WooCommerce: How to Automatically Email Customers When Their Order is Shipped (Simple Guide)
So, you’re running a WooCommerce store – fantastic! You’ve got products, you’re getting orders, and now you want to automate the process of informing your customers when their package is on its way. That’s a smart move! Sending a shipment notification email not only keeps your customers informed but also significantly boosts their satisfaction and reduces the number of “Where’s my order?” inquiries. Let’s dive into how to automatically email customers when their order is shipped in WooCommerce.
Why is Sending Shipment Emails Important?
Think about it from your customer’s perspective. They’ve placed an order, they’re excited to receive it. Radio silence after payment can create anxiety. A shipment confirmation email does the following:
- Reduces Anxiety: Knowing their order is shipped puts them at ease.
- Sets Expectations: It tells them roughly when to expect the package.
- Provides Tracking Information: They can actively monitor their shipment’s progress.
- Boosts Customer Satisfaction: A positive experience leads to repeat business and recommendations.
- Reduces Support Burden: Fewer “Where is my order?” emails freeing you to work on other aspects of your business.
- Recipient(s): This should be your customer’s email, which Explore this article on How To Set Up Woocommerce Store WooCommerce automatically populates.
- Subject: Change the subject to something like “Your Order Has Shipped! [Order #123]”. Replace ‘[Order #123]’ with the WooCommerce order number placeholder.
- Email heading: Something like “Your Order is on its Way!”
- Additional content: This is where you’ll need to add some text to indicate the order has been shipped. For example: “Great news! Your order has been shipped and is on its way to you. We will send a seperate email with tracking details shortly, so you can monitor its progress”.
- Automatically generate shipping labels.
- Provide real-time tracking updates.
- Automatically send shipment confirmation emails with tracking links.
- Add your store logo.
- Change the subject line.
- Edit the email body.
- Use placeholders to automatically insert the customer’s name, order number, tracking number, and carrier information.
Imagine you ordered a new gadget online. You wouldn’t want to be left in the dark, right? A simple email letting you know it’s shipped, with a tracking link, would give you peace of mind and increase your confidence in the store.
Method 1: Using the Default WooCommerce Order Status Emails
WooCommerce, out of the box, already sends emails for various order status changes, including “Completed” which you can repurpose to work as shipment notification. While it’s not perfect, it’s a good starting point *if* you handle the shipping yourself or manually update the order status when you ship the Discover insights on How To Setup Stripe In Woocommerce item.
Here’s how to configure it:
1. WooCommerce Settings: Go to WooCommerce > Settings > Emails.
2. Completed Order: Find the “Completed order” email and click “Manage”.
3. Enable the Email: Make sure the “Enable this email notification” box is checked.
4. Customize the Email:
5. Save Changes: Click “Save changes” at the bottom of the page.
Important: This method *relies* on you manually changing the order status to “Completed” *after* you’ve shipped the order. It doesn’t automatically pull in tracking information, but you can add that information manually to each email. If you’re handling a small volume of orders, this can work.
Method 2: Using a WooCommerce Shipping Plugin with Tracking
This is the recommended and more automated approach. Many WooCommerce shipping plugins offer built-in functionality to send shipment confirmation emails with tracking information automatically. They integrate with carriers like UPS, FedEx, DHL, and USPS. This is especially essential if you’re using drop-shipping.
Here are a few popular options:
* ShipStation: (Powerful, subscription-based)
* Shippo: (Easy to use, pay-as-you-go)
* ELEX WooCommerce EasyPost (FedEx, UPS & USPS) Shipping & Label Plugin: (Offers more flexible options)
These plugins typically:
Example using a hypothetical “WooShip” plugin:
1. Install and Activate the Plugin: Install and activate your chosen shipping plugin from the WordPress plugin repository.
2. Configure the Plugin: Follow the plugin’s instructions to connect it to your preferred shipping carriers (UPS, FedEx, etc.). You’ll usually need to enter API keys or other credentials.
3. Enable Shipment Notifications: Within the plugin’s settings, look for an option like “Shipment Notifications” or “Tracking Emails.” Enable this feature.
