SMSAPI Notifications for WooCommerce — SMS about your orders

CatCode SMSAPI Notifications for WooCommerce sends the buyer an SMS through your account at SMSAPI (smsapi.pl or smsapi.com), the Polish SMS gateway, when an order changes status, and a text to your own phone when a new order comes in. You write the text; the module does the rest in the background.

What the free version does

The buyer is texted on Processing and on Completed: each has its own text and its own switch. The text takes placeholders: shop name, order number and total, tracking number, first and last name, status name, the link to the order and the link to pay. The tracking number comes from the order field you name in the settings, the one your shipping plugin writes it to. The shop owner gets a separate SMS about every new order. The phone number is turned into international form using the buyer country, so “500 600 700”, “0048 500 600 700” and “+48 500 600 700” all work. Each status sends one message per order. If SMSAPI refuses (bad number, not enough points) the message is not repeated and the reason is written to the order notes. One button tells you whether SMSAPI accepts the token and how many points the account has; another asks SMSAPI how many points a text would cost, without sending anything. There is a test SMS, an option that replaces Polish letters with plain ones so that a text fits into fewer SMS, and a message journal: the order, the number, the text, the points and the state.

What Pro adds

A text for every order status: On hold, Cancelled, Refunded, Failed and your own statuses. A second set of texts for buyers from other countries, for example Polish for Poland and English for everyone else. Delivery reports: SMSAPI reports every message back to your site, and the journal and the order notes show delivered or not delivered. A sender name of your choice from those that are active in your SMSAPI account. A repeat after 5 and after 30 minutes when SMSAPI cannot be reached. Short links through the SMSAPI link shortener (idz.do, cut.li). An SMS consent checkbox at checkout, classic and block. A reminder for an unpaid order with the payment link, and for a cart left by a logged-in customer. A campaign: one SMS to a segment of your buyers, only to those who ticked the consent checkbox at checkout, filtered by how recently they ordered and by country. An e-mail to the site admin when the points fall below the limit you set, and a free-text SMS to the buyer from the order screen.

Good to know before you start

• A new SMSAPI account sends its messages under the name “Test” until a sender name is verified. Your own sender name is added and verified in the SMSAPI Customer Portal.
• Reminders and campaigns go only to buyers who ticked the consent checkbox at checkout. Until the checkbox is switched on in the settings, the campaign segment is empty.
• The cart reminder works for logged-in customers. A guest gets a reminder only after placing an order and leaving it unpaid.
• The second set of texts is chosen by the billing country, not by the language of the site.
• The tracking number is read from the order field you name in the settings. While the order has no number, the placeholder is simply left out.
• A campaign is marketing, so the consent wording and compliance with the law stay with the shop.
• Short links have to be enabled on your SMSAPI account.
• Messages are sent and charged by SMSAPI through your account: the module does not sell SMS.
• The journal shows the last 100 messages; older ones stay in the notes of their orders.

How it works, step by step

1. In the SMSAPI Customer Portal open “OAuth Tokens” and create a token.
2. In WooCommerce → SMSAPI paste the token, choose where the account was opened (smsapi.pl or smsapi.com) and press the token and points check.
3. Tick the statuses, edit the texts and save.
4. Enter your own number, look up the price of a message and send a test SMS, then place a test order.

Under the hood

• The token is stored encrypted and never printed back on the page.
• Messages go out in the background, so checkout never waits for the gateway.
• One message per order status, even when the status changes twice in a row.
• If the main SMSAPI address does not answer, the request goes to the backup one.
• HPOS and block checkout compatible; languages: English, polski.

How to install

1. Plugins → Add New → Upload Plugin: choose the zip and activate it.
2. WooCommerce → SMSAPI: paste the token and choose smsapi.pl or smsapi.com.
3. Press the token and points check and tick the statuses.
4. Send a test SMS before you switch the notifications on.

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.