Not every message is a new sale. Cover ‘where is my order’, ‘can I change the ship-to’, and ‘did you get PO 441’ so operations can search a reference instead of parsing poetry.
Same team that talks to the carrier.
Label it like the ID on your receipts.
Even a static HTML receipt can link here.
Paste the carrier URL; do not invent ETAs.
An order inquiry is a question about a purchase that already exists—or one the buyer thinks they placed. US WISMO (‘where is my order’) traffic spikes after carriers scan late; UK buyers ask the same thing with a different tracking page. The form should capture a reference if they have one, and a ZIP or postcode of the ship-to if they do not.
This is not a full helpdesk. Zendesk can come later. For a static catalog, a dedicated inquiry type and a reference field already beats hello@.
Name-only tickets are how you refund the wrong John.
Link a public tracking page above the form if you have one. The form is for exceptions.
Carriers have apps. Buyers still come to you when the app lies.
Linked from the receipt. Operations owns the form.
Use when volume justifies seats. This form is the starter.
Fails when confirmations are no-reply.
Move them here in the first reply so the reference is stored.
Invoice-later catalogs still owe customers a status URL. Put the form and search the dashboard plus your warehouse sheet.
ZIP versus postcode in the message often matches the original order when the buyer has lost the ID. It is a clue, not a guarantee.
This form does not query UPS. A human or a later integration does.
Policy in copy. Often too late; say so.
Use inquiry type. Speed matters more than a pretty FAQ.
Ask them to paste both numbers in the message.