Transactional notifications
Transactional notifications are automatic messages tied to a specific customer action or account event: order confirmation, shipping notice, payment receipt, appointment reminder. They have no promotional purpose, and on WhatsApp they fall under utility-category templates, which require Meta's approval and cost less per conversation than marketing messages.
The distinction from promotional communications is substantive, not formal. A transactional notification responds to an action the customer has already taken and contains information they expect to receive: that's why it is almost always read and doesn't wear down the relationship. Meta classifies it under utility templates, separate from marketing templates in price as well, and abusing the category, such as slipping promotions into an order confirmation, can lead to the template being reclassified.
The most used notifications follow the order cycle: confirmation, payment received, shipping with tracking, delivery completed. Outside e-commerce: appointment reminders, document deadlines, renewal notices. Implementation requires a link between the system that generates the event, a management system or e-commerce platform, and the sending channel, via API or webhook, plus an approved template for each notification type with variables for the customer's data.
With SendApp's APIs, you connect your management system or e-commerce store and send approved utility templates when events occur, with delivery statuses tracked in real time in the dashboard.
Frequently asked questions
From theory to practice
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