Add WooCommerce order notes from email

How it works

1. 1

   Forward the email to your ForwardThis address with some simple instructions, like "add this as a note on order 4416: customer wants delivery after the 14th".

2. 2

   ForwardThis finds the order by its number and adds the note to that order's history, in the same column your team already reads for the payment and status entries.

3. 3

   The note is private, every time. WooCommerce can turn an order note into an email to the buyer, and ForwardThis never uses that setting, so nothing you forward reaches the customer.

4. 4

   You receive a confirmation email showing the note, plus an undo button if something doesn't look right. Undo takes the note off the order completely.

FAQs

How do I add a note to a WooCommerce order?

Forward the email to your ForwardThis address with some simple instructions, like "add this as a note on order 4416: customer wants delivery after the 14th". ForwardThis writes the note on the order and replies to confirm. The first time, you will need a free ForwardThis account with WooCommerce connected - it takes about 30 seconds.

Will the customer see the note?

No. WooCommerce order notes come in two kinds, one for your staff and one that is emailed to the buyer, and ForwardThis only ever writes the staff kind. A forwarded email is not permission to write to somebody's customer, so the note to the customer is not something it will do at all.

What if I don't have the order number?

Give it what you do have. A customer's email address or a name is searched across your recent orders, and if more than one comes back ForwardThis asks which order you meant before it writes anything.

Can it change the order's status as well?

Yes: pending, processing, on hold, completed or cancelled. Never refunded, because ForwardThis does not move money. Your store emails the customer the moment a status changes and that email cannot be pulled back, so this one is always confirmed with you first and there is no undo on it afterwards.

What else can it do in my store?

It reads. Ask for an order by its number and you get the lines, the totals, the addresses, the payment method and the status back by email, or ask for your last ten orders, a customer's details, a product's price and stock, or a sales report the store works out itself. It will not touch products, prices, stock or customer accounts: what shoppers see and pay for should not be changeable by a forwarded email.

Couldn't I just add the note in WooCommerce myself?

You could, and if you are already in WordPress with the order open it is quicker. This is for the other case: the customer's email is in front of you, the order is not, and opening the admin to type one line is the bit that never gets done.

Does it work with Outlook and other email apps?

Yes. ForwardThis works with any email provider: Gmail, Outlook, Apple Mail and everything else. If it can forward an email, it works.

What happens to my email afterwards?

It gets deleted. ForwardThis holds your email briefly in case you press undo, then removes it completely. Nothing is stored long term.