So, you’ve just created a new product and now want to send SMS to it. Where do you start? First, you should gather all the contact information for the customers. You can add a contact form to your online contact page or WooCommerce checkout form. Once you’ve collected a contact list, you can now send SMS to these people using a WordPress SMS plugin…
Using a WordPress plugin to send the right information to the right people at the right time is essential. There’s no reason to have to get in the way of the customer or inconvenience them by asking them to purchase more products when they have plenty to choose from, without considering if this would be a good thing or not. With a custom e-commerce plugin you can easily create different ways to collect payment, take payments through different methods, and even customize everything from product screens to SMS notifications.
How about SMS gateways? These are another way to customize your site. With a custom SMS gateway, you will be able to integrate your store with all of your other websites. All of your sites will work seamlessly together, displaying the same products, ordering process information, and so forth. This way your web stores will look as though they came directly from your website. Customization and integration through SMS gateways are one of the best things you can do for your business.
What about sms alerts? This is a feature that most people use to keep up on their orders. It allows customers to customize the format of the text alerts to include notes about their order, shipping times, shipping prices, etc. You can set it up so that a text message is sent out once per day, weekly, monthly, etc. And with the WooCommerce SMS plugin, you will even be able to track customer orders and send out an automated e-mail as soon as an order is placed.
Customizable widgets? You might think that widgets are a bit much, but this plugin gives you the ability to add just about any widget you want in your shopping cart, along with secure credit card payment options, phone and address confirmation, discount coupons, etc. If you want to add additional forms, such as Wish Lists, Customer Lists, Sales History, or Invoices, you will be able to do so using a secure API key.
Can’t I just add my own order button and discount coupon? The answer is no. You cannot add your own form fields using the WooCommerce SMS plugin, and you certainly can’t add your own payment buttons. The plugin has certain codes that are required to place your order on the website. Without those codes, the order will not be processed, and the order won’t be paid for either.
Where is the reference code? That’s the URL where you will enter the code to make your order to go through the PayPal gateway. You may think that you’re getting pretty deep, but the plugin does make it pretty easy to find your way around. All you have to do is add your “api-key” after you install the plugin and then copy/paste the necessary codes. When you’re done, simply test your installation using the free WordPress default theme (with the “text-clock” font and color), and you should be good to go.
Is there room for improvements? Of course there is! You can add secure socket layer (SSL) communications to increase your customer satisfaction even more. There are also more features that would make this plugin shine above the rest, such as SMS gateway integration with Google Maps and Google+, but for now, this is as close as you can get.