Notifications

What it does

Notifications schedules the push notifications your customers receive on their phones, and reports how many times each one was seen and acted on.

When to use it

Use it to announce a promotion, a new line or a deadline, to push a specific product or a short list of products straight into the app, or to check how a notification performed after it ran.

Each notification has a start, and optionally an end. While its start is still in the future it is Scheduled, and you can change or delete it. Once the start time has passed it is Live, its content is fixed, and the only way to stop it is End Now.

Steps

1. Open eCommerce → Notifications.
2. Select Create Notification.
3. Under Notification, add a Note for your own reference, then the Title customers see. Title is required. Add Body text if you want a second line.
4. Under Image, select Select media to pick or upload a picture. See Media for the library.
5. Under Action, choose an Action Type if you want a button on the notification, fill in the field it asks for, and give the button a Button Label. Leave Action Type as None for an announcement with no button.
6. Under Schedule, set Start Date and Start Time. Start Date defaults to today and Start Time to 00:00, which is already in the past, so set a future time before saving. Past dates cannot be selected. Turn on Schedule an end date/time to add End Date and End Time.
7. Select Test Push to send a test to the devices subscribed to test pushes, then Send Test in the dialog.
8. Select Save. Discard leaves without saving.

To change a notification that has not started yet, open it from the list and select Edit.

Action types

Action Type decides what the button on the notification does:

• None - no button. The notification is an announcement only.
• Open Link - opens a web address. Enter it in URL; it must start with http:// or https://.
• View Product - opens one product. Enter its Product SKU.
• Add to Basket - adds one product to the customer's basket. Enter its Product SKU.
• Add to List - adds one product to the customer's list. Enter its Product SKU.
• View Product List - opens a list of products. Enter one SKU per field under Product SKUs, select Add SKU for each extra product, or paste a comma- or line-separated list into a field and it fills the fields for you (repeats are skipped with a note).

Not every store offers every action type. The list only shows the ones your store app supports, so if one is missing, contact your onboarding manager.

Button Label is required as soon as you choose an action type. Keep it short, for example Shop Now or Learn More.

SKUs must match the products in your store. Check them in eCommerce → Products.

What you'll see

The list shows the image, Title, Start Date, End Date, Impressions and Actioned, newest start first. Impressions counts how many times the notification was shown; Actioned counts how many times its button was used, with that figure as a percentage of impressions. A lightning icon marks a notification that is running now, a clock marks one that has not started yet.

The Status filter shows Active notifications by default - those running now and those still to start. Choose Archived for the ones that have finished, and Clear to go back. Use Previous and Next to move through the pages; the count above the table names the filter you are on, for example Showing 1–12 of 12 active notifications.

Select a title to open the notification. The top of the page shows a badge:

• Scheduled - it has not started yet, with the line Scheduled for and its start.
• Live - it is running now, with the line Started and its start.
• Expired - it has finished, with the line Ended.

Notification Details shows Title, Body, Action, Start Date, End Date, Impressions and Actioned, with a dash where nothing was set, and adds Note, URL, Product SKUs and Button Label only when you filled them in. The picture sits beside it under Image.

The buttons you get depend on the status:

• Edit and Delete appear only while it is Scheduled.
• End Now appears only while it is Live. It stops the notification straight away and moves it to Archived.
• Test Push and Duplicate are always available.

End Now and Delete each ask you to confirm - End notification now? and Delete notification? - select the same button again to go ahead, or Cancel.

Duplicate creates a copy with the same content, no end date and its counts back at zero, and starts it straight away. Because the copy is already Live you cannot edit or delete it - use End Now to stop it, then use Create Notification if you wanted a scheduled version.

To download everything on this screen, select Export, then Excel (.xlsx) or CSV (.csv). The export always covers every notification, whichever Status filter you are looking at.

Times and the clock change

Times are your company's local times, and the Schedule card names the time zone it is using. On the night the clocks go forward, some times do not exist; if you pick one you are asked to choose another time.

Testing before you schedule

Test Push sends the notification exactly as it is written, including the image and button, to the people set up to receive test pushes. It does not go to your customers and does not schedule anything. The dialog shows the title and body you are about to send; select Send Test to send it or Cancel to go back. You need a Title before you can send a test.

Image guidance

Use a square picture, ideally 1024x1024 pixels. Do not put a call to action in the image itself - use the Action section so customers get a real button they can tap.

If something goes wrong

• "Please enter a title.": Title is required. Add one and save again.
• "Please enter a button label.": you chose an Action Type, so Button Label is required. Add one, or set Action Type back to None.
• "Please enter a URL." or "Please enter a valid URL.": Open Link needs a full web address starting with http:// or https://.
• "Please enter a product SKU." or "Please enter at least one product SKU.": the action you chose needs a product. Add the SKU as it appears in eCommerce → Products.
• "Please enter one SKU per field.": a field contains a comma, either typed in or pasted into the single Product SKU box, which does not split a list. Put one SKU in each field and use Add SKU for the rest.
• "Please remove duplicate product SKUs: ...": the same SKU is listed twice. The message names the repeated SKUs, so remove the extra field for each one.
• "Please select a start date." or "Please enter a valid date and time.": choose a date in the Start Date picker, and in End Date as well if you turned the end on.
• "End date must be after start date.": the end is on or before the start. Move one of them.
• "This time does not exist ... because the clocks change.": the clocks go forward over the time you chose. Pick a time before or after the change.
• No Edit button, or "Only planned notifications can be edited.": the notification has already started, so its content is fixed. Use End Now and create a replacement instead.
• A test push does not arrive: check the device is set up to receive test pushes, then try Send Test again. If tests never arrive, contact your onboarding manager.
• The test push dialog shows an error instead of "Test push sent successfully!": push notifications are not set up for your store yet. Contact your onboarding manager.
• An action type you need is not in the list: your store app does not support it yet. Contact your onboarding manager.
• An error message about the action not being available for this store: that action is not enabled for your store app. Choose another Action Type, or contact your onboarding manager.
• The copy I duplicated cannot be edited: a duplicate starts straight away, so it is already Live. Use End Now to stop it, then select Create Notification to build a scheduled version.
• "No eCommerce store linked to this company." or "Store not found.": your company has no store attached. Contact your onboarding manager.
• "No notifications found. Create a notification to get started.": nothing matches the Active filter. Switch the Status filter to Archived, or select Create Notification to add your first one.
• "When your notifications end, they will be automatically archived and displayed here.": nothing has finished yet. Switch the Status filter back to Active, or select Create Notification.
• "We couldn't export. Please try again.": try the download again. If it keeps failing, contact your onboarding manager.
• Impressions stay at zero: figures appear only after the notification has started, so check the badge reads Live and the Start Date has passed. If a Live notification still shows zero after a while, contact your onboarding manager.

For your ERP/IT team

The Export dropdown offers Excel (.xlsx) and CSV (.csv). The file has one row per notification, including ended ones, whichever Status filter is selected, with these columns: ID (UUID), DESCRIPTION, START_DATE, END_DATE, TITLE, BODY, IMAGE, URL, PRODUCT_SKU, IMPRESSIONS, ACTIONED and ACTIONED_PERCENTAGE. Product SKUs are comma separated in a single cell.

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