"Has my package left?" is the call every shop gets. From today NETICS answers it before anyone picks up the phone.
What happens
When an order moves to Out for delivery (or Shipped, if that is what you call the step) and again when it moves to Delivered, NETICS tells the customer:
- on WhatsApp from your own number when the customer wrote to you in the last day;
- otherwise on WhatsApp from the NETICS line;
- otherwise by SMS.
Each customer hears once when the order leaves and once when it arrives, however many times the order is moved on the board. Customers who gave an email address get the same news by email.
It does not matter how the order moved: a drag on the board, Advance, a bulk change, your website through the API, or a WhatsApp command from your business number. On Enterprise, dispatching or delivering a delivery record for the order sends the same message, never a second one.
The tracking link
Every order now has a Shipping panel. Choose the carrier (GIG Logistics, Kwik Delivery, DHL, UPS, NIPOST, your own vehicle or another carrier) and type the waybill number. For carriers with a public tracking page, the "on its way" message carries the link, and so does the order page.
The panel also shows what the customer was told, on which channel and when, or why a message could not go (for example, no phone number on the customer).
Switching it on or off
It is on for every workspace. Under Orders > Order flow you will find two switches:
- Tell customers when an order is on its way and when it arrives
- Send an SMS when WhatsApp cannot reach them
Since 20 October, an SMS costs NGN 10 in credits on every plan, Growth included. When credits run out, the message is skipped and the order says so.
These are messages about an order the customer placed, so they go even to customers who have not opted in to your marketing.
An example
Adaeze orders two pairs of gold hoops from your website on Monday. On Tuesday morning your packer hands the parcel to GIG Logistics, opens the order in NETICS, chooses GIG Logistics in the Shipping panel, types the waybill and moves the order to Shipped. Within seconds Adaeze gets: "Didi Jewelry: your order ORD-7F21C3 is on its way. Track it: (the GIG tracking page)". On Thursday the rider delivers it and your team moves the order to Delivered. Adaeze gets one more message, and nobody had to pick up the phone.
The order page keeps the record: "On its way: Customer told by WhatsApp from the NETICS line, 2h ago" and "Delivered: Customer told by SMS, just now".