Dotdigital for WooCommerce — checkout sign-up with the buyer’s consent

Dotdigital Sync for WooCommerce adds an unticked “Email me news and offers” box to the WooCommerce checkout. A buyer who ticks it is added to the Dotdigital list you choose, subscribed, with a consent record; a buyer who leaves it empty is not sent to Dotdigital. It works on the classic and the block checkout.

What the free version does

You connect with a Dotdigital API user (login and password, the password is stored encrypted); the module finds the region of the account (r1, r2 or r3) from Dotdigital’s answer. The address books of the account load with one button, you pick one, and the text of the box can be edited. The box sits above “Place order” on the classic checkout and in the order section of the block checkout, never ticked in advance. After the order the contact is added to the list with the first and last name and the consent record: the text the buyer saw, the time, the checkout page, the IP address and the browser. Single or double opt-in: with double opt-in Dotdigital e-mails new contacts a link to confirm. Someone who unsubscribed earlier and ticks the box again gets Dotdigital’s own resubscription e-mail; addresses Dotdigital suppresses (hard bounce, complaint) are left alone and the note says why. Sending runs in the background, once per order, so the checkout never waits for Dotdigital; a network error, a rate limit or a server error is retried once, and a refusal goes to the order notes with Dotdigital’s reason. Every order shows whether the buyer signed up and what Dotdigital answered.

What Pro adds

Orders go to the contact’s “orders” Insight data collection in the standard Dotdigital schema (on the statuses you choose; refunds too), for recommendations, analytics and segments. Pro never subscribes anyone who did not consent: orders are sent only for subscribed and already existing contacts, and you can optionally add the others as unsubscribed. Customer totals for segments: number of orders, total spent, date, total and status of the last order, with one button that creates the fields in your account. The product catalogue (catalog_ and categories_ collections) is updated when a product is saved or deleted. Dotdigital Tag: the module prints your connection code and feeds it who the visitor is (including a guest who types an e-mail at checkout), the cart, the viewed product and the completed purchase, for abandoned cart programs; a program ID and a delay can be set. “WooCommerce order placed / refunded” events on the contact timeline (CXDP package). SMS about the order status through Dotdigital (an account with SMS pay as you go), a text per status, optionally only for consenting buyers. Past orders (24 months) and the catalogue are sent in the background in batches, and you see how many records were imported and rejected. A journal of every call and a “Send this order to Dotdigital now” button on the order.

Good to know before you start

• Dotdigital subscribes a new contact by default. So without your box the module creates no contact; the only exception is the explicit “create as unsubscribed” option.
• The bulk history import does not create contacts, so Dotdigital rejects orders of people who are not in Dotdigital.
• Rate limits depend on your Dotdigital account tier: live sync uses single calls, history uses batches.
• Timeline events work only with the Dotdigital CXDP package, and SMS through the API only with SMS pay as you go switched on.
• The Dotdigital Tag code is specific to your account: an administrator with the unfiltered_html capability pastes it, in Pro only.

How it works, step by step

1. In Dotdigital create an API user (a login and a password).
2. In WooCommerce → Dotdigital enter them and press “Check connection”: the region is found by itself.
3. Press “Load lists”, pick a list and, if needed, change the text of the box and the opt-in type.
4. Place an order with the box ticked and check the contact in your Dotdigital list.

Under the hood

• The API user’s password is stored encrypted with your site’s keys.
• Background sending, once per order, with a lock and one retry; on a rate limit the module waits until the time Dotdigital names.
• The consent record (text, time, page, IP, browser) goes to Dotdigital with the contact, as UK GDPR and PECR ask you to be able to show.
• HPOS and block checkout compatible; language: English.

How to install

1. Plugins → Add New → Upload Plugin: choose the zip and activate it.
2. WooCommerce → Dotdigital: the API user, the password, “Check connection”.
3. “Load lists” and pick a list.
4. Place an order with the box ticked.

The module is not on wordpress.org yet: the free version and Pro are one archive from this page. Without a key it works as the free version.