How to Send SMS Reminders for WooCommerce Bookings

If you have a business that needs appointments, reservations, or events online, you probably need a way to remind customers. Sending SMS reminders for WooCommerce Bookings is one of the most efficient solutions to reduce missed appointments and no-shows.

WooCommerce offers powerful extensions for bookings that let customers book services directly from your WordPress site. This works perfectly for businesses such as salons, fitness studios, and clinics.

However, even with these booking systems in place, customers can still forget, leading to no-shows, last-minute cancellations, and missed appointments.

To prevent this from hurting your revenue and wasting valuable time, you can use WP SMS to send SMS reminders to your customers.

In this blog post, we’ll cover the key benefits of SMS reminders and explain how to use WooCommerce Bookings SMS integration to improve customer experience and boost revenue.

Why Use SMS Reminders for WooCommerce Bookings?

First, let’s review the benefits of SMS reminders for WooCommerce booking-based businesses:

• Instant communication: People constantly check their phones, so they’re very likely to see your messages. As a result, the open rate of SMS is 98%, while email has an open rate of around 20-30%.

• Higher engagement: People interact with SMS more than other channels because it feels more personal.

• Fewer no-shows: Sending booking confirmation SMS and reminders helps significantly reduce missed appointments.

• Better customer experience: When your customers receive personalized, timely messages, they feel valued, and this will increase brand loyalty.

• Rescheduling: With two-way SMS for appointment rescheduling, customers can confirm, cancel, or request changes with a quick reply.

In short, SMS reminders help you improve your services, minimize no-shows, and build stronger relationships with WooCommerce customers.

Best Tools for Sending WooCommerce Booking Reminders

Fortunately, there are several SMS plugins that can integrate into WooCommerce to simplify SMS reminders for bookings.

Look at the following table to compare the best SMS plugins for WooCommerce bookings:

Plugin / Tool	SMS Gateway	Automation Level	Best For
WP SMS	300+ gateways	Moderate	Local and international SMEs
Twilio for WooCommerce	Twilio only	High (via API/code)	Developers, global businesses
AutomateWoo	Twilio only	Very High (workflow)	Advanced WooCommerce users
SMS Alert Plugin	SMS Alert	Basic to Moderate	Indian businesses

Here are more details about these plugins:

1. WP SMS

WP SMS is a versatile plugin for WordPress websites and supports 350+ SMS gateways. It also offers lots of add-ons and integrations like WooCommerce, Bookings, CRM, etc. This is one of the best tools to automate appointment reminders via SMS.

Overall, WP SMS is great for small to medium-sized businesses that are looking for GDPR-compliant booking reminders.

Key Features of WP SMS

• Supports WooCommerce
• Custom message templates
• Bulk messaging
• Automation and scheduling
• Segmentation

Pros	Cons
✅ Great for international markets ✅ Diverse pricing plans ✅ Easy integration ✅ Compliant with GDPR and TCPA	❌Add-ons might be expensive

2. Bookings for WooCommerce

WooCommerce Bookings, also known as Bookings for WooCommerce, is the official extension of WooCommerce.

It transforms your WooCommerce store into a fully functional booking and appointment scheduling system.

In addition to managing reservations, it also supports sending booking confirmation SMS and email reminders to keep customers informed.

Key Features of Bookings for WooCommerce

• Add bookable products 
• Define booking duration
• Accept one-on-one or group bookings
• Optional approval for bookings
• Sync with Google Calendar

Pros	Cons
✅ Official and well-supported ✅ Fully integrates with WooCommerce ✅ Flexible booking options ✅ Supports individual & group bookings ✅ Custom availability and blackout dates ✅ Compatible with Google Calendar	❌ Not free ❌ Limited notifications ❌ Not a versatile SMS plugin

3. AutomateWoo

AutomateWoo is a powerful WooCommerce automation tool. You just need to add the Twilio add-on to be able to automate SMS flows for appointments, follow-ups, abandoned bookings, and more.

It’s great for eCommerce businesses that need a full marketing automation platform that includes SMS reminders.

Key Features of AutomateWoo

• Follow-up messaging
• Abandoned cart
• Win back inactive customers
• SMS notifications
• Review rewards
• Wishlist marketing
• Birthday messaging

Pros	Cons
✅ Deep automation ✅ WooCommerce-native ✅ Customizable messaging workflows	❌ Learning curve ❌ Requires paid add-ons and Twilio credits

4. SMS Alert

SMS Alert is designed specifically for WooCommerce users. Although based in India, it supports international messaging as well. SMS Alert is a plug-and-play solution that integrates with WooCommerce Bookings for automated SMS reminders and notifications.