4. Customize the Email Template: Most plugins allow you to customize the shipment confirmation email template. You can:
Here’s a hypothetical PHP code snippet showing how a plugin might construct the email:
<?php // Sample code - this is a simplification and might not work directly $order_id = 123; // Get the order ID from somewhere $tracking_number = "1Z999AA1012345678"; // Get the tracking number from somewhere $shipping_carrier = "UPS"; // Get the shipping carrier from somewhere $customer_email = "[email protected]"; // Get the customer's email from somewhere $customer_name = "John Doe";
$subject = “Your Discover insights on How To Make A Donation Form With Woocommerce Order #$order_id Has Shipped!”;
$message = “Hi $customer_name,nn”;
$message .= “Great news! Your order has been shipped via $shipping_carrier.n”;
$message .= “You can track your package using the following link:n”;
$message .= “https://wwwapps.ups.com/tracking/track.cgi?tracknum=$tracking_numbernn”; //This is for UPS. You’d need logic for each carrier.
$message .= “Thanks for shopping with us!nn”;
$headers = array(‘Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8’);
wp_mail( $customer_email, $subject, $message, $headers );
?>
Explanation of the code snippet:
* Variables: We’re setting variables to hold information about the order, tracking number, shipping carrier, and customer. In a real plugin, these would be dynamically retrieved from the WooCommerce order data.
* Subject: The email subject line is constructed with the order ID.
* Message: The email body includes a personalized greeting, confirmation of shipment, the tracking link, and a thank you message.
* Tracking Link: A dynamic tracking link is created using the tracking number. This assumes a standard UPS tracking URL format. Different carriers will have different URL formats.
* `wp_mail()`: This is the WordPress function for sending emails. It takes the recipient email, subject, message, and headers as arguments.
* Headers: The headers make sure the message is formatted correctly as text/plain.
5. Test the Integration: Place a test order to ensure the shipment confirmation emails are being sent correctly.
Method 3: Using a Custom Code Snippet (Advanced)
If you’re comfortable with code, you can use custom code snippets to trigger emails when the order status changes to “processing” (after label creation) or any other status that suits your workflow. This requires more technical knowledge but offers the most flexibility.
<?php /**
function woo_send_order_shipped_email( $order_id, $old_status, $new_status, $order ) {
if ( $new_status == ‘processing’ || $new_status == ‘completed’ ) { // Choose your trigger status.
$mailer = WC()->mailer();
$email_heading = __( ‘Your Order Has Shipped!’, ‘woocommerce’ ); // Customize as needed
$email_body = ‘
‘ . __( ‘Hi ‘ . $order->get_billing_first_name() . ‘,’, ‘woocommerce’ ) . ‘
‘;
Explore this article on How To Customize The Woocommerce Shop Page
$email_body .= ‘
‘ . __( ‘Your order #’ . $order_id . ‘ has been shipped!’, ‘woocommerce’ ) . ‘
‘;
// You’d add logic here to fetch and display the tracking number, shipping carrier, etc. from custom fields or shipping plugins
$message = $mailer->wrap_message( $email_heading, $email_body );
$mailer->send( $order->get_billing_email(), $email_heading, $message );
}
}
?>
Explanation of the code:
* `add_action()`: This function hooks into the `woocommerce_order_status_changed` action, which is triggered whenever an order’s status is updated.
* `woo_send_order_shipped_email()`: This is the custom function that will send the email.
* `if` statement: The code checks if the *new* order status is either “processing” or “completed” (you can adjust this).
* `WC()->mailer()`: This gets the WooCommerce email system.
* `$email_heading` and `$email_body`: These variables build the content of the email. Important: This example *doesn’t* include tracking information. You would need to add code to retrieve the tracking number from the order meta data (likely added by a shipping plugin) and include it in the `$email_body`.
* `$mailer->wrap_message()`: This formats the email with the standard WooCommerce email template.
* `$mailer->send()`: This sends the email to the customer.
* Important: Add to functions.php or a code snippet plugin: Do *not* directly edit your theme’s `functions.php` file unless you know what you’re doing. Use a child theme or a code snippet plugin to add this code.
How to add tracking information:
To add tracking info, you’ll need to find out where your shipping plugin stores the tracking number and carrier information. It’s often in the order meta (custom fields). You can use `get_post_meta( $order_id, ‘_tracking_number’, true );` (replace `_tracking_number` with the actual meta key) to retrieve the data. You’ll also need logic to construct the correct tracking URL for the carrier.
Which Method is Right for You?
* Method 1 (Default WooCommerce): Best for very small stores with manual shipping processes, looking for free solution.
* Method 2 (Shipping Plugin): The recommended approach for most businesses. It’s automated, reliable, and integrates well with common shipping carriers.
* Method 3 (Custom Code): For developers or those who need highly customized solutions and have strong coding skills. It comes with the trade off that you will need to maintain this code.
No matter which method you choose, always test thoroughly to ensure your customers receive the correct information at the right time. Good luck!
