Order and delivery update texts

Not every step needs one. Customers care most about the moments that change what they do, like when to be in, when to come and collect, and when something's gone wrong. An order confirmation by text is handy for phone and in-store orders, but if you already send a detailed email, the text can stay short or be skipped.

Order updates are usually automated, so the API is the natural fit. When an order changes status, your system calls POST /api/v1/messages with the customer's number and the text. Set client_ref to your order number and it comes back to you in every webhook about that text, which makes matching easy. Send with an Idempotency-Key built from the order number and the status, so a retry can't text the customer twice about the same thing.

Subscribe a webhook to message.delivered and message.failed to see which customers got the update. A failed text is a good prompt to ring or email them before the van sets off. If customers reply, message.received passes the reply to your system too.

CaptiFi Connect doesn't connect to shop platforms or courier systems directly. Whoever runs your order system adds the API calls, and test keys let them build and test it for free.

Updates sent from an approved sender name show your shop's name, which people recognise at a glance. Nobody can reply to a name, though, so if you want customers to answer ('Can you leave it with next door?'), send from a UK mobile number and the replies come into your inbox.

You can mix the two: a name for the order confirmation, and a number for the out-for-delivery text, where a reply is more likely.

The parts of CaptiFi Connect that order updates use:

An update about an order the customer placed is a service message, so marketing consent and the opt-out line don't apply. Keep it that way. 'Your parcel is out for delivery, and here's 10% off your next order' is marketing as far as the ICO is concerned, because a promotion anywhere in a message makes the whole message marketing.

Updates go to UK mobiles only. An overseas number or a landline in the order is refused with a reason and costs nothing, and your system gets that reason in the API response, so it can fall back to email.

If a customer has opted out of your texts by replying STOP, CaptiFi Connect refuses all texts to them, order updates included, until they text START. Your system sees opted_out as the reason.

Online shops, takeaways and restaurants that deliver, florists, furniture and appliance retailers booking delivery slots, garden centres with click and collect, and anyone running their own vans.