How to Manage Store Deliveries, Dispatch Drivers & Track Orders Live in InventoryPlus
The complete, non-technical handbook for store owners, managers, and delivery supervisors to dispatch customer orders in smart batches, track delivery staff on live maps, collect cash on delivery, and settle day-end accounts effortlessly.
Providing fast, dependable customer home delivery has become essential for local retail businesses—whether you operate a supermarket, a grocery store, a pharmacy, an electronics shop, or a busy trading center. When your store delivers goods on time with accurate billing and transparent updates, customer loyalty and repeat orders multiply rapidly.
The Delivery Dashboard in InventoryPlus is your complete dispatch command center. It unifies your billing counter, delivery drivers, customer tracking, route maps, and daily cash collection into one seamless, easy-to-use screen. You can batch-assign dozens of orders in seconds, watch your delivery team navigate on a live interactive map, and ensure every single rupee of cash on delivery reaches your cash drawer before closing.
1. Where to Find the Delivery Dashboard
Accessing your delivery control center in InventoryPlus takes just two clicks:
In the top navigation menu, click on Inventory → select Other Inventory → click on the Delivery Dashboard tab.
Quick Tip: You can also bookmark or open this dashboard on a supervisor tablet or computer at your dispatch counter for real-time order monitoring throughout the day.
2. Easy Online Setup: Getting Your Store & Team Ready
Before dispatching your first order, follow these three simple configuration steps to set up your store and delivery staff:
Go to Settings → Company / Locations and verify your shop address and landmark. This establishes your Store HQ Origin Pin on the map, allowing the system to accurately calculate delivery distances to customer homes.
Go to Settings → Users & Permissions. Click Add New User, enter your delivery person's full name, mobile number, and select the Delivery Staff role. This creates their login credentials for daily deliveries.
Your delivery team can use any smartphone or tablet. When they log in with their assigned username, the system connects their device automatically so they can receive trips, view addresses, and update deliveries on the go.
3. Initiating Deliveries: How Orders Flow from Billing to Dispatch
Whenever a customer orders items for home delivery—whether by phone, WhatsApp, or at your counter—your cashier creates a bill normally in InventoryPlus:
- Customer Details: Enter the customer's full name, mobile phone number, delivery address, neighborhood/area, and landmark.
- Payment Type Selection:
- Prepaid Orders: If the customer paid immediately at checkout via UPI, Credit/Debit Card, or Net Banking, the dashboard tags it with a bright green PAID badge. The driver knows no money needs to be collected.
- Cash on Delivery (COD): If the customer chooses to pay upon receiving their items, the dashboard marks it with an amber COD: Rs. XXX badge. This alerts both supervisor and driver to collect exact payment at the doorstep.
- Instant Queueing: As soon as the bill is saved, it immediately shows up in the Pending Orders section of your Delivery Dashboard, ready for dispatch.
4. Smart Batch Assignment: Assigning Dozens of Orders in Seconds
Assigning customer orders one by one is slow and often causes drivers to criss-cross the city unnecessarily. InventoryPlus provides Smart Batch Assignment, allowing you to bundle orders intelligently using 4 specialized methods:
The 4 Smart Batching Modes Explained
The system automatically groups all pending orders by neighborhood name (e.g. Indiranagar, Koramangala, Whitefield) and postal PIN codes. Click Select All under an area cluster and assign the entire bundle to a single delivery person with one click.
Simple distance is not enough: an order 5 km North and an order 5 km South should never be sent with the same driver! InventoryPlus groups orders by Directional Corridors:
- Direction Filter: Choose ⬆️ North Corridor, ➡️ East Corridor, ⬇️ South Corridor, ⬅️ West Corridor, or All Directions (360°).
- Distance Radius: View deliveries grouped by radius circles: Hyperlocal (0 to 3 km), Mid-Range (3 to 7 km), or Outer Range (7+ km).
- Click Select All in Range to give your driver an optimal, linear delivery route.
Ideal for wholesale packing stations or scheduled delivery slots where invoices are billed sequentially. Simply enter From Bill #101 to To Bill #120, or use one-click buttons like First 5, First 10, First 20, or All.
