You must be familiar with the term, “Smart Shopper”. Most of your e-store customers are smart shoppers. They are online, looking for the best deals. But are you a “Smart Seller”? Not just when it comes to attracting customers. But are you a smart manager of your e-Commerce store as well?
Since this article is about tracking orders, I’ll, of course, stop beating around the bush and get to the point. Order management is an important task. An order is tied to a purchase. It has customer details, details of products purchased, price details, and shipping details. A great deal of effort and time is invested in tracking orders and shipment. But nowadays WooCommerce store owners are getting smarter. They are choosing an easier route to manage order tracking and shipment. Want to know how? Let’s take a look at the problem in detail.
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Manage WooCommerce Orders Easily: Add QR Codes
In WooCommerce, when a customer completes a purchase, an Order is created. This order information is sent to the customer, and the e-store owner via an email. The processing of the order, i.e., payment processing, delivery of the purchased goods, and so on, is tracked using an Order Id. This order id is a number, which quite honestly does not suffice. And that’s why most of you find yourself hunting for extensions such as a Barcode extension, or a Shipment tracking plugin, or articles like this one :D .
So, for those of you looking for a similar solution, try using QR codes, instead of the default Order Id. QR codes are peculiar looking boxes, which can be used to store information, which can be scanned and interpreted quickly.
QR Codes for WooCommerce
Since QR codes are not available in WooCommerce by default you obviously need some customization. But the availability of the PHP QR Code Library, makes the job really simple.
- You can use this library to attach a QR code to every created order.
- This QR code can be generated to contain order information, like product details, price, customer and shipping details, etc.
- This code can be then sent to the customer as part of the order email, or as an SMS as well (if a phone number is made available).
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How will QR Codes Benefit You?
These QR codes for orders can be used to track shipping as well. So you do not need to manage additional shipping details and tracking ids.
Track Shipping Using QR Codes
The QR code can be printed as part of the shipping label. When a product is delivered to a customer, the QR code can be scanned, to confirm customer and shipping details, before handing over the product to them. Once the product is delivered the QR code can be invalidated.
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QR Codes have Versatile Applications
Since QR codes can encode different kinds of information, they have varied application.
QR Codes for Offers
You must have noticed quite a few retail products which use QR codes, for discount offers. The idea is similar to a ‘Scratch and Win’ offer. But instead of scratch-and-win, your customers can ‘Scan and Win’ discounts or offers. Since these codes can be analysed using mobile apps, customers can immediately receive purchase benefits.
QR Codes for Event Registration
QR codes can also be used for event registration as well. Well! Not all of you might host events. But for those who do, and for those with dedicated event management websites, QR codes can be sent as part of a ticket, or as an SMS. All event attendees need to then do, is produce the QR codes at the event location, as e-tickets.
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QR codes when added to a WooCommerce order can simplify order and delivery tracking. Apart from this, you can also use such codes for discount offers on your e-store, or as e-tickets. Do you think they can help you manage orders on your WooCommerce store?
