investigation steps, waiting period before resolution

Ensure support agents, operations teams, and warehouse staff share the same single source of truth for order status. Integrate your shipping platform, CRM, and helpdesk systems so everyone sees consistent, real-time data. When a customer calls and an agent sees different information than operations, trust erodes quickly.

Reduce internal WISMO by giving internal stakeholders self-service access. Sales teams asking about VIP orders, account managers checking on B2B shipments, and retail partners inquiring about their inventory—all of these create internal support burden. Dashboards and live order views help these users find answers without escalating.

Review WISMO tickets weekly during peak season to identify patterns:

• Is one carrier lane consistently delayed?
• Are apartment buildings in a particular city generating failed deliveries?
• Is a specific shipping method underperforming expectations?

These insights let you quickly adjust shipping methods, update delivery promises, or proactively communicate known issues.

When reaching out about exceptions, use empathetic and transparent language. Here’s an effective example:

“Hi [Name], we wanted to let you know your order is running behind schedule due to carrier delays affecting shipments in your region. Your updated expected delivery date is December 23. We’re sorry for the inconvenience and appreciate your patience. If you have questions, reply to this email and we’ll help immediately.”

This message acknowledges the delay, provides specifics, and offers a clear next step—all before the customer needed to ask.

One structural way to reduce WISMO is to reduce the volatility of last mile delivery itself. By shifting orders from hard-to-serve home addresses to more predictable commercial pickup points, you eliminate many of the pain points that generate “Where is my order?” calls.

Residential deliveries are inherently more challenging than commercial ones. Home delivery stops are scattered across neighborhoods, prone to missed attempts when recipients aren’t home, and vulnerable to porch piracy. Commercial pickup locations—convenience stores, parcel lockers, retail partner shops—are staffed during set hours, scanned consistently upon arrival, and secure until customers retrieve their packages.

Add alternative delivery options at checkout:

• Local pickup points within walking or driving distance
• Parcel lockers with extended access hours
• Partner retail stores with in-store pickup

These options work especially well for high-risk orders: expensive gifts, shipments to dense urban apartments without secure lobbies, or packages going to addresses where the recipient works during the day.

Pickup-point delivery typically leads to fewer WISMO calls because:

• Parcels arrive at secure locations with clear tracking
• Customers receive notifications when packages are ready for pickup
• Defined pickup windows eliminate ambiguity about “when will it arrive?”
• No missed delivery attempts requiring redelivery scheduling

During holidays, customers appreciate the flexibility:

• Extended pickup hours that include evenings and weekends
• Lower risk of missed deliveries when recipients travel or work long hours
• Reduced porch piracy for high-value items
• The ability to pick up packages at their