Group orders based on package value (Micro, Standard, Medium, or High-Value). This allows you to assign high-value orders to your senior trusted staff and prevents any single driver from carrying too much cash liability on their run.
When assigning orders, you can check "Require OTP on Delivery Completion". The customer receives a secret 4-digit code on their phone, which the delivery person must enter before the order can be marked completed. This completely prevents misplaced or falsely marked packages.
5. Live Online Tracking on the Interactive Map
Click the Live Team Map button at the top right of your dashboard to open the full-screen dispatch workbench. This gives your shop delivery head a bird's-eye view of your entire delivery operation in real time:
- Store Origin Pin (🏪): A bright marker highlights your store location, serving as the central hub where all trips originate.
- Live Delivery Staff (🛵): Moving bike markers show where each delivery person is currently located on the city map.
- Customer Delivery Points (📍): Each customer address is pinned on the map with their bill number and customer name.
- Active Route Polylines: Dashed route lines clearly connect each driver to their assigned customer drop locations.
- Click-to-Focus Dispatcher List: The right-side panel displays active drivers and pending runs. Click any driver or customer order to automatically pan and zoom the map directly to their exact pin.
- Map Layer Switcher: Switch easily between High-Contrast Dark View (great for evening operations), Clean Street Map, and High-Resolution Satellite View to inspect building gates and landmarks.
6. How Delivery Staff Use the System on Their Phone
Your delivery persons do not need complicated technical training. Their mobile screen is designed for pure speed and simplicity:
The driver opens their delivery trip list to see customer names, delivery addresses, items packed, and whether the order is Prepaid or Cash on Delivery.
Upon arriving near the customer's building or gate, the driver taps the 📞 Call icon to dial the customer immediately, or taps the 💬 WhatsApp icon to send a polite arrival message without typing.
If COD, the driver collects the exact cash or UPI payment. They enter the customer OTP (if enabled) and tap "Mark Delivered". The shop dashboard instantly reflects the successful delivery.
7. Handling Delays, Reschedules & Failed Attempts
In retail delivery, real-world issues happen: a customer may have stepped out, their door is locked, or they ask the driver to bring the package in the evening. InventoryPlus ensures these orders are never lost or left in limbo:
- 1-Click Reschedule Dialog: Click Reschedule / Fail on any active order.
- Standard Reason Selection: Pick from standard reasons (e.g. Door Locked / Customer Unavailable, Customer Requested Later Slot, Incorrect Address / Landmark Unclear, Phone Switched Off, Customer Refused) or enter custom instructions.
- Choose Target Delivery Slot: Select when to re-attempt: Today Evening (4 PM - 8 PM), Tomorrow Morning (9 AM - 1 PM), Tomorrow Afternoon, or Next Working Day.
- Automatic Queueing: The order cleanly moves to the Failed / Rescheduled queue with full reason history, ready to be dispatched during the customer's preferred delivery window.
8. The Visual Kanban Board View
In addition to the standard table list, the Delivery Dashboard features a visual Kanban Board. Simply click the view toggle to see your daily orders moving across 5 organized workflow columns:
| Pipeline Stage | What It Means | Quick Action Available |
|---|---|---|
| ⏳ Pending Orders | Billed items packed and waiting at your dispatch counter. | Click Assign to choose a delivery person. |
| 📋 Assigned / Staged | Handed over to a driver who is loading their vehicle. | Click Dispatch when the driver leaves the shop. |
| 🚚 Out for Delivery | Driver is actively on the road heading to customer addresses. | Click Mark Delivered or Fail/Reschedule. |
| ✅ Delivered | Order successfully delivered into the customer's hands. | View delivery completion timestamp and notes. |
| ⚠️ Failed / Rescheduled | Attempt failed or customer asked for a later delivery slot. | Click Re-attempt to re-assign for the next run. |
On smartphones and small tablets, the Kanban board automatically turns into a smooth swipeable tab layout, making it effortless to manage from your palm.
