App builder

Answer delivery questions with a logistics tracking app
that carries your own name.

Describe your courier service and Netiva’s AI builds a web app with a public tracking page, a status timeline, delivery photos and email updates — with a live preview and code you own.

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Starter prompt

Build a logistics tracking web app for a three-depot regional courier. Staff sign in to create a shipment for a business account; the app generates the tracking number and they add the order reference, recipient email, ZIP code, service level and promised date. They post events with a status, location and time, plus a photo and drop-off spot on delivery. Every internal status has a customer-facing label. Add a public tracking page in our colors: lookup by tracking number or order reference, a progress bar and timeline, the photo shown only after a ZIP code check. Email recipients when a parcel is out for delivery, delivered or attempted.

Build it in Netiva Paste the prompt into a new workspace and adjust it to your business.
Overview

Who this logistics tracking app is for

When a parcel runs late, the recipient calls the shop, the shop calls you and a dispatcher stops to read a status off an internal screen. Couriers and regional carriers rarely have the tracking pages national networks offer, so customers get a phone number instead of an answer. A logistics tracking app built with Netiva gives your shipments a public page under your own brand. Anyone with a tracking number or order reference sees a plain-language timeline and the promised date, and, after delivery and a ZIP code check, the photo and where the parcel was left.

Key features

What your logistics tracking app can do

  • A tracking page under your brand

    Recipients type a tracking number or the order number from the shop’s email and land on a page with your logo and colors, the promised date and a progress bar that runs from the label to the doorstep.

    • Lookup by tracking number or the sender’s order reference
    • A shareable link for each shipment, ready for shipping emails
    • Progress bar: Label created, Picked up, In transit, Out for delivery, Delivered
    • Drop-off details revealed only after a ZIP code check

  • Status timeline in plain language

    Your team records events with the status names it uses internally. The page shows each one with the wording you wrote for customers, the depot or city and the time it happened.

    • Newest event first, with location and time
    • Internal statuses mapped to customer labels and next steps
    • One status posted to a batch of tracking numbers at once
    • Labels translated in bulk with the collection assistant

  • Delivery photos and drop-off notes

    When a parcel is delivered, the driver or depot adds a photo and where it was left. Photos wait on a review screen and reach the public page only once someone on the depot team approves them, so pictures of people stay internal.

    • Left at: handed over, front door, reception, neighbor or locker
    • Photo stored on the delivered event with who recorded it
    • Hidden photos stay on the event for your records, off the public page
    • Attempted deliveries use a status per reason, each with its next step

  • Email updates and account views

    Emails reach recipients at the moments they care about, and the businesses that ship with you sign in to follow every parcel they’ve handed over.

    • An email when a parcel goes out for delivery, is delivered or an attempt fails
    • A per-account switch for shops that send their own emails
    • Delivered emails link to the photo on the tracking page
    • Signed-in account users see only their own business’s shipments
Data model

The collections behind it

Netiva keeps your records in built-in collections. Here’s a starting structure — the agent adapts it to your prompt, and you can change it any time.

Shipments

One record per parcel or consignment, from the label being created to delivery.

  • Tracking number (required) Random rather than sequential, so numbers can’t be walked through one by one Text
  • Account (required) Relation to Accounts
  • Order reference The sender’s own order number, also searchable Text
  • Recipient email Needed for email updates Text
  • Delivery ZIP code (required) Checked before the photo and drop-off details show Text
  • Service level (required) Same day, Next day or Economy Text
  • Promised date Date
  • Current status (required) Starts at Label created, then follows the latest tracking event Relation to Status messages

Tracking events

Every step a shipment takes, in the order it happened.

  • Shipment (required) Relation to Shipments
  • Status (required) Relation to Status messages
  • Location (required) Depot name or city Text
  • Happened at (required) When it happened, not when it was typed in Date & time
  • Recorded by (required) Filled in from the signed-in staff member Text
  • Left at Handed over, Front door, Reception, Neighbor or Locker Text
  • Delivery photo Image
  • Photo approved Yes or No; only approved photos appear publicly Text

Status messages

The wording customers see for each internal status, and whether it sends an email.

  • Internal status (required) As your team knows it, with one status per attempt reason, such as OFD or ATT-CLOSED Text
  • Customer label (required) Out for delivery, Delivery attempted… Text
  • Next step What happens now, shown under the label Paragraph
  • Spanish label Drafted by the collection assistant, then checked Text
  • Progress step (required) 1 Label created to 5 Delivered; 0 keeps it off the bar Number
  • Sends email (required) Yes or No Text
  • Email subject Text

Accounts

The businesses that ship with you, and who may sign in to see their parcels.

  • Business name (required) Text
  • Contact email (required) Text
  • Portal users Login emails allowed to see this account’s shipments Paragraph
  • Send recipient emails (required) Yes or No; No if the shop sends its own Text
  • Tracking page note Shown on this account’s parcels, such as who to call about returns Paragraph

Required field. Types are Netiva collection field types.

Screens

Pages and screens to start with

A typical first version. Ask the agent for more, or annotate the preview to change any of them.

  • Track a parcel

    A search box for a tracking number or order reference, with your logo and colors and a short note on where to find the number.

    Public

  • Tracking result

    The promised date, a progress bar and the full timeline; after a ZIP code check, the drop-off spot and approved photo. A language switch shows the Spanish label and next step.

    Public

  • Shipments

    Search by tracking number, order reference or account, filter for parcels stalled 48 hours or past their promised date, and open the intake form for a new one.

    Your team

  • Post events

    Pick a status and location, then enter one tracking number or paste a batch; a delivered event asks for the drop-off spot and a photo.

