Best Practices for Delivery Excellence

Delivering an exceptional experience for our customers is a top priority. According to our customers, the number one reason dissatisfaction occurs is due to a delivery failure. Sometimes the order is never fulfilled, deliveries don't go as planned or the recipient is not at home.

Below are some best practices for sending a delivery confirmation and proof of delivery to ensure that the customer is happy, and your delivery team executes with excellence.

Delivery Confirmation Best Practices

  • Submit the delivery confirmation at the actual time of delivery. When a delivery confirmation is sent, it immediately sends an email to the customer to let them know their purchase was successfully received.
    • When done prematurely, it sets all the wheels in motion for a possible escalation or delayed response charge.
  • Use the mobile delivery app available for Mercury point of sale users. The app is available for iOS and Android users allowing real-time confirmations.
  • If you don't have the option to use an app, have the driver check in along the way while orders are delivered. Someone in the shop can send the delivery confirmation.
    • An example of this would be to number the deliveries and send quick texts to someone at the shop - "Completed 1,2,5,6"
  • At a minimum, make it a part of the delivery driver's process to text/call the shop when the route is completed to attend to delivery confirmations and alert for any that are unsuccessful.
  • Some very important things to avoid:
    • Please don't send a delivery confirmation when the driver leaves on the route
    • Please don't send delivery confirmations in batch all at once at the shop (unless all of the orders are actually already delivered)
    • Please don't send a delivery confirmation before the order is delivered since it triggers an email to the customer saying it was delivered

Best Practices for Delivery Excellence

  • A photo of an arrangement left on a porch will be accepted as proof of delivery in place of a signature by the recipient. Photos that include the house number are a best practice, if possible. Please note that in the event of excessive weather (cold or heat), do not leave arrangements outside.
    • When emailing a photo to FTD.com customer service as proof of delivery, the subject line should include the Mercury order number and recipient's last name.
  • A delivery log should include the Mercury order number, date, time and a valid signature for each order. Time of delivery is required for all business and funeral deliveries.
    • When emailing or faxing a delivery log to FTD.com customer service, please make sure the information is legible and each order's information is on one single line.
  • Mercury Mobile Delivery app is another way to collect proof of delivery since the device collects the coordinates of the delivery location once the delivery is confirmed. The driver can also take a photo of the delivery location and upload it in Mercury.
    • If a recipient is not home and the arrangement is not left outside, the driver should note the attempt or request “more information is needed” in the app immediately to avoid an issue with the customer.
  • You may be contacted post-delivery about an order. Always make sure to read and respond to any messages sent to you in Mercury.
  • Please note that sending a delivery confirmation is not considered a proof of delivery.

If you have questions about proof of delivery, please contact customerservicect@ftdi.com.


Other Delivery Best Practices

  • If the recipient is not home, another option when attempting delivery is to leave a door tag and re-schedule delivery.
  • It is also a customer-friendly idea to leave a phone message for the recipient that you attempted a delivery.
  • Send FTD.com an ASK message as soon as possible after the attempted delivery of the order status and that delivery will be attempted again.