Shiprocket NDR on WhatsApp: ask the buyer, then reattempt.
Shiprocket NDR on WhatsApp means the buyer, not a call centre, tells you why the delivery failed and what to fix. Cloodot's AI agent uses the ShipRocket Shipping skill set to track the shipment, take the corrected address, phone or preferred date, and request the reattempt in the same chat, before the parcel is lost to RTO.
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The rider couldn't find us. It's Tower B, not Tower A.
The agent takes the corrected address line and a preferred date, reads them back, then asks Shiprocket for a reattempt.
- Reason
- Address incomplete
- Correction
- Tower B, Prestige Lakeside, Whitefield
- Preferred date
- Saturday
- Request
- Reattempt requested
Why a failed delivery is an RTO waiting to happen
An NDR, a non-delivery report, is the courier telling you an attempt failed: buyer not reachable, address incomplete, premises locked, delivery refused, or "come another day". In Shiprocket the shipment then waits on you to reattempt it, with updated details if needed, or let it return to origin.
Couriers allow a limited number of attempts, usually three. An attempt to the same wrong address fails the same way, and once the attempts are gone the parcel heads back. You pay freight both ways and the stock spends a week travelling. On a COD order it stings twice, because no money was ever collected.
Most NDRs are fixable by the buyer in one message: a flat number, a landmark, an alternate phone, "Saturday is better". The hard part is reaching them quickly. Calling down a list doesn't keep up on a heavy dispatch day, and many buyers ignore unknown numbers.
How Shiprocket NDR on WhatsApp works in Cloodot
Install the ShipRocket Shipping skill set with a Shiprocket API user. Four of its eight skills do this job. Track Shipment by AWB and Track Shipment by Order read live status, courier and scans, parcel by parcel. NDR Reattempt Delivery asks the courier to try again, optionally with a corrected address line, phone number or preferred date. Get NDR Shipments lists failed deliveries awaiting a decision, for your team's eyes only.
In the chat, the agent works out why the attempt failed and asks for the fix before it acts. The skill warns when a reattempt would change nothing. The agent turns "this Saturday" into a date Shiprocket accepts, confirms the request, and says plainly that if this attempt fails too, the parcel goes back.
If Shiprocket refuses, because the shipment is no longer in NDR or the attempts are used up, the agent says it couldn't arrange the re-delivery and hands over to your team instead of promising a parcel that isn't coming.
The first message out is a workflow. If Shopify receives your courier's tracking, the Shopify · Delivery failed trigger fires on each failed attempt and can send a utility template. If not, Shiprocket can post updates to a workflow's Incoming Webhook, which Cloodot verifies with Shiprocket's own token scheme.
What Cloodot does here
NDR Reattempt Delivery
Requests the reattempt from the chat with a corrected address, phone or date, and says so plainly when Shiprocket refuses.
Track by AWB and by order
Live status, courier and recent scans for every parcel, so half a split order isn't reported as all of it.
Get NDR Shipments
Failed deliveries awaiting a decision, with AWB, courier and reason. Internal only: never shared with a buyer.
Handover to humans
Refusals, "I never ordered this" and final-attempt cases reach your team with the reason and a priority.
Explore AI agent
What you need in place, and what stays manual
- The skill set is built for stores selling on Shopify and shipping with Shiprocket in India; its listing names Shopify as a required integration.
- Proactive outreach depends on how failure events reach Cloodot. The Shopify · Delivery failed trigger fires only for couriers whose tracking Shopify receives. The Shiprocket webhook route needs the buyer's phone to send a template, from the payload if your setup includes it or from your own system through a Simple API Request step. Test it on a real failed delivery first.
- The agent requests reattempts; it doesn't mark shipments for return to origin. That decision stays with your team in the Shiprocket panel, as do disputes with the courier over attempts the buyer says never happened.
How to set up Shiprocket NDR handling on WhatsApp
5 steps
Create a Shiprocket API user
In Shiprocket, go to Settings → API → Configure and create an API user for the install.
Install ShipRocket Shipping
In Intelligence → Skill Sets → Explore, install it with the API user's credentials and enable the tracking and NDR skills on your persona.
Approve a delivery-failed template
A Utility template with the order number and quick replies such as Reattempt delivery, Change address and Talk to us.
Wire the trigger
Use Shopify · Delivery failed if Shopify tracks your courier, or an Incoming Webhook set to Shiprocket's scheme, and send the template to the buyer's phone.
Write the NDR procedure
Ask what went wrong, collect the correction, read it back, request the reattempt, and hand over on refusals.
Who this is for
Indian D2C brands that sell on Shopify and ship through Shiprocket, especially COD-heavy categories where a missed delivery quickly turns into a refusal.
Ops teams of one or two who work the NDR queue in the Shiprocket panel each morning and call buyers from a list. The agent takes the buyer conversations; the team keeps return-to-origin decisions, courier escalations and anything that smells like a fake order.
Brands whose buyers write in Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam or a mix of English and their own language. The agent understands any language, replies in the ones you select, and takes the correction in the buyer's own words.
Questions teams ask
What is NDR in Shiprocket?
NDR stands for non-delivery report. When a courier's delivery attempt fails, the shipment appears in Shiprocket's NDR section with the reason the courier gave. You then choose to reattempt delivery, optionally with an updated address, phone or date, or to return it to origin. If nothing is done and the attempts run out, the parcel comes back to you as an RTO.
Can the WhatsApp bot update the address for a failed delivery?
Yes, for the reattempt. NDR Reattempt Delivery sends a corrected address line, alternate phone number or preferred date to Shiprocket along with the request, and the courier uses those details for the next attempt. The agent reads the correction back to the buyer before sending it, because a slightly wrong address is just as undeliverable as the original.
Is a delivery-failed WhatsApp message a utility template?
Yes, when it's about the order: the failed attempt and how to fix it. Utility templates are priced lower than marketing ones, and Meta bills you directly for each delivered template. Keep offers out of it. Once the buyer replies, WhatsApp's 24-hour customer service window opens, and the agent can reply freely within it without another template.
What if the buyer says they never ordered it?
The agent doesn't argue and doesn't reattempt. Add it as a handover condition, so the conversation goes to your team with the reason recorded and a priority set. Your team can decide in Shiprocket whether to return the parcel, and check whether the order looks like a fake or duplicate COD order before the next one ships.
Does this work without Shopify?
The tracking and reattempt skills talk to Shiprocket's API with your API user, but the skill set's listing names Shopify as a required integration, and the Delivery failed trigger comes from Shopify. If you sell on another platform, check with us before relying on this flow, and plan to start conversations from Shiprocket's webhook instead.
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