Lost package email templates for online stores

When a parcel is lost in transit, tell the customer what you know, what you're doing about it, and the date by which they'll have either a replacement or their money back. In the UK and the EU, the loss is the store's problem until the parcel is in the customer's hands, so the customer shouldn't have to wait for your claim with the carrier.

Below are four templates for the cases a small store meets, a table for choosing between reshipping and refunding, and the actual wording of the UK and EU rules on risk. Words in double braces, like {{order_number}}, are blanks: fill each one from the order and the tracking page, never from memory.

Before you reply: check three things

Open the order and the carrier's tracking page before writing anything.

Check	Why it matters
The last tracking event and its date	It tells you which template to use: stalled, lost, or "delivered".
The shipping address on the order	A wrong address is a different problem from a lost parcel, and changes who has to fix it.
Who chose the carrier	If you chose it (or offered it at checkout), the risk is yours until delivery. If the customer arranged their own courier, read Template 4.

Also look up your carrier's own rules: when it will open a trace, when it treats a parcel as lost, and the deadline for a claim. Put those in your saved replies as {{carrier_trace_wait}} and {{carrier_claim_deadline}}, not as numbers you remember.

Template 1: tracking has stalled

Use this when the tracking hasn't moved for a while but the carrier hasn't declared the parcel lost.

Hi {{first_name}},

Thanks for letting me know. Your order {{order_number}} was handed to {{carrier_name}} on {{ship_date}}, and the last update was on {{last_scan_date}}: {{last_scan_status}}.

I've asked {{carrier_name}} to trace it today. If it hasn't reached you by {{decision_date}}, I'll send a replacement or refund you in full, whichever you prefer. You don't need to do anything in the meantime.

I'm sorry for the wait.

{{your_name}}

The {{decision_date}} is the important line. Pick a date you'll actually act on, and put it in your calendar.

Template 2: the parcel is lost

Use this when the carrier confirms the loss, or your {{decision_date}} has passed.

Hi {{first_name}},

I'm sorry: {{carrier_name}} has lost your order {{order_number}}. That's on us to put right, not you.

I can either send you a new {{item_name}} straight away, which should reach you by {{replacement_delivery_date}}, or refund you {{refund_amount}} in full to your original payment method. Just reply with "replace" or "refund".

If the original parcel does turn up after all, let me know and we'll sort it out then.

{{your_name}}

Offer only what you can deliver. If the item is out of stock, leave out the replacement line and say when it's back, or refund. For wording on stock problems, see out of stock and backorder emails.

Template 3: tracking says delivered, the customer has nothing

This is the hardest one to write well. The customer may be right, and accusing them costs you the customer even when they're wrong.

Hi {{first_name}},

I'm sorry it hasn't reached you. {{carrier_name}} shows your order {{order_number}} as delivered on {{delivery_scan_date}} at {{delivery_scan_time}}, with the note "{{carrier_delivery_note}}".

Could you check with neighbours and anywhere a driver might leave a parcel? In the meantime I've opened an investigation with {{carrier_name}}.

If it hasn't turned up by {{decision_date}}, reply to this email and I'll {{replace_or_refund}}.

{{your_name}}

Note the test in the law below: it's about physical possession by the customer, or by someone the customer named. A carrier's "delivered" scan is the carrier's record, not proof of that. If the same address reports missing parcels again and again, deal with that separately and calmly; don't put it in this email.

Template 4: the customer's own courier lost it

Use this only when the customer arranged their own carrier and it wasn't one you offered. In that case, under the rules quoted below, the risk passed to the customer when you handed the parcel to their courier.

Hi {{first_name}},

I'm sorry your order {{order_number}} hasn't arrived. We handed it to {{customer_courier_name}}, the courier you arranged, on {{handover_date}} ({{handover_proof}}).

Because the courier works for you, the claim for a lost parcel goes to them. I'm happy to send you anything they need from us, such as the invoice and proof of handover.

{{your_name}}

If in doubt about whether you "offered" that courier, treat it as your own and use Template 2.

Reship or refund: choosing the reply

Situation	Reply
Item in stock, customer still wants it	Reship now; don't wait for the carrier's claim.
Item out of stock	Refund in full, or offer to wait for a real restock date.
Customer asks for a refund	Refund in full; under UK section 28 and EU Article 18 an undelivered order can end with the customer's money back.
High-value or repeat loss at one address	Reship with a signature service, and say so in the email.

To send a replacement in Shopify, you can create a draft order from Orders > Drafts, add the product and the customer, and apply a discount. Shopify's help page notes that you can mark a draft order as paid when you've already received payment, which is the case here. Refunds of the original order stay in the order itself in your Shopify admin.

Who carries the risk until delivery

Both the UK and the EU answer this the same way, and the answer is the reason for Templates 2 and 3.

UK: Consumer Rights Act 2015, section 29

Section 29(2) reads: "The goods remain at the trader's risk until they come into the physical possession of— (a) the consumer, or (b) a person identified by the consumer to take possession of the goods."

The exception is in subsections (3) and (4): if the goods go to a carrier who "is commissioned by the consumer to deliver the goods, and is not a carrier the trader named as an option for the consumer", then "the goods are at the consumer's risk on and after delivery to the carrier".

Section 28 covers late or missing delivery. Unless you agreed a time, you must deliver "without undue delay" and no more than 30 days after the contract. If you don't, the customer can in some cases treat the contract as at an end, and in others set a reasonable extra period first; once the contract ends, you must "without undue delay reimburse all payments made".

EU: Consumer Rights Directive 2011/83/EU, Article 20

Article 20 reads: "In contracts where the trader dispatches the goods to the consumer, the risk of loss of or damage to the goods shall pass to the consumer when he or a third party indicated by the consumer and other than the carrier has acquired the physical possession of the goods."

It goes on: "However, the risk shall pass to the consumer upon delivery to the carrier if the carrier was commissioned by the consumer to carry the goods and that choice was not offered by the trader, without prejudice to the rights of the consumer against the carrier."

Article 18 sets the same 30-day default for delivery and lets the customer end the contract if you miss a reasonable extra period, after which you must reimburse "all sums paid under the contract" without undue delay. A directive is applied through each EU country's own law, so the details sit there.

In plain words: a parcel lost by the carrier you chose is your loss, not the customer's. This article covers the UK and EU rules only; for refund rules more generally, see UK refund rules for online orders and the EU right of withdrawal. If the parcel arrived but broken, use the damaged item templates instead.

This is a summary, not legal advice. Sources read on 20 October 2026.

When a parcel is late rather than lost

If the order hasn't shipped yet, it isn't lost: use a shipping delay email. If it shipped recently and the customer is only asking where it is, a where is my order reply is the better start.

When AI drafts the lost package email

A lost package email is mostly facts: the ship date, the last scan, the tracking number, the date you'll act. Those are exactly what an AI drafting tool will invent if it's asked to fill them in.

Corresso drafts the reply from the documents your store approved, such as your shipping page, and leaves the order number, tracking number and dates as blanks. A rule holds any draft where the AI wrote one itself, and any draft that promises a refund or replacement without citing a document allowed to offer one. With Shopify connected, the order sits beside the email, and "Fill from #1234" fills the order number, tracking number, tracking link and ship date. A person reads the draft and presses Send; the refund or the new order is still made in your Shopify admin. How Corresso works with Shopify.