# Customer emails Which emails your customers get, how to switch the optional ones on, and how to change the words. Source: https://docs.lookoutridgeit.com/commerce/customer-emails/ **Add-on** Commerce is an add-on, so not every website has it. If it is not in your menu, see [Add-ons](https://docs.lookoutridgeit.com/billing/add-ons/) to add it. Your website emails your customers for you. A receipt when they pay. A note when their parcel ships. A reminder before a plan renews. Each one comes from your website, with your name on it. This page covers which emails go out, how to switch on the optional ones, and how to change the words. Go to **Plugins**, then **Commerce**, and click the **Settings** tab, then **Store**. The **Customer emails** box is near the bottom. The words live on the **Email templates** tab, the last of the small tabs under **Settings**. ![The Customer emails box on the Store tab of Commerce Settings. Five numbered marks: 1 on the Logo URL box, 2 on the Email customer: Processing switch, 3 on the yearly plan reminders box, 4 on the Send test emails to box, 5 on the first Send test button.](https://docs.lookoutridgeit.com/_astro/commerce-customer-emails.Can28XXX_Z22DiYw.webp) *The Customer emails box. Each part of this page covers one mark.* The numbers in the picture: 1. **Logo URL**. See [How your emails look](https://docs.lookoutridgeit.com/commerce/customer-emails/#how-your-emails-look). 2. One stage switch. See [Stage emails](https://docs.lookoutridgeit.com/commerce/customer-emails/#stage-emails). 3. The yearly reminders. See [Renewal reminders](https://docs.lookoutridgeit.com/commerce/customer-emails/#renewal-reminders). 4. **Send test emails to**. See [Sending yourself a test](https://docs.lookoutridgeit.com/commerce/customer-emails/#sending-yourself-a-test). 5. **Send test** for that column. ## What goes out on its own These need nothing from you. They go out when the thing happens. | Email | When it goes | | --- | --- | | **Order confirmation** | The buyer pays. This is their receipt. | | **Renewal receipt** | A plan renews and the payment goes through. | | **Download ready** | The buyer pays for a file. It carries the download link. | | **Shipped** | A tracking number is saved on the order. | | **Delivered** | The carrier says the parcel arrived. Needs the Shippo tracking link. | | **Subscription started** | A new plan begins. | | **Payment failed** | A plan payment does not go through. | | **Cancellation scheduled** | A plan is set to end at the end of its period. | | **Subscription ended** | A plan has ended. | | **Subscription paused** | You pause a plan's collection. | | **Subscription resumed** | You resume it. | | **Renewal reminder** | A set number of days before a plan renews. | | **Anniversary** | Once a year on a plan, as a thank-you. | These go out only when you use the feature: | Email | When it goes | | --- | --- | | **Proof waiting** | You send a proof. See [Orders](https://docs.lookoutridgeit.com/commerce/orders/#proofs). | | **Proof reminder** | Before the proof's deadline, or after you sent it. | | **Proof approved automatically** | The deadline passed and the proof was approved for them. | | **Review request** | Some days after an order arrives, when reviews are on. | | **Review reminder** | Some days after the request, if they have not reviewed yet. | | **Review reply** | You reply to their review for the first time. | | **Cart reminder 1** to **Cart reminder 3** | They left a cart at checkout, when reminders are on. See [Commerce settings](https://docs.lookoutridgeit.com/commerce/settings/#abandoned-carts). | Two more depend on you: - **Refund** goes when you refund an order with **Notify customer by email** checked. See [Orders](https://docs.lookoutridgeit.com/commerce/orders/#refunds). - **Order stage update** goes when an order moves to a stage you have switched on. See below. A pickup order moved to **Ready for pickup** always gets it, with the address, hours and your instructions. **Important** Stripe can send its own receipt too. Switch that off in Stripe, or buyers get two. See [Connect Stripe](https://docs.lookoutridgeit.com/commerce/connect-stripe/#step-6-turn-off-stripes-receipt). ## How your emails look Three boxes at the top of **Customer emails** set the look of every email. **Logo URL** is the web address of your logo. It shows at the top of each email. It must be a public address that starts with `https`. Leave it blank and your business name shows in its place. **Accent color** takes a six-digit color code, such as `#111111`. It has no effect on your emails today. You can leave it as it is. **Footer line** is one line near the bottom of every email. "You are receiving this because you ordered from us." is a good one. The business name, phone and email in each email come from the **Invoices** box, on the same tab. When a customer hits Reply, the reply goes to the **Email** in that box. See [Commerce settings](https://docs.lookoutridgeit.com/commerce/settings/#invoices). ## Stage emails Under **Customer emails** are three columns: **Physical orders**, **Digital products** and **Subscriptions**. **Physical orders** has one switch per order stage, such as **Email customer: Processing**. Turn a switch on and the customer gets an email each time an order reaches that stage. When proofs are on, there is one for **Awaiting Proof** too. All the switches start off. Turn on only the ones your customers would want. Most shops leave them all off, and let the **Shipped** email do the talking. Under each switch is a box reading **Optional note for this stage**. What you type there is added to that stage's email. "We make each piece by hand. It takes about a week." is the kind of thing that helps. Click **Save** when you are done. The switch only sets what the **Email customer** box starts as on an order. You can still check or uncheck that box each time. See [Orders](https://docs.lookoutridgeit.com/commerce/orders/#moving-an-order-to-a-new-stage). **Warning** A switch that is on also applies to **Set stage…**, which moves many orders at once. Move 40 orders to a stage that is switched on, and 40 customers get an email. ## Renewal reminders The **Subscriptions** column has two boxes. **Monthly plan reminders (days before renewal)** starts at `7`. A customer on a monthly plan hears from you a week before each charge. **Yearly plan reminders (days before renewal)** starts at `60, 30, 7`. Three reminders before a yearly charge. Type the days split by commas. Each number is from 1 to 90, and you can have up to five. **Warning** Keep `30` in the yearly box. Some states want a notice before a yearly plan renews. The panel's own note says 30 days fits the rules in every US state. Ask your lawyer before you take it out. ## Sending yourself a test Before you switch anything on, see what your customer will get. 1. Type your own address in **Send test emails to**. 2. In one of the three columns, pick an email from the list. 3. Click **Send test** in that column. A message names the subject, the address, and which order it used. A test uses your newest real order or plan, so the details look real. The subject starts with `[Test]`. Nothing is written on that order, and the customer gets nothing. ## Changing the words Click the **Settings** tab, then **Email templates**. On the left is every email, in groups: **Orders**, **Digital**, **Subscriptions**, **Proofs**, **Reviews** and **Abandoned carts**. An email you have changed shows an **edited** tag. 1. Click the email you want to change. 2. Change the **Subject** if you like. 3. Change the words in the editor below it. 4. Click **Preview** to see the email with your changes. 5. Click **Save template**. A message reads "Template saved." The next email of that kind uses your new words. ### The editor An email is built from blocks, stacked top to bottom. A heading, some text, a button, a picture, a line. You can move, change or delete each one. Some blocks are filled in by your website, such as the list of items and the totals. You can move those, but not type in them. If an order has nothing to show there, the block is left out of that email. Some words sit in double curly brackets, such as `{{order.number}}`. These are merge tags. When the email goes out, each one is swapped for the real detail, such as the invoice number. The editor lists the ones each email can use. A picture you add is uploaded to your Media library. ### No dashes The editor will not save a long dash in any email. Your website turns them away, with the message "Replace the en or em dash with a comma, period, or colon." Some email apps turn long dashes into junk letters. Use a comma, a period or a colon instead. ### Preview and test **Preview** shows the email you are editing, with your changes, filled in from your newest real order. It does not save anything. The test box beside the buttons sends a copy to the address you type. Click **Send test**. **Important** **Send test** sends the saved email, not your unsaved changes. Click **Save template** first, then send the test. ### Going back to the original **Warning** **Reset to default** throws away every change you made to that email. The original words come back. You cannot get your version back after that. 1. Pick the email. 2. Click **Reset to default**. 3. Your browser asks "Discard your changes and restore the built-in template?" Click OK. A message reads "Template reset to the default." **Contact support** Contact us if: - customers say they get no emails at all from your shop - a test email never arrives - an email shows a tag in curly brackets instead of the real detail Email [support@lookoutridgeit.com](mailto:support@lookoutridgeit.com). [Getting support](https://docs.lookoutridgeit.com/help/getting-support/) says what to put in the message.