Set Up In-Store Pickup Tracking Notifications
Plans: Enterprise Platforms: Shopify, Commerce API
AfterShip’s Buy Online, Pickup In-Store (BOPIS), or In-Store Pickup Tracking enables customers to track when and where they pick up their orders originally bought online.
Additionally, you can send prompt trigger emails and SMS notifications to customers when their order status updates, such as when the order is ready for pickup and picked up, ensuring clear communication. These updates allow customers the time to go through the pick instructions and prepare for the pickup.
You should be on the Enterprise plan.
The feature is available for Shopify and AfterShip Commerce API users.
In-store pickup tracking is a paid add-on that needs to be enabled separately. Please get in touch with your customer success manager for assistance and activation.
Enable the in-store pickup option for your store locations at checkout through your Shopify settings. For more information on in-store pickup tracking activation, order import, and status mapping, refer to this guide .
In this tutorial, we will show you:
In-store pickup order notifications triggers
How to create in-store pickup order notifications flow
Special email sections for each in-store pickup notifications
FAQs
AfterShip employs predefined fulfillment status codes to trigger notifications for in-store pickups.
Log into your AfterShip Tracking admin dashboard.
Go to Notifications > Flows.
Click Create flow.
From the available standard in-store pickup trigger flows— Order placed, Order processed, Ready for pickup, Picked up, and Order canceled, select the flow template for which you want to customize the trigger logic and email content and click Create.
If you want to create in-store pickup order notifications flow for standard and custom triggers from scratch, click Create from scratch, select the Trigger, and click Create.
Please note that each flow will have only one trigger event and a few trigger filters. Customers will enter the flow only if they meet the required conditions.
In the flow editor, you can edit the following sections:
Flow name: In this section, you can enter a suitable name for the flow.
Logic: This section consists of 3 blocks:
I. Trigger split: Trigger splits are the conditions that are highly related to the Trigger event and will split into Yes and No paths.
II. Conditional split: Conditional splits are the general conditions and will split into Yes and No paths. Learn more about conditional split filters and definitions.
III. Random split (A/B test): In this block, you can randomly split your recipients into two groups (A and B) so that you can send different notifications.
Timing: This section consists of 2 blocks:
I. Time delay: Set the waiting period between the previous step and the next step in the flow. Configuration options for the Time delay include—X minutes, X hours, and X days.
II. Trigger status unchanged: In this block, you can set the duration for which the trigger status remains unchanged as a condition to move on to the next step.
Not available for ‘Order placed’ and ‘Order cancelled’ flows.
Actions: In this section, you have Send email and Send SMS blocks. You can decide how you want to notify your customers or your organization’s members. You can also choose to send notifications with different content to your customers and your organization’s members separately. To customize the general settings, messaging, and style of your email template, check this guide.
Flow trigger: On the right-hand side, you’ll see a Trigger event for which you can customize the settings. In case you want to send precise updates to specific customers, use the filters given in the trigger field.
I. Trigger filters: In this section, you can add additional filters to determine what triggers this flow.
II. Flow filters: This filter applies to the entire flow and is checked before every step. Customers must meet these filter conditions to stay in the flow.
Get more information on Trigger and flow filters here.
Once all the settings are done. Click on the Enabled under the Status.
Click Save on the top right corner of the dashboard.
To customize the template of your in-store pickup orders email notification which follows the same process like other tracking notifications, get all details in this email customization guide.
Apart from the standard sections that each notification hosts to provide relevant shipment and order information to customers, there are certain pre-built sections specific to each in-store pickup order flow that are supported to provide additional information to customers once their order status is updated to that specific status.
These pre-built sections are only available in drag-and-drop and easy email editor for customization in each flow.
Let’s look at each one of those sections in detail.
Order placed/order cancelled notifications
Order processing notification
Order ready for pickup notification
Order picked up notification
Order {Custom status} notification
Yes, notifications will be triggered separately for each group of item status changes. The trigger frequency is applied within each group of fulfillment, meaning each group of items will not trigger additional notifications due to re-trigger flow. The system does not cross-check status updates between different fulfillment groups.
You can create a custom email layout for pickup information by using merge tags. These tags allow you to dynamically insert specific details into your email template, such as pickup time, pickup location name, pickup address, pickup location opening hours, and pickup instructions.
