SMS plugin for WordPress and WooCommerce: order notifications in 5 minutes

An order notification has one job: to arrive before the customer starts worrying. E-mail lands in spam or waits until the evening – SMS is read almost immediately (see our analysis of SMS vs e-mail open rates). In practice this means fewer "where is my parcel?" questions, fewer abandoned cash-on-delivery orders and a customer who knows what is happening with their money.

The simple trio works best: payment confirmation, shipping notice with a tracking number, and optionally a cancellation notice. This is transactional messaging – expected by the customer and easy to maintain (how it differs from marketing is covered in transactional vs marketing SMS). More e-commerce scenarios: SMS notifications in e-commerce.

• SMS on order status change – enable or disable sending per status (payment received, shipped, cancelled…), each with its own editable template.
• Template variables – order number, customer, total, status, tracking number. Write the template once, the plugin fills in the data.
• Store name as the sender – instead of a random number, the customer sees your brand (how sender fields work: SMS Sender ID).
• GDPR consent at checkout – an optional consent checkbox right in the checkout.
• Live segment counter – while editing a template you see how many SMS segments the message will use.
• Test send button – verify the configuration with one click.
• Delivery reports (DLR) – optional confirmations that the message actually arrived.
• Phone number normalisation – international formats tidied up automatically.
• HPOS compatible – works with WooCommerce’s new order storage (High-Performance Order Storage).

1. Install the plugin – in WordPress admin: Plugins → Add New → search for "Sendly", or grab it from the WordPress.org directory. Activate.
2. Create a Sendly account – without leaving the store: the sign-up form is built into the plugin. You start with 100 free SMS – no card, no contract.
3. Paste the API token – WooCommerce → Settings → SMS.
4. Enable statuses and adjust templates – pick which order statuses should trigger an SMS and review the copy (variables fill themselves in).
5. Send a test – the test button confirms everything works before a real customer gets a message.

Requirements: WordPress 6.2+, PHP 7.4+ and active WooCommerce. API details live in the documentation.

The most common sin of plugins that send anything "live": they block order completion until an external API responds. This one works differently – sending is asynchronous via Action Scheduler (the standard WooCommerce queue mechanism): the order completes instantly and the SMS goes out in the background a moment later.

If the gateway is temporarily unavailable, the plugin retries automatically with a backing-off interval – no duplicated messages, no manual intervention. The messages themselves travel through the SENDLY SMS API – straight from a UKE-registered carrier, with no chain of intermediaries.

Variables available in templates:

Sample copy (adjust to your store):

• Payment received: "Thanks! Order #10241 is paid. We are packing it and will let you know once it ships."
• Shipped: "Order #10241 has shipped. Tracking: [number]. See you at delivery!"
• Cancelled: "Order #10241 has been cancelled. If this is a mistake, contact us from the store."

Good practice: short, specific, order number up front – the segment counter in the plugin instantly shows whether you fit in one SMS.

The plugin ships with an optional consent checkbox in the checkout. For purely transactional notifications (status of an order the customer just placed) the processing basis is usually contract performance – but the checkbox keeps things tidy and opens the door to further communication. If you also plan marketing campaigns to the store base, consent becomes mandatory – collecting and documenting it is covered in our GDPR in SMS marketing guide.

The plugin is free. You pay only for messages sent, pay-as-you-go: from PLN 0.075 per SMS, with no subscription, activation fees or minimum top-ups. The account is prepaid, so the store can never spend more than you load. You start with 100 free SMS – realistically a few dozen orders to test everything. Full rates and calculator: pricing; broader market context in our SMS cost guide.

We compare all three routes (plus Shopify and CRMs) in our SMS integrations guide. In short: with WooCommerce the plugin is the shortest path; the API remains for full control, e.g. bulk sending from your own system.