Transportation and logistics provider XPO Logistics Inc. is continuing to invest in the consumer-facing side of its home delivery network for heavy goods, announcing today that it has integrated its last-mile tracking database with Google Search.
By opening its platform to the search engine's queries, Greenwich, Conn.-based XPO said it now allows consumers to track their big and bulky home delivery orders directly through Google on any internet-enabled device.
When users enter the search phrase "XPO package tracking" into Mountain View, Calif.-based Google Inc.'s search engine, the browser page displays a box for the shipment number, prompting consumers to update the status with a click. This type of heavy goods tracking has not been offered by last mile providers until now, according to XPO.
The service joins a range of other self-service, order-tracking interfaces that XPO offers its e-commerce shoppers, including online order management, text updates, and voice-activated connectivity through the artificial intelligence (AI)-based personal assistants Google Home and Amazon Echo.
"We have technology teams dedicated to enhancing consumerization across the board for our e-commerce and omnichannel retail customers," Mario Harik, chief information officer of XPO Logistics, said in a release. "Google Search interacts with our last mile technology, XPO Connect marketplace, and XPO Direct shared-space network for a seamless digital experience."
Adding Google searchability is XPO's latest step to enhance its last-mile delivery services for heavy goods, following the company's announcement earlier this month that it had completed a planned expansion of that network to nearly double the number of last-mile service hubs it operates to 85 locations since 2017.
