Autoresponders

Modified on Mon, 16 Oct, 2023 at 9:49 PM

The Autoresponders settings can be found in the Shopping Cart Administration Area under Settings > General Settings > Autoresponders.

An autoresponder is an email that is sent automatically after a specific event has occurred, such as your customer completing an order. A set of default autoresponders were added to your account when you first signed up. You can create up to 20 autoresponders.

To Add a New Autoresponder

Click on Settings > General Settings > Autoresponders.
Click on the Add New button.
Choose how you would like to begin creating an autoresponder. You can select among the following options.
With blank settings. None of the new autoresponder settings will be preset.
With settings from another autoresponder. Select a previously created autoresponder to act as a template for a new autoresponder.
With settings from a default autoresponder. Select a default autoresponder to act as a template for a new autoresponder. Default autoresponders are provided by our system and do not change.
Click on the Continue button.
Continue with the Autoresponder Settings steps below.

To Edit an Existing Autoresponder

Click on Settings > General Settings > Autoresponders.
Click on the Edit link next to the autoresponder you wish to edit.
Continue with the Autoresponder Settings steps below.

Autoresponder Settings

Autoresponder Description

Enter a short description of the autoresponder. The description will appear when displaying all of your autoresponders and will not be visible to your customers.

Autoresponder Trigger

Select the event that will cause the autoresponder message to be sent.

After each order is completed. When a customer successfully reaches the last page of the shopping cart ("thank you" page), the autoresponder message will be sent.
When an order is declined by payment gateway. If a customer submits an order and your payment gateway declines it, the autoresponder message will be sent.
When a product's inventory is low. You can assign a low inventory warning level to each product when adding/editing a product.
After a digital good has been ordered. This would only apply if you sell downloadable files.
When a silent post action fails. Silent Post is an advanced feature that allows order data to be transmitted to a program running on your server. This trigger handles the failure of such transmissions.
After I update an order's Shipper Tracking Number. This will allow, for example, you to send a message to your customers after their order has been shipped. Shipping tracking numbers can be updated for each order by clicking Orders > Update.
When a customer emails their cart. If you've enabled the Email Cart feature and a customer sends their shopping cart to a friend, the autoresponder message will be sent to that friend.
When sending an invoice to a customer. If you use the Send Invoice feature, the autoresponder message will be sent as the invoice.
After an assigned product has been purchased. You can assign this autoresponder to a specific product when adding/editing a product.
Do not send automatically. Select this option if you only want to manually trigger the autoresponder. Autoresponder messages can be sent manually for each order in the Update Order page.

Autoresponder Conditions

Check the payment methods that limit when the autoresponder message is sent. The available payment methods are: Credit Card, Check, PayPal, COD, Purchase Order, Mail, Fax, Telephone, No Charge, Invoice and Google.

For example, if you only check the "Credit Card" box, the autoresponder message will only be sent if a customer pays by credit card. If you do not select any of the payment methods, the autoresponder message will be sent for all types of orders.

Autoresponder Email Settings

Configure the email message that will be sent.

