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- a stage of your pipeline (the trigger)
- a Meta-approved WhatsApp message template (the content sent)
The 5 ingredients
1. The trigger pipeline stage
The starting point. As soon as an order arrives at this stage, the automation triggers. Examples: “To confirm by call”, “Confirmed”, “Shipped”, “Delivered”.An order enters a stage either manually (an agent moves it) or automatically (from a Shopify/YouCan connector, from the chat, from another automation that moved it forward).
2. The message template
The WhatsApp that will be sent. You choose from your Meta-approved templates. The template can contain:- Text with variables (customer name, order number, amount…)
- An image, video or document in the header
- Up to 3 buttons (quick reply, link, call)
3. Delay before send (optional)
How long to wait between the order arriving at the stage and the WhatsApp send.| Delay | What for |
|---|---|
| 0 second (default) | Immediate send |
| A few minutes | Give the agent time to verify the order before auto send |
| Several hours | Send a reminder at a specific moment (e.g. COD reminder the day before delivery) |
4. Buttons mapped to pipeline stages
It’s the heart of the model: each button of the WhatsApp template is linked to a pipeline stage. When the customer clicks the button, the order automatically moves to the corresponding stage. Example:| Button in the template | Target pipeline stage |
|---|---|
| ”I confirm” | Confirmed |
| ”Cancel” | Cancelled |
| ”Call me back later” | To call back |
5. Timeout and fallback stage (optional)
It’s the safety net: “if the customer doesn’t respond after N hours, switch the order to a fallback stage”. Typical case: confirmation message sent → 24h no response → switch to “Unreachable”. You configure:- The timeout duration (e.g. 24h)
- The timeout starting point:
- From the moment the message was sent
- From the moment the message was received by the customer (delivered on their phone)
- The fallback stage where the order will switch
The re-trigger rule
A simple but important option: allow or not a new trigger if the same order goes through the same stage again.| Choice | Behavior |
|---|---|
| Re-trigger forbidden (default) | An order sends the message only once on this stage, even if it goes through again |
| Re-trigger allowed | Each pass through the stage resends a new message |
The lifecycle of a triggered automation
Each time an order arrives at the stage, Sendocki tracks its journey in a send history. Each send goes through several states:| State | What it means |
|---|---|
| Scheduled | Sendocki waits for the end of the delay before sending |
| Sent | The message left to Meta |
| Delivered | Meta delivered the message on the customer’s phone |
| Replied | The customer replied (button click or text) — the order may have moved forward |
| Expired | No response after the timeout — the order switched to the fallback stage |
| Cancelled | The send was interrupted (order left the stage before sending, automation disabled…) |
| Failed | The send failed (template not approved, invalid number, etc.) — Sendocki automatically retries |
Sendocki automatically retries a failed send (up to 3 times) with a progressive delay. You only see “Failed” if all attempts failed.
A complete example
Trigger stage: “To confirm by call”What happens daily:
Template sent: “Confirmation request” (with 2 buttons: Confirm / Cancel)
Delay: 0 second (immediate send)
Buttons:Timeout: 24h, starting point = message delivery
- “Confirm” → “Confirmed” stage
- “Cancel” → “Cancelled” stage
Fallback stage: “Unreachable”
Re-trigger: forbidden
- An order arrives at “To confirm by call”
- The customer instantly receives a WhatsApp with the 2 buttons
- If the customer clicks “Confirm” within 24h → the order moves to “Confirmed”
- If the customer clicks “Cancel” → the order moves to “Cancelled”
- If nothing after 24h from message delivery → the order switches to “Unreachable”
What’s next?
Create an automation
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Typical COD cases to apply in one click