The 12 most common customer requests in e-commerce – and how to standardise each

Take the last 100 emails in your support inbox and write one word in the margin of each: delivery, return, address, size. After twenty emails the words start repeating. After fifty you have a list of about twelve entries, and the remaining fifty emails don't add a new one.

That is not a quirk of your shop. It is the structure of e-commerce support. After a purchase, customers always ask the same things, because after a purchase they are always in the same situation: they have paid, they are waiting, they are unsure.

This article goes through the twelve categories. For each, it says what the customer really wants to know (which is rarely what the subject line says), which reply closes the ticket the first time, and whether the case can be standardised. For a few, the honest answer is: no.

What “standardise” means here

Standardising does not mean sending text blocks. It means that for a category you know in advance which information the reply needs, where it comes from and which rule you decide by. The reply itself is then slightly different every time, because it refers to the order. The work behind it is the same every time.

A good standard reply has three parts:

• The specific information for this case: status, date, amount, link.
• The next question, anticipated. If you confirm a refund, say when the money arrives. Otherwise the email comes tomorrow.
• A clear next step, even if it is: “You don't need to do anything.”

Ready-made texts for most of the cases below are in Customer service email templates: 15 templates for online shops. This article is about the logic behind them.

The twelve requests

1. “Where is my order?”

The biggest category in almost every shop. The customer doesn't want tracking, they want a date and the reassurance that something is moving. The reply that closes the ticket names the current status in one sentence, the expected delivery date and what to do if that date passes.

Standardisable: yes, with one condition. The reply has to know the real shipment status. A template that says “Your parcel is on its way” while the parcel is still with the merchant makes everything worse. How to halve this category before it starts is in “Where is my order?” – reducing WISMO requests.

2. “Delivered, but I haven't received anything”

Looks like category 1 but is the opposite. The customer has a delivery notification and no parcel. They want to hear that someone is taking ownership of the problem. The right reply is a short sequence: check neighbours and drop-off location, wait 24 hours (some carriers scan before delivering), then an investigation, then replacement or refund.

Standardisable: the first step yes, the final decision no. Whether you send a replacement depends on order value, customer history and carrier. That is a rule you store, not a template.

3. “Can I still change the address?”

Time-critical. The reply depends on whether the order has already shipped. Before dispatch: yes, done, here is the confirmation. After dispatch: redirect with the carrier if they offer it, otherwise return and reship.

Standardisable: yes, if your reply checks the shipping status before it goes out. Everything else about changes after purchase is in Changing a Shopify order after purchase.

4. “I want to cancel”

The customer wants their money back before anything ships. Before dispatch, that is one minute of work. After dispatch it becomes a return, and the customer should hear that immediately, with the note that they can refuse delivery.

Standardisable: yes, again with a status check. What you should not standardise: the question of why the customer is cancelling. One sentence, “May I ask what tipped the balance?”, teaches you more about your shop than any survey.

5. “How do I send this back?”

The customer wants three things: the process, the label, and when the money comes. The reply names all three and nothing else. If you have a returns portal, the reply is a link and one sentence. If not, the reply is the instructions.

Standardisable: completely. This is the category where a good template plus a clean process saves the most effort. The process is described in Returns process for online shops: step by step.

6. “When will I get my refund?”

This email usually arrives because the returns confirmation didn't state a timeline. The customer wants a date and the route (refund to the same payment method). The reply names both and says when to get in touch if nothing arrives.

Standardisable: yes. Even better: avoidable, by putting the timeline in the returns confirmation.

7. “Will size M fit me?” and other pre-purchase product questions

The only category that brings revenue. The customer is about to buy and needs one detail. Speed counts here more than anywhere else, because in an hour they have ordered elsewhere.

Standardisable: partly. Size charts, materials, dimensions, compatibility can be stored in a knowledge base. “Will this go with my sofa?” with a photo attached cannot. Every recurring product question is also a sign that something is missing on the product page.

8. “The item arrived damaged”

The customer is disappointed and expects an argument. The reply that defuses it: an apology in one sentence, ask for a photo (or not, depending on order value), offer a solution, name a deadline. No explanation of why the carrier is to blame.

Standardisable: the process yes, the solution by rule (replacement, partial refund, return). The tone has to be right, otherwise the case turns into a complaint. How to do that is in Complaint management for online shops: de-escalation in 5 steps.

9. “I received the wrong item”

Almost always a warehouse error, and the customer knows it. They want the right item, fast, without having to go to the post office themselves. The reply says the right item ships today and what should happen with the wrong one (keep it, send it back with a label, have it collected).

Standardisable: yes, with a rule for the value of the wrong item. You should count this category, because it measures your warehouse, not your support.

10. “My voucher isn't working”

Almost always one detail is off: minimum order value, expired, new customers only, item excluded. The reply names the reason and offers a solution if the reason wasn't obvious.

Standardisable: yes, if your reply knows the voucher conditions. And if the same question comes three times a week, the condition isn't visible enough at checkout.

11. “I need an invoice” and other admin

Invoice, change the address on the invoice, delete account, unsubscribe. None of it is urgent, none of it is difficult, and all of it should take under a minute.

Standardisable: completely. In Shopify the invoice is attached to the order; the reply is an attachment and two sentences.

12. “I've already written twice”

The category that shouldn't be on your list and is there anyway. The customer got no reply, or one that didn't answer their question. They are no longer curious but annoyed, and every template makes it worse.

Standardisable: no. This email needs a person who reads the history, apologises briefly and owns the case to the end. If this category makes up more than a few percent for you, the problem isn't the reply but the response time. More on that in Response time in customer service: what customers expect, what is realistic.

What the list tells you about your shop

Count the categories for a month. The result is more honest than any survey:

• A lot of category 1 means: the shipping email doesn't give a date, or the tracking page shows raw data.
• A lot of categories 3 and 4 means: too much time passes between order and dispatch, or the order confirmation doesn't invite the customer to check the address.
• A lot of category 6 means: the refund timeline is missing from your returns confirmation.
• A lot of category 7 means: details are missing from product pages. Good news, because these are customers ready to buy.
• A lot of category 9 means: your warehouse needs a second check at packing.
• A lot of category 12 means: you reply too slowly or incompletely.

Support categories are a measuring instrument for the rest of the shop. Most requests don't originate in support and can't be solved in support, but one station earlier.

What automation can do with this

Once you have defined the twelve categories cleanly, the question of which ones to hand off is almost answered. Categories 1, 5, 6, 10 and 11 are fully rule-based: the reply needs data from Shopify or the carrier and a rule, nothing else. Categories 3, 4, 8 and 9 are rule-based with a check beforehand. Categories 2, 7 (partly) and 12 need a person.

Customers are more open to this split than you might think. According to Zendesk CX Trends 2025, 67 percent of surveyed consumers say they are ready to delegate tasks like tracking orders to AI. What they don't want is an AI that answers their complaint with a text block.

This is how it works at Humane: the agent assigns every incoming email to a category, pulls the matching data from Shopify and the carrier and writes a draft reply. The merchant decides per category whether replies go out automatically or wait for approval as drafts. There is no automatic mode for category 12; it always lands with a person. Which split makes sense at the start is explained in the guide Customer service for online shops.

What you can do now

Take the last 100 emails and assign them to the twelve categories. Next to each category, note which information the reply needs and where it comes from. Write a reply for the five biggest categories that you would send exactly like that tomorrow. Then look at the list: the biggest category tells you which part of the shop to fix first, usually the shipping email or the returns confirmation. Repeat the count in four weeks.

If you want to see what your inbox looks like with categories and ready drafts: try it free for 14 days, no credit card, setup usually under 15 minutes.