Key Features of SMS Alert Plugin

• Pre-built templates for booking confirmations and reminders
• OTP support for verification
• Order and appointment status alerts
• Customer and admin notifications
• Supports two-way messaging (for select gateways)

Pros	Cons
✅ Beginner-friendly ✅ Prebuilt templates ✅ Cost-effective for Indian users	❌ Limited global gateway options ❌ Not ideal for complex automation

You must choose the right tool based on your requirements and budget. Try to consider the level of customization, timing strategies, and compliance. If you need a versatile SMS marketing plugin that supports booking reminders for WooCommerce, WP SMS is the best choice.

How to Send WooCommerce Booking Reminders

Now, let’s see how you can use an SMS plugin to send WooCommerce booking reminders:

Step 1: Choose & Install a Suitable SMS Plugin

Our recommendation is WP SMS because it’s a versatile transactional and promotional SMS platform. So, it can run SMS campaigns along with sending transactional SMS messages for service businesses.

To install it, you need to follow the steps below:

1. Go to your WordPress dashboard
2. Go to Plugins > Add Plugin
3. Search for “WP SMS“
4. Click Install Now 
5. Finally, click Activate

Step 2: Connect Your SMS Gateway

SMS plugins are usually free, but you need to pay for SMS gateways. Choose an SMS gateway like Twilio or Nexmo based on the scale of your campaigns and your budget. Then, obtain credentials from the SMS gateway provider and get back to your WordPress dashboard.

Now, you can go to “SMS” from the sidebar and choose “SMS Gateway” to configure your SMS gateway using the credentials.

Step 3: Create Templates for WooCommerce Reminders

WP SMS allows you to create customizable SMS templates for various purposes, including booking reminders. In fact, you can include items like the first name, the booking ID, and dates to personalize the booking reminders automatically.

Also, WP SMS lets you define triggers like:

• Approval Appointment
• Pending Appointment
• Rejection Appointment
• Cancellation Appointment

This way, a customized SMS will be sent whenever a trigger is activated. Try to keep the SMS content short and clear, and focus only on a single goal.

Make the tone of voice friendly, but keep it polite and respect the customers. Also, include essential info like date, and include a shortened link to FAQs if necessary. Finally, don’t forget to provide an option to unsubscribe.

Here is a sample template:

Step 4: Activate WP SMS Booking Integrations

This is a paid add-on for WP SMS, which is compatible with some of the best booking plugins like:

• BookingPress
• WooCommerce Appointments
• Booking Calendar

This way, you can easily send SMS reminders for bookings on WooCommerce or other booking platforms.

Step 5: Enable Two-Way Communication

This step is optional. You can use the Two-Way messaging add-on to enable users to reply to your messages and even take some actions, like:

• Cancel the WooCommerce Order
• WooCommerce Order Information
• Reorder in WooCommerce
• Order Note in WooCommerce
• Subscribe
• Unsubscribe

Examples of SMS Reminders for Bookings on WooCommerce

Now, let’s review some effective SMS samples for WooCommerce booking reminders to see how they work:

💇‍♀️ Salon Appointment Reminder

Salons can use WooCommerce to sell their beauty products and also offer bookings. Of course, you can use a reminder SMS sample like the one below to prevent no-shows:

🧘 Fitness Class Reminder

Look at the following booking reminder SMS sample:

As you see, it starts with a straightforward subject (“Reminder“) to grab attention. Then, in a clear and polite way, it tries to convey the main message without extra details. 

🏥 Medical Appointment Confirmation

Clinics can also use SMS reminders for their appointments so that their patients don’t forget their turns:

🎫 Event Ticket Reminder

Finally, event managers should send reminders to make sure all of the attendees are aware of the details:

Final Thoughts

WooCommerce bookings are popular among some businesses like salons, clinics, and event managers. The problem is that any customers will forget about the appointments, and this will result in financial losses.

Thanks to tools like WP SMS, you can easily integrate automated SMS reminders into the WooCommerce booking system and reduce no-shows.

To do that, you just need to install the plugin on your site and get the booking add-on. With the help of the dynamic content feature and diverse triggers, you can handle all types of notifications and reminders. The good news is that WP SMS offers many other options for promotional messages, making it the best option for SMS marketing.

FAQs