Guide
Unpaid orders on Shopify: how to collect payment with WhatsApp reminders
Send the payment details a few minutes after the order, remind the customer before the reference expires and ask for the receipt in the same chat. More orders get paid and fewer get canceled.
Written by ConexiaChat Team Published:
In many markets, a large share of online orders aren't paid by card at checkout. The customer picks a bank transfer, a cash voucher like OXXO in Mexico or Boleto in Brazil, or a manual pay-later option, gets the payment reference by email… and forgets. The order sits at "payment pending", the stock is held, and you don't know whether to cancel or wait. A jewelry merchant on Shopify shared their sequence with us: payment details after 5 minutes, a reminder on day two, "you have 24 hours left" on day three, and cancellation after that. This guide lays it out step by step.
Why do so many bank transfer and cash voucher orders go unpaid?
Because payment happens outside your store, after the purchase. Between closing the browser tab and getting to a store counter or opening their banking app, the customer's intent cools off.
- The email with the payment reference gets lost or lands in the promotions tab.
- When the customer finally has time to pay, they don't have the bank details or the exact amount at hand.
- They pay, but send the receipt to a different number or not at all, so you can't match the payment to the order.
- Nobody reminds them that the payment reference, or the item held for them, has an expiry date.
Which reminder sequence works?
Three messages are enough: payment details after 5 minutes, a reminder the next day and a final notice before canceling. If the customer pays in between, the sequence stops.
- 1 After 5 minutes "Hi {{name}}, thanks for your order {{order}}. To complete it, pay {{amount}} using this reference: {{reference}}. Once you've paid, send us your receipt right here."
- 2 The next day A short reminder with the same details, no pressure.
- 3 Before canceling "Your order {{order}} is still awaiting payment. You have 24 hours left to pay before we release the item."
- 4 Cancellation If it's still unpaid, you cancel the order and the stock becomes available again.
Are these marketing or utility messages?
A payment reminder about a specific order, with no promotion, fits Meta's utility category, which costs less than marketing. Add a coupon and Meta reclassifies it as marketing.
Meta defines utility templates as messages that follow up on an action the customer took, with no promotional intent. Its documentation gives "an order update with a promotion" as an example of mixed content, which is billed as marketing. Keep these messages clean: payment details, amount, deadline and nothing else.
What should you do with the payment receipt?
Ask for it in the same chat as the reminder, and make sure someone sees it with the order in view. You match the payment in seconds and reply "received" without digging through another phone.
This is where send-only apps fall short: the customer replies with a screenshot and nobody sees it, or they send it to your support WhatsApp and the team can't tell which order it belongs to. In ConexiaChat the reminder goes out from your own number and the reply lands in your shared inbox with the pending order alongside.
Frequently asked questions
Does it work with my payment gateway?
Yes. The rule fires on any Shopify order pending payment, and you can filter by the gateway name: bank transfer, OXXO, Mercado Pago, Conekta or any other.
How many days should I wait before canceling?
It depends on your inventory and how long the payment reference stays valid. Many stores use 2 to 3 days. What matters is warning the customer before you cancel.
Do I need a separate app for payment reminders?
Not with ConexiaChat: payment rescue is one of its automations, alongside abandoned cart, shipping updates and campaigns.
Collect more unpaid orders without another app
Reminders from your own number, editable templates and receipts that land in your inbox.
See WhatsApp marketingFrom the Advanced plan. 14-day trial, no card.