9. Day-End Driver Cash Settlement (Reconciling COD Money)
The single greatest operational leak in retail delivery is lost, misplaced, or delayed cash collected by delivery boys. InventoryPlus solves this completely with the built-in Driver Cash Settlement Workbench:
End-of-Day Settlement in 4 Simple Steps
Click the green Cash Settlement button on the dashboard. A clean summary opens showing total delivered orders, total cash collected, settled amounts, and pending money.
Click on the driver's tab. The screen immediately displays every bill delivered by this driver, the exact COD money collected, and the exact cash due to be handed over to your cash drawer.
Count the physical money received from the driver. Click Settle All Pending (or select specific bills) and click Confirm Handover. The system automatically records an immutable audit record: [COD Settled: Rs. XXX by Cashier on Date].
Click Print Slip to generate a clean, itemized receipt with signature lines for both the Delivery Driver and the Shop Cashier. Keep this printed slip in your daily accounts file for 100% zero-discrepancy bookkeeping.
10. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ & Troubleshooting)
Q1: What if a customer's address does not have GPS coordinates or map pin?
Orders without GPS pins are never ignored. In the Distance batch assigner, they are safely placed into the "📍 Unmapped Address (No GPS Pin)" bucket. You can assign them normally using their neighborhood area name or bill number, and the driver can navigate using the written address and landmark on the bill.
Q2: Can a single delivery driver take 10 or 15 orders in one trip?
Yes, absolutely! Smart Batch Assignment allows you to select any number of orders (e.g., all 12 orders in the North Corridor) and assign them to one driver in a single click. The driver sees all 12 stops listed on their phone in optimal sequence.
Q3: How does the system handle orders where the customer paid part in advance and part on delivery?
InventoryPlus calculates the exact remaining balance due. For example, if a bill is Rs. 1,000 and the customer paid Rs. 300 online in advance, the delivery card and mobile screen show exactly COD Due: Rs. 700. The driver will only collect Rs. 700, avoiding awkward payment confusion at the doorstep.
Q4: What happens if a customer refuses the package or cancels at the door?
The driver or supervisor opens the order, selects "Fail / Reschedule", chooses "Customer Refused / Order Cancelled", and confirms. The order is recorded with the cancellation reason, removing it from active trips and ensuring no cash liability is charged to the driver.
Q5: Do I need to buy expensive GPS tracking devices for my delivery motorbikes?
No expensive hardware trackers are needed! Delivery staff simply use standard Android or iOS smartphones with location services turned on. The app handles everything smoothly using their phone's built-in GPS.
Q6: Does the live map require any paid map subscriptions or API keys?
No! InventoryPlus includes clean, high-performance world street maps and satellite views out of the box with zero extra subscription fees, zero API key hassles, and zero monthly map charges.
Q7: Can multiple cashiers and dispatchers manage deliveries at the same time?
Yes. Whether you have 2 billing counters or 10 counters across your store, all home delivery orders instantly feed into the central Delivery Dashboard without delays or duplicate entries.
Q8: How do I make sure a driver cannot leave at night without handing over cash?
The top bar of the Delivery Dashboard clearly highlights Pending Handover (Unsettled Cash) with a bright warning badge. Before any driver signs off, the cashier checks their driver tab in Cash Settlement, collects the exact money, confirms settlement, and prints the signed slip.
Summary: The 4 Golden Rules for Successful Store Deliveries
- Capture Complete Addresses at Billing: Always record the customer's phone number, area name, and landmark during checkout.
- Use Smart Batching by Direction: Assign trips in compass corridors (North, East, South, West) to cut travel time in half.
- Reschedule Instead of Losing Orders: If a customer is away, pick a friendly rescheduling slot so the order is smoothly fulfilled on the next run.
- Reconcile Cash Every Evening: Always perform Driver Cash Settlement before closing your registers and print the signed handover slip.
Ready to Supercharge Your Store's Home Deliveries?
Upgrade to InventoryPlus today and experience lightning-fast dispatching, live driver tracking, zero-leak cash settlement, and delighted customers.