    Your team

  • Photo review

    Today’s delivery photos waiting for approval, with approve and hide buttons so nothing personal reaches the public page.

    Your team

  • Account shipments

    A signed-in business sees only its own parcels, filtered by status or date, each with its tracking link.

    Signed-in users
How it works

From prompt to a live logistics tracking app

  1. Describe your service

    Tell Netiva which services you run, where your depots are and which statuses your team uses today. The agent drafts collections for shipments, tracking events, status wording and business accounts.

  2. Write the customer wording

    Fill in the status table in the collection grid: the label customers see, what happens next and whether an email goes out. The collection assistant can draft Spanish labels across every row for you to check.

  3. Track a test parcel

    Create a test shipment and post events from pickup to delivery in the live preview. Look it up the way a recipient would, annotate anything that reads wrong and the agent fixes it.

  4. Publish on your tracking domain

    Publish in one click, then point a subdomain such as track.yourcompany.com at the app with the DNS records Netiva lists (Starter plan or higher). Every change is checkpointed, so you can roll back.

Why Netiva

Netiva vs a traditional build

Building a logistics tracking app with Netiva compared with a traditional build
Criterion With Netiva Traditional build
Parcel status questions A branded tracking page shows the latest event, the promised date and the drop-off photo Recipients phone the office and an agent reads the status off an internal screen
Delivery notifications Emails go out when a parcel is out for delivery, delivered or attempted, in your own wording Staff copy updates into emails by hand, or recipients hear nothing until the parcel arrives
Getting started Describe what you need in chat and watch it take shape in a live preview Hire developers, or stitch together templates, plugins and a hosting plan
Content and data Built-in collections with nine field types, bound straight to your pages Set up and connect a separate database or CMS
Making changes Ask the agent; every change is checkpointed and reversible File a ticket, wait for a sprint, redeploy
Hosting and domain Global hosting and automatic SSL; connect a custom domain from the Starter plan Buy hosting, then install and renew SSL certificates yourself
Code ownership Clean production code you own and can export Locked into a template, plugin or agency setup
Examples

Ways teams use it

  • A same-day courier in one city

    Florists and print shops book runs all week. Recipients get an out-for-delivery email, and the approved photo settles any question about which door an order was left at.

  • A regional parcel carrier with several depots

    Events carry the depot name, so recipients see a parcel move from one depot to the next, and anything with no new event in 48 hours shows up for customer service. Online shops sign in to follow their own parcels and link the tracking page from their shipping emails.

  • A furniture and appliance delivery company

    Large items often need a second attempt. The attempted status explains why the crew couldn’t deliver and how to rebook, and the account’s note tells the recipient which store to call.

Good to know

Before you build

  • Shipments and events come from your team

    Netiva doesn’t import your shipment file. Create parcels from the shipments screen or in the collection grid, and post events yourself — the page shows only what staff record. If your booking or dispatch system offers a REST API, connect it with your key to do both for you.

  • Protect what the page reveals

    Use random tracking numbers, keep street addresses off the public page and ask for the delivery ZIP code before showing the photo or drop-off spot. Delivery photos and recipient emails are personal data in many places, so check your local privacy rules.

  • Keep delivery emails about the delivery

    Email that completes a purchase the recipient agreed to is exempt from most US CAN-SPAM rules, but not the ban on misleading headers. Here the purchase was with the shop, not with you, so keep the email to the delivery: a promotion needs an opt-out and a postal address.

  • Email only, nothing to install

    Netiva apps send updates by email, not text messages or push notifications. Recipients open the tracking page in any browser, so print the tracking link on your labels and ask shops to include it in their shipping emails.

FAQ

Questions about building a logistics tracking app

Do recipients need an account to track a parcel?

No. The tracking page is public, so anyone with a tracking number or the sender’s order reference can see the status, the promised date and the timeline. Where the parcel was left and the delivery photo appear only after the visitor enters the delivery ZIP code. Business accounts can also sign in to see every parcel they’ve sent with you.

How do tracking events get onto the page?

Staff sign in to an events screen on a phone or desktop, choose a status and location and enter one tracking number or paste a batch, such as every parcel loaded onto a van. Each event is saved with its time and who recorded it. If your dispatch or routing system has a REST API, the app can post events from it instead.

Can the tracking page show a delivery photo?

Yes. A delivered event can carry a photo and a drop-off note such as front door, reception or neighbor. To protect recipients, photos wait on a review screen until someone on your team approves them, and the page shows them only after the visitor enters the delivery ZIP code. The delivered email links straight to that page.

Can the app show a live map of the delivery vehicle?

Not on its own. Netiva doesn’t track vehicles, so the page shows the events your team records, such as arrival at a depot or out for delivery. If you use a telematics or GPS provider with a REST API, you can connect it with your key, stored securely, and ask the agent to show the vehicle’s last reported position on a map.

Can online shops link to my tracking page from their emails?

Yes. Every shipment has its own tracking page address built from the tracking number, so a shop can paste that link into its shipping confirmation. Recipients who only have the order number can search by the sender’s reference instead. If a shop sends its own emails, set Send recipient emails to No on that account so nobody is emailed twice.

Which plan do I need to run the tracking page on my own domain?

The free plan is enough to build the logistics tracking app and try lookups in the live preview. A custom domain — say, a tracking subdomain of your main site — is available from the Starter plan. You connect it by adding the DNS records Netiva shows at your registrar, and SSL is set up automatically. See Netiva’s pricing page for what each plan includes.

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Drafted with AI assistance from Netiva’s product pages and reviewed by the Netiva team. Example data models, screens and prompts are illustrative starting points, not customer projects.

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