Order flow and automated emails

This article gives you a complete overview of what happens from when a customer presses "Order" until the order is delivered - and what automatic emails are sent along the way.

Overall order flow

When a customer makes a purchase in your online store, the following happens:

1. Approve order - The customer reviews their cart and confirms the order
2. Payment - The customer is sent to the payment gateway (e.g. QuickPay, Stripe or Pensopay) to complete payment
3. Confirmation - Once payment is complete, the customer is sent to a thank you page and receives an order confirmation email
4. Processing - You process the order in admin and ship the goods
5. Shipping - When the order is marked as shipped, the customer receives a shipping email

When is the order confirmation sent?

The order confirmation (invoice email) is sent automatically, but the timing depends on the payment method:

Card payment (QuickPay, Stripe, Pensopay etc.)

For card payment, the order confirmation is only sent when the payment is confirmed by the payment gateway. The flow is:

1. The customer completes the payment at the gateway
2. The gateway sends a confirmation back to Shoporama
3. The order is marked as paid
4. The order confirmation is sent to the customer

Payment gateway of type "Other"

You can create "Other" payment methods for payment methods that are handled outside the normal online payment. This can be for example:

• Bank transfer
• Cash on collection
• Invoice payment
• MobilePay (manual)

When a customer selects an "Other" payment method, the normal payment gateway is skipped. The order confirmation is sent immediately after the order is created and the customer is sent directly to the thank you page.

The "Automatically mark new orders as paid" setting determines whether the order is marked as paid:

• On - The order is marked as paid immediately. Use this for payment methods where payment is made on delivery (e.g. cash on collection)
• Off - The order remains unpaid in admin. You need to mark it as paid when payment is received (e.g. bank transfer)

EAN orders (public procurement)

If a customer enters an EAN number at checkout, the order is handled differently. EAN is used by public institutions and companies that pay via the electronic invoicing system (e-invoice).

For EAN orders:

• The order confirmation is sent immediately - regardless of which payment gateway you use
• The customer is not sent to the payment gateway - the payment flow is skipped completely
• The order will be listed as unpaid in admin because payment is made separately via the EAN billing system
• You have to make sure that the payment is received via EAN

Orders with 0 kr.

If the order has a total amount of €0 (e.g. 100% discount code), the payment gateway is skipped. The order is automatically marked as paid and the order confirmation is sent immediately.

Thank you page vs. order confirmation

It's important to distinguish between the thank you page and the order confirmation:

• Thank you page - The page the customer sees in the browser after checkout. This is always displayed, even if the payment has not yet been confirmed. The thank you page is not a guarantee that the payment has gone through
• The order confirmation - The email the customer receives. For card payments, this is only sent when the payment is confirmed by the gateway.

Overview of automatic emails

Here is an overview of all automatic emails related to orders:

Payment reminder

If a customer creates an order but does not complete the payment, Shoporama can automatically send a reminder email. You can configure this under Settings → Emails:

• Waiting time - Number of hours after the order is created before the reminder is sent
• New orders only - The reminder is only sent for orders with status "New" that are unpaid
• Max. 7 days - Reminders are not sent for orders older than 7 days

Customizing your emails

You can customize your automatic emails in two ways:

• Admin settings - Under Settings → Emails you can change subject lines, sender name and introductory text without editing the theme files
• Theme templates - For more advanced customization, you can edit the email templates in your theme under templates/mails/. See the article Email templates in your theme for details

Troubleshooting

Customer has not received order confirmation

If a customer hasn't received the order confirmation, it could be due to:

• Payment didn't go through - Check if the order is marked as paid in admin. If not, the order confirmation has not been sent yet
• Spam filter - Ask the customer to check their spam/junk folder
• Wrong email - Check if the customer's email address is correct on the order

Customer has received order confirmation, but the order is unpaid

This can happen in the following situations:

• EAN order - The order has an EAN number and is paid via the public billing system. The order confirmation is sent immediately, but the payment is handled separately
• "Other" payment method without automatic payment - The order uses a payment method such as bank transfer, where the customer must transfer the amount themselves. The order confirmation is sent as a receipt, but the payment has not yet been received
• Canceled after payment - The order may have been canceled after the payment went through, for example if the payment was reversed

Do you have questions about the order flow or your automatic emails? Contact us at support@shoporama.dk.