Plans: Essentials, Premium, Enterprise Platforms: All platforms
Overview
This guide provides step-by-step instructions on customising date and phone number formats that appear in your shipment and order updates via merge tags. Standardizing these formats ensures clarity and consistency across different communication channels.
Steps to customize date and phone number formats
Log in to your AfterShip Tracking account.
Go to Settings > Feature settings > Email and SMS.
Click Merge tag fallback values to customize date and phone number formats.
Under Date and time format, set how date and time will appear in shipment and order updates.
a. The following date-related fields are supported:
Shipment Last Update Time: The most recent update timestamp for the shipment.
Expected Delivery Date: The estimated delivery date.
Order Date: The date when the order was placed.
Delivered Date: The date when the order was successfully delivered.
Pick-up Time: The scheduled pickup time for the order.
b. Click Edit to modify the date and time format.
c. Select the desired date format from the dropdown menu.
d. To include timestamps, check the respective checkbox.
e. Click Save to apply the changes.
5. Under Phone number format, set how phone numbers will be displayed in shipment and order updates.
a. The following phone-related fields will be displayed:
Carrier contact: The contact number of the shipping carrier.
In-store pickup location: The contact number of the in-store pickup location.
b. Click Edit to modify the phone number format.
c. Select the desired format from the dropdown for carrier contact and in-store pickup locations.
d. Choose from the following phone number formats (examples will also be provided in the dropdown):
E.164 Format: Internationally recognized format (e.g., +12345678901).
International Format: Displays country code and number without symbols (e.g., 1 234 567 8901).
Local Format: Displays numbers in regional formatting (e.g., (234) 567-8901).
e. Click Save to apply the changes.
6. Under Currency format, set in which format the currency will be displayed in shipment and order updates.
a. Click Edit to modify the currency format.
b. Select the desired format from the dropdown menu.
c. Choose from the following currency formats (examples will also be provided in the dropdown):
Code: Show a 3-letter currency code, like USD.
Symbol: Show a localized currency symbol based on order language. For example, English (US) customers will see $, others will see US$
Narrow symbol: Shows only the currency symbol (e.g. ), regardless of the customer's order language.
d. Click Save to apply the changes.
7. Under Address format, choose whether to show or hide the country/region in shipment and order updates.
a. The following address-related fields are supported:
Shipping address: The address where the order will be delivered.
Shipment latest location: The most recently recorded location of the shipment.
Billing address: The address associated with the customer’s payment method.
Pickup address: The address where the shipment will be collected.
b. Click Edit to modify the address format.
c. Select or clear Show country/region for each address field.
d. Click Save to apply the changes.
Troubleshooting
If your selected formats is not reflected in the email and SMS notifications, try refreshing the page and ensure that correct merge tags are used in your templates.
FAQs
Q1. What happens if the carrier does not provide a timestamp for shipment updates?
If the carrier does not provide a timestamp, AfterShip will display only the shipment date regardless of the selected format.
Q2. Which phone number format should I choose?
E.164 format is recommended for international communication.
International format is best if you need a country code.
Local format is ideal for domestic use.
Key takeaways
Customize merge-tag formats for dates, times, phone numbers, currencies, and addresses across shipment and order notifications.
Access these settings under Settings > Feature settings > Email and SMS > Merge tag formats.
Choose supported date and time formats, including whether applicable fields display timestamps.
Configure phone numbers as E.164, international, or local, and display currencies using codes, symbols, or narrow symbols.
Control country or region visibility for shipping, billing, pickup, and latest shipment addresses.