Guide for Shopify merchants

Why Evri tracking stops updating — and what to tell your customer

Evri tracking not updating for two or three days, the customer messaging you, and the tracking page saying nothing new. Most of the time nothing is wrong. Here is how to tell a normal quiet spell from a real delivery exception.

Last updated August 2026

The short answer

Evri parcels routinely go two to three days without a public tracking update while moving perfectly normally. The gaps happen at predictable points: after collection, at a sorting hub, and — for anything crossing a border — during the handover to the destination carrier.

A quiet parcel is not a lost parcel. But there are specific patterns that do mean something is wrong, and knowing which is which saves you an unnecessary call to the carrier and an unnecessary apology to the customer.

What actually causes the silence

1. The parcel is between scan points

Evri scans a parcel when it changes hands or location: collection, arrival at a hub, departure, out for delivery. Between those points there is nothing to report, so nothing appears. A parcel collected on Friday afternoon may not scan again until Monday morning.

Normal gap: up to two working days on a domestic parcel. Weekends don't count — Evri operates Saturdays but not Sundays, so a Friday collection genuinely can sit until Monday.

2. The label was created but the parcel wasn't collected

This one looks identical to the case above for the first day, and then diverges. If tracking says something like "we're expecting your parcel" and nothing else appears after two working days, the likeliest explanation is that the parcel never physically entered the network.

It's more common than merchants expect: a parcel missed at a collection, a bag left behind, a ParcelShop drop-off that wasn't scanned in.

How to tell them apart: a parcel that was collected will show at least one physical scan — "received at", "arrived at", "processing at". A label notification like "we're expecting your parcel" is not a physical scan. It only means Evri received the shipping data, not the parcel.

If two working days pass with only the expectation notice, chase the collection, not the delivery.

3. The parcel crossed a border and changed carrier

This is the one that catches most merchants out, because tracking appears to stop dead with no explanation.

For international deliveries, Evri hands the parcel to a destination carrier — An Post in Ireland, and equivalents elsewhere. At that point the parcel continues under a different tracking number, with a different carrier. Evri has nothing more to report, so its tracking simply stops.

The customer sees a parcel that "stopped moving" days ago. In reality it's moving fine, under a number nobody gave them.

What to do: if the last Evri scan is something like "X-Border Depot Receipt", "Loaded to International Trailer" or "Departed", the handover has happened. Contact Evri and ask for the successor tracking number with the destination carrier. They usually have it. Then give that number to the customer.

4. Evri published the scan, but the tracking app you use hasn't seen it yet

If you use any third-party tracking tool, there is a delay between the carrier publishing an event and your tool showing it. That delay is usually under an hour but can be several hours, and a small number of Evri events — particularly export and hub events on international parcels — don't reach third-party feeds at all.

So before concluding a parcel is stuck, check Evri's own tracking page. If the carrier shows movement and your tool doesn't, nothing is wrong with the parcel.

When a quiet parcel is actually a delivery exception

PatternWhat it usually means
No scan at all, 2+ working days after the labelThe parcel probably wasn't collected. Chase collection.
Collected, then silent 4+ working days domesticallyGenuinely unusual. Open an enquiry.
"Out for delivery", then nothing for 2+ daysThe parcel likely came back to the depot. Ask Evri to confirm it's still on a round.
Delivery attempted, then silentWaiting at a ParcelShop or about to be returned. Time-sensitive — contact the customer.
Last scan is an export or handover eventNot stuck. Ask for the successor tracking number.

What to tell the customer

The instinct is to wait until you know more. That's usually the wrong call — a customer who hears from you before they chase you stays calm, even when the news is that you don't know yet.

Two things make the difference: say what you actually know, and say what happens next.

If it's quiet but within normal range
Hi [name], a quick update on your order — the courier hasn't posted a new scan for a couple of days, which is fairly normal at this stage. Nothing to do on your side. We're watching it and we'll let you know as soon as it moves.
If it crossed a border and changed carrier
Hi [name], your parcel has been handed to [carrier] for the final leg, which is why the original tracking has stopped updating. The new tracking number is [number] — you can follow it there from now on.
If it looks genuinely stuck
Hi [name], your parcel hasn't moved since [date], which is longer than it should be. I've opened an enquiry with the courier and I'll come back to you within [timeframe]. If it can't be located I'll send a replacement straight away — you won't be left waiting on this.

Avoid promising a delivery date you can't control. "I'll come back to you by Thursday" is a promise you can keep. "It'll arrive tomorrow" isn't.

When to open an enquiry with Evri

Evri asks you to wait a set period before raising a claim, and enquiries opened too early are usually closed without action. As a practical rule:

Have the tracking number, the collection date and the delivery address ready. If the parcel crossed a border, ask explicitly for the successor tracking number — it's the fastest way to close the question.

The underlying problem

None of this is difficult once you're looking at a single parcel. The difficulty is that you can't look at every parcel.

A store shipping two hundred parcels a month has, on any given day, a handful that are quietly stuck and a hundred and ninety that are fine. The stuck ones don't announce themselves — they just stop generating scans, and you find out when the customer emails.

Which means the practical question isn't "what do I do about this parcel". It's "how do I know which parcels to look at".

That's what we built Delivery Radar for

It watches every tracked parcel your Shopify store ships and surfaces only the ones that have gone quiet longer than their route should allow, been refused, held at customs, or started heading back to you — with the reason and a customer message ready to send.

It doesn't message anyone automatically. It tells you which parcels need you, so you're not opening tracking pages one by one.

See it on the Shopify App Store