WhatsApp notifications are a great way to enhance customer service and ensure your clients never miss a session.
With Wix Bookings, you can choose which WhatsApp notifications to send to clients, such as confirmations, session reminders, and updates. You can enable these notifications in your site's dashboard and even include automatic pay links to remind clients to pay for unpaid bookings.
Important:
You need to upgrade your site to a plan that supports booking platform features in order to send WhatsApp notifications.
WhatsApp notifications must comply with the WhatsApp terms of use.
Types of WhatsApp notifications
Wix Bookings offers pre-installed WhatsApp notifications to keep your clients up to date about their bookings. By default, these notifications are deactivated, but you can activate them at any time from your booking settings.
Certain WhatsApp notifications are sent automatically when a client opts in, while others you send directly from your booking calendar, and some can be both depending on the situation. Learn more about Wix pre-installed automations.
Important:
Clients must provide a valid phone number with a country code to receive WhatsApp notifications.
Here are the notifications you can activate:
Pre-installed notifications
Make sure these toggles are enabled so your clients can automatically receive WhatsApp notifications for these actions:
Note: Reminders are only sent for bookings made once this automation has been activated.
Send a WhatsApp to clients when they book:Clients receive a WhatsApp message confirming their booking.
Send a WhatsApp to clients when their booking is canceled: Clients receive a WhatsApp message when they cancel their booking.
Send a WhatsApp to clients when there's a change to appointment or class:
Send a WhatsApp to clients when there's a change to a course:
Send a WhatsApp to clients when their booking request is pending confirmation: When appointments require approval, clients receive a WhatsApp message once their request is under review.
Send a WhatsApp to clients when their booking request has been approved: Clients receive a WhatsApp message once you approve their pending booking request.
Send a WhatsApp to clients when their booking request has been declined: Clients receive a WhatsApp message once you decline their pending booking request.
Send a WhatsApp to clients a day before their session starts: Automatically send a WhatsApp message 24 hours before a session. This is a great way to provide better customer service and make sure clients never miss a session.
Pre-installed notifications sent from your booking calendar
Make sure you enable the relevant toggles, then choose your action on your booking calendar, and select the Notify client via messages checkbox to send a WhatsApp notification.
Send clients a WhatsApp confirmation when they book: Notify clients with a WhatsApp message when you book a session from your booking calendar.
Notify clients when their booking is canceled: Notify clients with a WhatsApp message when you cancel their booking.
Notify clients of changes to their booked appointment or class: Notify clients with a WhatsApp message if you make any changes to their appointment or class.
Notify clients when there's a change to their course: Notify clients with a WhatsApp message if you make any changes to their course.
Enabling WhatsApp notifications
Manage your automated WhatsApp notifications in your site's dashboard. This helps keep your clients up-to-date on the status of their bookings. WhatsApp notifications go to the booking contact's phone number.
Important:
Clients must provide a valid phone number with a country code to receive WhatsApp notifications.
WhatsApp notifications must comply with the Wix WhatsApp terms of use.
You cannot customize the WhatsApp text or 'sent from' number.
You need enough WhatsApp quota to send notifications.
To enable WhatsApp notifications:
Go to Booking Settings in your site's dashboard.
Click Notifications you send.
Click the WhatsApp tab.
Enable the toggle next to each WhatsApp notification you want to activate.
(Optional) Click View to preview the message your clients receive.
Including pay links in WhatsApp notifications
Make it easy for clients to pay for their bookings by including pay links directly in WhatsApp notifications. When you enable this option, clients receive a unique pay link for any unpaid sessions, streamlining the payment process and helping you get paid faster.
To include pay links:
Go to Booking Settings in your site's dashboard.
Click Notifications you send.
Click More Actions at the top right.
Click Send automatic pay links.
Enable thetoggle.
Click Save.
Sending messaging notifications from your booking calendar
Keep your clients informed about their bookings with WhatsApp notifications. To send them, you need to enable the relevant toggle in your booking settings. Then, in your booking calendar, select when to send a WhatsApp notification after an action is completed. Clients will only receive a WhatsApp if their phone number includes a valid country code and they've opted in to receive WhatsApp notifications.
Messaging quota:
WhatsApp and SMS notifications share the same messaging quota. If you enable both a WhatsApp confirmation and an SMS confirmation for the same booking, it uses 2 messages from your quota. Turn off one of the notifications if you only want to send one message type.
To send WhatsApp notifications from your booking calendar:
Go to Booking Calendar in your site's dashboard.
Book, cancel, or reschedule a session.
Select the Notify client via messaging checkbox to send your client a WhatsApp message about the update.
FAQs
Click a question below to learn more about WhatsApp notifications.
Can I require clients to add their phone number?
Yes, you can. In the phone number section of the booking form, select the Make this a required field checkbox.
Note: If at least one message notification is turned on, phone numbers become automatically required when clients book a service online.
Why can't I choose the option to notify clients via message (WhatsApp or SMS)?
The option to select the Notify client via messages checkbox might be unavailable for several reasons, including:
If your client has asked in the past to opt out of communication.
If your client doesn't have a valid country code with their phone number.
If you've hit your SMS quota for the month.
If you or your staff, make the booking and don't enter a valid phone number for your client.
If you did not enable the Active toggle for this action in your booking settings.
Tip: Hover over Notify client via messages to see the reason.
What number will my message reminders come from?
The messages are sent to your customers from a generic Wix phone number. This number cannot be changed.
Clients receive the WhatsApp and SMS reminder on the phone number they enter in your booking form.
Can I customize my WhatsApp reminders?
You cannot customize the WhatsApp text, timing, and "sent from" number.
Is there a limit to how many WhatsApp notifications I can send?
Yes. Your monthly messaging quota is determined by:
The number of texts included in your site plan.
The number of texts included in any standalone SMS plan you've purchased. Learn more about your SMS notification quota.
When will my message quota be renewed?
Your message quota, for WhatsApp and SMS notifications, renews on the 1st of each month, regardless of when you purchased a site upgrade or a messaging plan.
When your quota is renewed, or "topped up", it will never exceed the total of the quotas in both plans.
For example, Frank purchased a site upgrade that includes 50 texts on February 10th. He then purchased an SMS Starter plan on February 20th, adding 500 texts to his quota (550 in total). On March 1st, his quota will be "topped up" to a maximum of 550 SMS messages. Learn more about your messaging notification quota.
When a quota renews, will any unused messages roll over to the next month?
No, any unused messages will not roll over to the next month. When your quota renews, it will never exceed the total of the quota(s) in your plan(s).
Which language is used for messaging notifications?
WhatsApp and SMS notifications are sent in your contact's preferred language. If their preferred language isn't one of your site's languages, the message will be sent in your site's main language.
How far in advance are WhatsApp reminders sent, and can their timing be changed?
You can only send WhatsApp reminders 24 hours before a session starts. Currently, you can not customize the timing of message notifications.
Can I send WhatsApp notifications to multiple participants in a class or course?
Yes, you can send WhatsApp notifications to multiple participants. For example, if you update a class time, select the Notify clients via messages checkbox. If some participants haven't provided a phone number or have opted out of receiving communications, you will see a notification letting you know some participants are not able to be notified.
Why don't my clients see pay links in their booking WhatsApp notifications?
Pay links are only included if:
You have a payment method that accepts online payments (such as Wix Payments or PayPal).
The order still has an unpaid balance.
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This article is credited to the Wix team - https://support.wix.com/ and we thank them for that!