If certain pickup information fields are empty, the field label will be hidden in the pre-built email section. For emails using pickup info merge tags, these tags will be replaced with a blank space when no value is available.
In-store pickup notification triggers are only available to users on AfterShip Tracking Enterprise plans. If you're on a lower plan, these triggers will not be accessible.
Shopify currently does not support the "Processing" status for pre-shipment notifications.Therefore, you will not be able to use notifications for the processing in-store pickup order status.
How to Set Up Custom Fulfillment Statuses
Overview
AfterShip’s Buy Online, Pickup In-Store (BOPIS), or In-Store Pickup Tracking enables customers to track when and where they pick up their orders originally bought online.
Additionally, you can send prompt trigger emails and SMS notifications to customers when their order status updates, such as when the order is ready for pickup and picked up, ensuring clear communication. These updates allow customers the time to go through the pick instructions and prepare for the pickup.
Before you start
You should be on the Enterprise plan.
The feature is available for Shopify and AfterShip Commerce API users.
In-store pickup tracking is a paid add-on that needs to be enabled separately. Please get in touch with your customer success manager for assistance and activation.
Enable the in-store pickup option for your store locations at checkout through your Shopify settings. For more information on in-store pickup tracking activation, order import, and status mapping, refer to this guide .
What you’ll learn
In this tutorial, we will show you:
In-store pickup order notifications triggers
How to create in-store pickup order notifications flow
Special email sections for each in-store pickup notifications
FAQs
In-store pickup order notifications triggers
AfterShip employs predefined fulfillment status codes to trigger notifications for in-store pickups.
| Notification trigger | Definition | Message channels | Platforms | Plans |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Order placed | A customer has successfully placed an in-store pickup order. | Email & SMS | Shopify, Commerce API | Enterprise plan |
| Processing | In-store pickup items are currently being prepared for pickup. | Email & SMS | Commerce API | Enterprise plan |
| Ready for pickup | Order items are ready for the customer to pick up from the designated location. | Email & SMS | Shopify, Commerce API | Enterprise plan |
| Picked up | When the customer picks up their order items in-store. | Email & SMS | Shopify, Commerce API | Enterprise plan |
| Order cancelled | When the customer cancels their in-store pickup order. | Email & SMS | Shopify, Commerce API | Enterprise plan |
| Custom status | Merchants can define their in-store pickup status(es) in addition to the above standard triggers | Email & SMS | Commerce API | Enterprise plan |
How to create in-store pickup order notifications flow
Log into your AfterShip Tracking admin dashboard.
Go to Notifications > Flows.
Click Create flow.
From the available standard in-store pickup trigger flows— Order placed, Order processed, Ready for pickup, Picked up, and Order canceled, select the flow template for which you want to customize the trigger logic and email content and click Create.
If you want to create in-store pickup order notifications flow for standard and custom triggers from scratch, click Create from scratch, select the Trigger, and click Create.
Please note that each flow will have only one trigger event and a few trigger filters. Customers will enter the flow only if they meet the required conditions.
In the flow editor, you can edit the following sections:
Flow name: In this section, you can enter a suitable name for the flow.
Logic: This section consists of 3 blocks:
I. Trigger split: Trigger splits are the conditions that are highly related to the Trigger event and will split into Yes and No paths.
II. Conditional split: Conditional splits are the general conditions and will split into Yes and No paths. Learn more about conditional split filters and definitions.
III. Random split (A/B test): In this block, you can randomly split your recipients into two groups (A and B) so that you can send different notifications.
Timing: This section consists of 2 blocks:
I. Time delay: Set the waiting period between the previous step and the next step in the flow. Configuration options for the Time delay include—X minutes, X hours, and X days.
II. Trigger status unchanged: In this block, you can set the duration for which the trigger status remains unchanged as a condition to move on to the next step.
Not available for ‘Order placed’ and ‘Order cancelled’ flows.
Actions: In this section, you have Send email and Send SMS blocks. You can decide how you want to notify your customers or your organization’s members. You can also choose to send notifications with different content to your customers and your organization’s members separately. To customize the general settings, messaging, and style of your email template, check this guide.
Flow trigger: On the right-hand side, you’ll see a Trigger event for which you can customize the settings. In case you want to send precise updates to specific customers, use the filters given in the trigger field.
