Sign Customers Up for Delivery Updates on WhatsApp with AfterShip
Yes. AeroChat works directly with AfterShip. When a customer asks to be kept posted, AeroChat adds their email or phone number to the shipment in AfterShip, so they get the tracking emails or texts you have set up in AfterShip, in their language.
This recipe turns “can you let me know when it ships out?” into a real subscription on the shipment, instead of a promise someone has to remember. Part of connecting AfterShip to WhatsApp and AI chat.
What happens today
A customer asks where their parcel is, then asks to be told when it is out for delivery. Someone says “sure, we’ll let you know” and nobody does. Or the order was placed with an old email, or by a friend as a gift, so the person waiting never gets the tracking emails at all. They message again, and again.
The flow that works
- The customer asks to get updates about their parcel.
- AeroChat finds the shipment in AfterShip by order number, tracking number or email.
- It asks whether they want updates by email or by text, and confirms the address or number to use.
- It updates the shipment in AfterShip with that customer’s email or phone number and their preferred language.
- It confirms in the chat and tells them which updates to expect, based on the notifications you have switched on in AfterShip.
- Where you have set up an AfterShip webhook for AeroChat, a status change such as “out for delivery” can also be passed on in the same conversation.
What it looks like on WhatsApp
Customer: Can you text me when order 7785 is out for delivery? My partner placed it with her email. (example)
AeroChat: Of course. I can send AfterShip’s delivery texts to this number, +1 415 555 0148 (example). Is that right?
Customer: Yes, that’s me.
AeroChat: Done. You’ll get a text when your parcel is out for delivery and when it’s delivered. It’s currently in transit with FedEx, expected on Tuesday.
In AfterShip: the shipment on order 7785 now lists +1 415 555 0148 as a customer who receives SMS updates, with English as the language.
The recipe
Copy this into AeroChat
When a customer asks to be told about their delivery, follow these steps.
- Find their shipment in AfterShip by order number, tracking number or email. If it is not clear which order they mean, ask.
- Ask whether they want updates by email or by text message.
- For text, use the WhatsApp number they are messaging from unless they give another one, and write it with the country code. For email, ask for the address.
- Read the number or email back and ask them to confirm.
- Add them as a customer on the shipment in AfterShip with that email or phone number and the language they are writing in. Keep any customer already on the shipment.
- Confirm in the chat which updates they will get: out for delivery, delivered and delivery problems (example). Give the latest status and the expected date while you are there.
Only add someone who asked for updates. Never share the order details with a number or email that is not on the order unless they gave the order number. Reply in the customer’s language.
Change the list of updates in step 6 to match the notifications you have switched on in AfterShip before you paste it.
What to connect
- Your Shopify store. Built in. Install AeroChat from the Shopify App Store and connect your store in the dashboard, so AeroChat can match the customer to their order.
- AfterShip. Open the API keys page in your AfterShip admin, create an API key and paste it in when AeroChat asks. As of November 2026, AfterShip includes API access and webhooks on its Premium tracking plan and above.
- AfterShip notifications. Switch on the email or SMS notifications you want customers to get in your AfterShip admin. AeroChat adds the customer, and AfterShip sends the updates.
- Status changes in chat (optional). AfterShip can send tracking updates to a webhook. If you set one up for AeroChat, a status change can be passed on to the customer in the conversation they started.
After you paste the recipe, AeroChat builds the workflow as a draft and shows a checklist: connect AfterShip, add your knowledge base if the recipe uses one, then switch it on. If it built the connection from AfterShip’s public documentation, the checklist asks you to check it once against the current docs.
Using a different system? If it has a public API, it connects to AeroChat the same way: describe what you want, paste in its key, and it runs.
Can’t find your tool? Message us in the chat on this page and we’ll tell you how it connects.
What you still decide
- Which AfterShip notifications go out by email and by text.
- Whether gift recipients and other people not on the order can be added.
- Whether status changes are also passed on in the chat.
The result to expect
Customers who ask to be kept posted actually get the updates, in the place they asked for them. Your team stops promising follow-ups it has no time to send.
Measure it with your own numbers: repeat where-is-my-order messages per shipment, for a month before and after.
Next: tell customers their delivery date with AfterShip. For more delivery workflows, see delivery updates on WhatsApp.
Works on every chat channel
This workflow runs the same way on WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook Messenger, Telegram, the chat on your store and email, with the same AfterShip connection behind it. See what each channel does on the AfterShip integration page.
Sign up your first customer for updates
Install AeroChat, paste the recipe, add your AfterShip API key, and ask your own chat to text you about a recent order.
7-day free trial.