Order status SMS from confirmation to delivery: one message per stage, sent by your system

The short answer: send one SMS for each stage that changes what the customer does: order confirmed, out for delivery, ready to collect. Internal stages (picking, packing, checking) stay inside your system. Every SMS carries the order number, and your system sends it on its own through the API when the status changes, with one key per stage so nothing is ever repeated.

The stages worth an SMS

Stage	What the SMS is for	Example
Confirmed	The customer knows the order is in and paid.	Order no. 8812 confirmed. We will text you again when it leaves for delivery.
Out for delivery	The customer can plan to be there.	Order no. 8812 is out for delivery and will arrive today by 6pm.
Ready to collect	The customer comes to collect it, with the code.	Order no. 8812 is ready. Collection code: 7731. Until Saturday, 8am to 5pm.
Delivered (optional)	Confirms delivery and gives a contact if something went wrong.	Order no. 8812 delivered. Any problem? Call [PHONE].

The first message can promise the next one, as above, so the customer knows there is no need to ask. Three or four texts per order is normal; more than that becomes noise and burns credits.

Wiring up your system

1	Choose the stages that send an SMS and write one text for each, with room for the order number and, where there is one, the code.

2	The moment the order moves into that stage, your system calls POST /v1/sms/messages with the customer number and the finished text.

3	Use one Idempotency-Key per order and per stage, such as order-8812-shipped. If someone flips the status back and forth, or the request is repeated after a dropped connection, the customer still gets that text only once.

4	Store each SMS id on the order itself: when a customer says nothing arrived, the status is right there. See tracking each SMS.

Customers cannot reply to the SMS. Named senders, NETMSG included, do not receive replies. If you want customers to reach you about the order, put a phone number, an e-mail address or your website in the message.

What an order costs in SMS

Each SMS uses 1 credit per part. An order with three one-part notices uses 3 credits. A notice with Portuguese accents such as «ã» or «ç», or longer than one part, uses more: see how many credits an SMS uses. The simplest saving is short wording without those letters.

Deliveries handled by a courier company? The courier's own messages (on the way, failed attempt, pickup point) are covered in delivery and courier SMS.

Want your orders to keep customers posted on their own? See Transactional SMS.

See Transactional SMS

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