I. Trigger filters: In this section, you can add additional filters to determine what triggers this flow.
II. Flow filters: This filter applies to the entire flow and is checked before every step. Customers must meet these filter conditions to stay in the flow.
Get more information on Trigger and flow filters here.
Once all the settings are done. Click on the Enabled under the Status.
Click Save on the top right corner of the dashboard.
Special email sections for in-store pickup notifications
To customize the template of your in-store pickup orders email notification which follows the same process like other tracking notifications, get all details in this email customization guide.
Apart from the standard sections that each notification hosts to provide relevant shipment and order information to customers, there are certain pre-built sections specific to each in-store pickup order flow that are supported to provide additional information to customers once their order status is updated to that specific status.
These pre-built sections are only available in drag-and-drop and easy email editor for customization in each flow.
Let’s look at each one of those sections in detail.
Order placed/order cancelled notifications
| Section name | Section introduction | Additional information | User interface |
|---|---|---|---|
| Order summary | The section includes order items, items original total, order compare at price, order subtotal, tax information, discount, and order total. | ||
| Pickup info | The section includes order pickup time, pickup location, opening hours, and pickup instructions. | Order pickup time here is the estimated pickup time (order placed time + pickup time configured in your store settings) displayed in the local timezone of the pickup location. |
Order processing notification
| Section name | Section introduction |
|---|---|
| Processing items | The order items that are newly updated to be processed. |
| Other items in order | The other items in the order section include products in the order but are not part of the items that have been newly updated to processing status. The use case would be that there are multiple items in the order, and they will be processed separately during fulfillment. |
Order ready for pickup notification
| Section name | Section introduction | Additional information |
|---|---|---|
| Ready for pickup items | The order items that are newly updated to ready for pickup status | |
| Pickup info | The section includes the order pickup information—pickup time, pickup location, opening hours, and pickup instructions of the items that are newly updated to ready for pickup status | Order pickup time here is the pickup time deadline displayed in the local timezone of the pickup location. |
| Other items in order | The other items in the order section includes other products in the order that are not part of the items that have been newly updated to ready for pickup status. The use case would be that there are multiple items in the order, and they will be processed separately during fulfillment. |
Order picked up notification
| Section name | Section introduction |
|---|---|
| Picked up items | The order items that are newly updated to picked up status. |
| Other items in order | The other items in the order section includes other products in the order that are not part of the items that have been newly updated to picked up status. The use case would be that there are multiple items in the order, and they will be processed separately during fulfillment. |
Order {Custom status} notification
| Section name | Section introduction |
|---|---|
| Custom | The order items that are newly updated to the custom status. |
| Other items in order | The other items in the order section includes other products in the order that are not part of the items that have been newly updated to the {custom} status. The use case would be that there are multiple items in the order, and they will be processed separately during fulfillment. |
FAQs
1. If an order contains multiple items processed separately, will status changes for each group of items trigger individual notifications? Does the trigger frequency affect notifications for each group?
Yes, notifications will be triggered separately for each group of item status changes. The trigger frequency is applied within each group of fulfillment, meaning each group of items will not trigger additional notifications due to re-trigger flow. The system does not cross-check status updates between different fulfillment groups.
2. How can I customize my email layout for pickup information if I don’t want to use the pre-built email section?
You can create a custom email layout for pickup information by using merge tags. These tags allow you to dynamically insert specific details into your email template, such as pickup time, pickup location name, pickup address, pickup location opening hours, and pickup instructions.
3. What happens if there is no value for certain pickup info fields?
If certain pickup information fields are empty, the field label will be hidden in the pre-built email section. For emails using pickup info merge tags, these tags will be replaced with a blank space when no value is available.
4. Why are there no in-store pickup notification triggers available in my account?
In-store pickup notification triggers are only available to users on AfterShip Tracking Enterprise plans. If you're on a lower plan, these triggers will not be accessible.
5. Why am I not seeing any ‘Processing’ notifications in my account?
Shopify currently does not support the "Processing" status for pre-shipment notifications.Therefore, you will not be able to use notifications for the processing in-store pickup order status.
Additional resources
How to Set Up Custom Fulfillment Statuses
Updated on: 19/09/2024
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