SMS for webshops — from order to delivery
A customer who has just placed an order wants to know one thing: where is my parcel? Every time they cannot find the answer, the question lands with your customer service team. A text message at the right moment prevents that conversation — and is almost always read, even by people who hardly ever open their inbox.
SMS is also the only channel that works without an app, without an account and without an internet connection on the recipient's side. For a delivery notification that has to arrive within the right quarter of an hour, that is the difference between a successful and a failed delivery.
Where does it go wrong today?
Where-is-my-parcel questions
The biggest cost driver of any customer service team. One proactive notification per shipment removes the vast majority of those questions.
Failed deliveries
Nobody home means a second trip and an unhappy customer. A reminder on the morning itself brings that percentage down.
Abandoned shopping carts
An email gets lost among a hundred others. A short, one-off reminder by SMS does get seen — provided the customer gave consent for it.
This is what it looks like in practice
The examples below are illustrations. The parts between percentage signs are tags: you fill them in from an Excel list or through the API, so that every recipient gets their own version.
Thank you for your order %orderno%. We will keep you posted as soon as your parcel is on its way.
Your parcel %orderno% is on its way. Track it here: %link%
Your parcel will be delivered today between 2pm and 5pm. Not at home? Reply NO and we will reschedule.
Your order %orderno% is ready in our shop. We will hold it for you for 7 days.
We have received your return for %orderno%. The refund will follow within 3 working days.
How do you connect SMS to your webshop?
Choose the moments
Decide which status changes deserve a message — confirmed, shipped, delivered today, ready for pickup.
Set up the connection
Have your webshop call the REST API on every status change, or use the WordPress or Zapier integration.
Follow up on delivery
Have the delivery status flow back into your own system via a webhook, so you can see which notification arrived.
What you use for this
Automatic notifications
Messages that leave your webshop as soon as an order changes status.
REST API
Connect your own platform, with code examples for PHP, Python, Node.js and more.
WooCommerce
Automate order and shipping notifications, with or without a developer.
Track & trace links
Shorten the tracking link, save characters and see how many customers click it.
Good to know
An order confirmation or delivery notification is an operational message: it belongs to the service the customer ordered and requires no separate consent. Add an offer to it and the message becomes commercial, and the opt-in rules apply.
At SMSBOX you pay per message sent, from €0.06 per SMS to Belgium (excl. VAT). No subscription, no setup costs: a month without any sending costs you nothing. All processing takes place on Belgian servers, within the GDPR.