In the To and From boxes, enter recipient and sender email addresses. There are four "To" boxes provided, which allows you to send an autoresponder message to up to 4 recipients. You can also include order fields in the "To" and "From" boxes.
Examples:
company@example.com
John Doe <company@example.com>
[MERCHANT_COMPANY] <company@example.com>
[BILL_TO_EMAIL]
[SHIP_TO_NAME] <[SHIP_TO_EMAIL]>
For example, if you entered <[SHIP_TO_EMAIL]> in the "To" field, the autoresponder message will be sent to the "Ship To" email address your customer entered when ordering.
NOTE: If the recipient clicks "Reply" in their email program (e.g., Outlook, GMail, etc.), their reply message will be sent to the address provided in the "From" box.
In the Subject box, enter the subject of the autoresponder message. You can also include order fields in the "Subject" box.
For example, if you entered "[PAYMENT_METHOD] Order - Invoice #[INVOICE_NUMBER]" in the "Subject" box, the subject of the autoresponder message will look like this "Credit Card Order - Invoice #12345."
Autoresponder Message. Enter the message that will be sent. You can insert order fields into the message by clicking the "Add order field to message" box.
For example, if you entered:
Hello [BILL_TO_FIRST_NAME],
The following products are being shipped:
[PRODUCTS_BEGIN]
Name: [PRODUCT_NAME]
Qty: [PRODUCT_QUANTITY]
[PRODUCTS_END]
[MERCHANT_CONTACT_INFORMATION]
Your customer will receive an email that looks like this:
Hello John Doe,
The following products are being shipped:
Name: T-shirt
Qty: 2
Name: Shorts
Qty: 1
XYZ Company
1-800-555-1234
https://www.example.com
sales@example.com
Autoresponder Message Format. Select Plain Text to send the autoresponder message using text only. Select HTML if the autoresponder message is an HTML page.
Send Fail Action. Select the action that should occur if the autoresponder message cannot be delivered (e.g., recipient's inbox is full)
- Do nothing. No further action is taken.
- Return email to sender. The message is sent back to the email address it was sent from.
- Return email to (enter email address). Send returned messages to a specific email address.

Preview Autoresponder

Click "Preview Autoresponder" at the bottom of the page to see how your autoresponder message will look. Sample order data will be used to populate any order fields you've used.

Email Server Options

To control how autoresponder emails are sent, click on Autoresponders > Settings.

Default Mail Server

Autoresponder emails will be sent through our email servers. To comply with ISP anti-spamming policies, emails sent to your customers will be sent from one of our "no reply" domains but will still be labeled with your store/company name. A "no reply" domain can not accept incoming email, therefore, it's best to include your website address and customer support email address in your autoresponder emails to customers.

Your Mail Server

Autoresponder emails will be sent through your email server. This option offers several advantages:

Your customers will see your domain name if they look at the email address behind the "from" field.
Your customers can directly reply to emails to contact you.
You can use your mail server logs to troubleshoot emails that are undeliverable.
It's unlikely ISP's will blacklist your mail server IP, because the domain you're sending emails from contains DNS records that match and you're not sending in high volume.

Ask your domain registrar or DNS provider if they offer an SMTP server to send your emails through. It's usually free. We do offer various security connection type options but we recommend using TLS over port 587.

Frequently Asked Questions

What type of autoresponders should I use with my shopping cart?

It's most common to use at least two autoresponders. One autoresponder would be used to send you a copy of each order. The second autoresponder would be used to send your customer a copy of each order. Both types of autoresponders were added to your account when it was first set up. A "low inventory notice" autoresponder was also added, but will only activate if you've setup inventory control in the Products section.

You can also set up autoresponders that, for example, notify you when your payment gateway declines an order. If you sell digital goods (files), you can create an autoresponder that sends your customers download instructions.

How do I use order fields in autoresponder email messages?

Order fields allow you to insert order information into email messages. For example, if you included the order field [INVOICE_NUMBER] in your message, the shopping cart would substitute it with the actual invoice number of an order before the email message is sent.

What are the "Combination Fields" listed in the order fields drop-down box?

Combination fields make it easier to insert related information into your autoresponder messages. For example, you could use [BILL_TO_NAME] to insert a customer's first and last name, instead of [BILL_TO_FIRST_NAME] [BILL_TO_LAST_NAME].

Combination fields save time but because they are pre-formatted, you cannot format the individual pieces of data displayed within them.

Do you provide assistance in designing HTML emails?

If you are having trouble incorporating order fields into your HTML code, please contact us for assistance. However, we do not provide HTML design or HTML troubleshooting services in relation to autoresponders.

What should I do if I'm not receiving an autoresponder's email message?

Check your spam folder. You may have to initially mark messages as "safe" or "not spam." If the email was not flagged as spam, verify that the problem is not with your email account. Edit the autoresponder's email settings, changing the "To" field to a different email address (try one that uses a different domain name). Follow the steps below to test the new email address and manually re-send the autoresponder message:

Click on Orders.
Click on an order number.
In the Order Information box, select the autoresponder from the Send Message field.
Click the Send button.