With Realtime Order Tracking, your customers will have live arrival times at their fingertips. The feature is simple to set up and use. It’s customizable and completely integrated within OptimoRoute’s planning process, plus it makes a customer’s shopping or service experience that much better.

As well as taking your customer service to the next level, Realtime Order Tracking is also an excellent way of reducing customer service inquiries about order statuses, tracking information, arrival times and completion report.

Realtime Order Tracking is available to all customers on a Pro account – sign up or upgrade to an OptimoRoute Pro account here

The feature lets you send customers:

  • An email
  • A text message
  • Both an email and text message
  • No notifications at all 

You can manage these 4 sending options in your order import file. The emails and text messages contain the scheduled arrival time for your service. There’s also a link to an order tracking page. Here customers see arrival times in real time – so they know exactly when to expect your arrival, minimizing the difference between customer expectations and service.

If you want to send text messages, find detailed pricing information here.

Step 1: Turning the Realtime Order Tracking feature on

You can turn Realtime Order Tracking on and off as often as you need to, depending on your preferences.

  1. Go to the Administration dropdown menu and select Settings.
  2. Select Order Tracking at the bottom of the menu at the left of the screen.
  3. Click on the Order tracking enabled checkbox. A blue tick means that the feature is on.
  4. Below this, under Notifications, click Add and a new window will open. In it, there is a checkbox for email notifications and a checkbox for text message notifications. Ensure that both checkboxes are ticked:

Now, you can start making configurations to the information that you send your customers.

Remember — the Realtime Order Tracking feature is made up of two parts:

  • A notification email and/or a text message with the scheduled arrival time or time window, according to the route that is initially planned. The email and text message are sent just once.
  • A link to our order tracking page. The link is in the email and text message, and customers can access the order tracking page as often as they like for real-time arrival times.

Step 2: Customizing Realtime Order Tracking

Stay on the Order Tracking option of the Settings tab. The customization options are grouped into 3 sections. Simply type into each field what you want your customers to see:

1. General

2. Notification email

  • Information in the {brackets} can be inserted and removed. Click on the Insert Tag dropdown menu for a list of options.
  • Consider whether you want the email to show an ETA (according to the route that is planned), or a time window of 2 hours.

TIP Go to Localization (in Settings) to change Time settings, if needed.

This is the notification email that your customer would receive based on the above template:

TIP If you change the name of the Action button label, remember to also change the name within the email template.

3. Notification text message

  • Information in the {brackets} can be inserted and removed. Click on the Insert Tag dropdown menu for a list of options.
  • Consider whether you want the email to show an ETA (according to the route that is planned), or a time window of 2 hours.

This is the notification text message that your customer would receive based on the above template:

4. Customizing the ETA display

The order tracking link directs customers to the Order Tracking Page. The information presented on this page changes, as the arrival time approaches.

To set up the Order Tracking Page in a different language, simply change the language in the Realtime Order Tracking settings page.

  1. Default settings are shown: a LIVE 2-hour time window is shown the day before service and the day of service.
  2. 2 hours* for older and 30 minutes for newly created accounts, prior to arrival, an ETA and a countdown bar are also shown.

* unless a change was requested

5. Proof of Delivery activation

Once the delivery or service task is completed, you can choose if you want your customers to be able to see the collected information on the real-time order tracking link.

6. Choosing how often you want the notifications to be sent to customers

You can choose how many times you want to inform your customers on their delivery or service status. In the notifications section simply add notifications for different stages of the process.

To change default settings you need to contact Customer Support.

When you have finished customizing, click Save.

Step 3: Adding customer email addresses and cell numbers to your order import file

With Realtime Order Tracking, you can manage your sending options via your order import file. A few additional columns will help you control which customers receive email and/or text message notifications – and which customers don’t receive any notifications at all.

Add these 3 columns to your import order file: 

  • A column for email addresses labeled ‘email’ 
  • A column for phone numbers labeled ‘phone’ 
  • A column labeled ‘notifications’

Manage the sending preferences like this:

This is an example of an order import file with all of the above combinations: 

Cell number country code information:

  • If you are sending text messages within your own country you don’t need to add your country’s code. Check your country settings here: Admin → Settings → Localization → Country and make changes if needed. 
  • For sending text messages outside of your country you must have the country code for each cell number.

TIP Use a comma to separate multiple email addresses or multiple cell numbers for one customer.

TIP Do you want to use your customer’s name in their email or text message? Use Custom Fields, then insert as a tag from the dropdown menu in the email and text message templates! For more information on how to use Custom Fields, click here.

Step 4: Importing orders, editing, and planning routes

You can import and edit order information, and plan routes in advance or on the day.

  • In the Plan and Optimize tab, import your order file, plan your routes and share them with your drivers. Click here for more information on these steps.
  • Edit email addresses and cell numbers as needed, or change/update customers’ receive/don’t receive email and text message preferences. This can be done per order, or in the Bulk Edit Orders box.

The routes are now planned and every order has been scheduled. At this stage, you can share the routes with your drivers, or move on to sending the Realtime Order Tracking notifications.

TIP Did you know that you can automatically send Realtime Order Tracking notifications to customers while assigning the routes to your drivers?

TIP Before you click Send to driver app, there is a check box at the bottom to send notifications at the same time.
The benefit is that you don’t need to go into another box to send to customers.

Step 5: Sending notification emails and text messages

Before you can send text messages, make sure you have enough credit on your account. Go to Administration → Billing to purchase credit and check your account.

Notification emails and text messages can be sent in advance or on the day that the service will take place – as long as the order has been scheduled.

  • Click on the Share Routes dropdown menu and select Send order notifications.
  • Check the information in the box that appears – if it is correct, click on Send notifications.
  • The gray status bar lets you know whether the emails and text messages for the date selected have not been sent (orange) and sent (green).
  • Once notifications have been sent, a ‘Notifications’ tab will open up:
  • Here you’ll see the delivery status of each email and/or text message. You can fix the contact information for any failed deliveries, then resend by clicking ‘Send updates’.
  • If you add new orders to routes for which notification emails have already been sent, you’ll see a reminder on the gray status bar – click on it to send notifications for newly added orders.
  • Here you will also be reminded to share the routes with your drivers if you have not already.

TIP If you replan or add new orders during the day, you don’t need to worry about your customers receiving multiple emails and text messages. Notification emails and text messages are sent to each customer only once – only the customers from newly added orders will be sent emails and/or text messages.