Ready-made message templates: order confirmation, shipping, cart and review

If your number is connected to Meta's official WhatsApp API, every automatic notification you send customers needs an approved template: the order confirmation, the shipping update, the cart reminder and the review request. This article gives you ready-made templates for these four cases, to copy as they are or adapt, with each template's Meta category and the rules that keep it from being rejected.

What is a WhatsApp message template, and when do you need one?

A template is a message you write once and Meta approves, with variable slots that are filled in for each customer, such as their name and order number. Variables are written as numbers in double braces: {{1}}, then {{2}}, and so on, in order.

On the official connection, templates are the only kind of message you can send outside the customer service window. That window opens for 24 hours when the customer messages you, and inside it you can reply with any message. A notification you start yourself — an order confirmation or a cart reminder — needs an approved template.

Each template is approved in a specific language, and Meta doesn't translate templates or their variables. If your customers read Arabic and English, you need a template for each language.

If you send through the ATMET Chat channels, you don't need templates: the notification goes out from your linked number with the text you write in the settings.

What's the difference between utility and marketing templates?

Every template has a Meta category, and the category decides whether the template is accepted and what each message costs:

• Utility templates: non-promotional messages about an order or an action the customer took, such as an order confirmation or a shipping update. Meta treats a review request as utility when it is about a specific order of the customer's; a general review or survey request is not accepted as utility.
• Marketing templates: anything that promotes or encourages a purchase. Meta counts an abandoned cart reminder as marketing even if the customer asked for it, and a message that mixes an order update with a promotional offer is marketing too.

Why does it matter? Since October 1, 2026 a utility message is charged at the utility rate inside the customer service window as well as outside it; it used to be free inside. A marketing message costs far more. The exception for both is the free entry point window: when a customer messages you from a Click to WhatsApp ad and you reply while their customer service window is open, your reply is free and opens a window Meta says may stay open for up to 7 days, in which it doesn't charge for marketing or utility messages. Rates for each country are on the Meta pricing page.

What rules get a template rejected by Meta?

The most common rejections come from simple rules you can avoid from the start:

• Don't start or end the template with a variable. Meta rejects a template whose very first or very last element is {{1}} or any other variable, so always open with a word like "Hi" and close with a sentence.
• Don't pack many variables into a short message. Meta rejects a template that has too many variables for its length; the fix is a longer text or fewer variables.
• Give an example for every variable. When you submit the template for review, you write a sample value for each variable, like a realistic customer name and order number.
• Keep the category honest. A utility template with a coupon or an offer in it is treated as marketing.

In ATMET Chat, the template builder checks extra rules before submitting: the body up to 1,024 characters, the header up to 60 characters with at most one variable, the footer up to 60 characters with no variables, and button text up to 25 characters with no variable or emoji.

After approval, Meta watches how customers respond: a template that gets repeated negative feedback or low read rates can be paused, and one that keeps getting negative feedback can be disabled.

What's a ready-made order confirmation template?

Category: Utility.

Hi {{1}}, thank you for your order from {{2}}.
Your order {{3}} is confirmed, and we'll send you an update as soon as it ships.
For any question about your order, just reply to this message.

Variables: {{1}} customer's first name, {{2}} store name, {{3}} order number.

A version with the order link, so the customer can follow the order themselves:

Hi {{1}}, we've received your order {{2}}, and set up a page where you can follow it.
Your order details and status are here: {{3}}
Thank you for shopping with us.

Variables: {{1}} first name, {{2}} order number, {{3}} order link.

What's a ready-made shipping template?

Category: Utility.

Hi {{1}}, your order {{2}} is on its way to you.
Shipping company: {{3}}
Tracking number: {{4}}
Track your parcel here: {{5}}
We hope you enjoy your order.

Variables: {{1}} first name, {{2}} order number, {{3}} shipping company, {{4}} tracking number, {{5}} tracking link.

Bind this template to the Shipped status specifically: the shipping company and tracking number aren't known until the order is handed to the carrier, so sending it with an earlier status arrives with empty variables.

What's a ready-made abandoned cart template?

Category: Marketing — Meta always classifies cart reminders that way.

Hi {{1}}, we noticed you left some items in your cart at {{2}}.
Your cart comes to {{3}}, and you can finish your order here: {{4}}
Your cart is saved for you, and we're happy to help.

Variables: {{1}} first name, {{2}} store name, {{3}} cart total, {{4}} cart link.

A version with a discount code:

Hi {{1}}, your cart at {{2}} is still waiting for you.
Finish your order here: {{3}} and use the discount code {{4}} at checkout.
The code is yours alone and can be used once.

Variables: {{1}} first name, {{2}} store name, {{3}} cart link, {{4}} discount code.

How cart reminders work — timing, coupons and plans — is covered in detail in the abandoned cart guide.

What's a ready-made review request template?

Category: Utility, because it is about a specific order.

Hi {{1}}, we hope your order {{2}} from {{3}} reached you in perfect condition.
Your opinion matters to us — rate your experience here: {{4}}
Thank you for trusting us.

Variables: {{1}} first name, {{2}} order number, {{3}} store name, {{4}} review link.

Don't put a coupon in the review request: it makes it marketing for Meta. The place for a coupon is the reply to the review, after the customer has rated — details in the review request guide.

Should I add buttons to the template?

Buttons turn the next step into a single tap, and ATMET Chat's template builder accepts several kinds:

• Link: a button that opens a page, such as the order or cart page — up to two per template.
• Call: a button that calls your store's number — one only.
• Quick replies: buttons the customer taps to send you their text as a message, such as "Where is my order now?" under a status update, or "I need help" under a cart reminder.
• Copy code: a button that copies the discount code. Having one makes the template marketing, so don't put it in a utility template.

A template can have up to ten buttons, and each button's text is short with no variables.

How does ATMET Chat send these templates automatically?

You don't need to type {{1}} and {{2}} yourself in ATMET Chat. In the template builder you write the message and add variables from named buttons — such as {First name}, {Order number} and {Tracking link} — and ATMET Chat converts them to Meta's numbered format and submits the template for review.

Then you bind each template to its notification under Automatic notifications: the order confirmation to New order, shipping to the Shipped status under Order status updates, the cart to Abandoned cart reminder, and the review to Review request. From then on, ATMET Chat fills the variables from your store's data and sends each message on time.

ATMET Chat's template library also has ready templates for these cases, with a suggested category for each: utility for order confirmations, status updates and review requests, and marketing for cart reminders and replies to reviews.

What should you do if a template is rejected?

ATMET Chat shows the reason Meta sent, under "Why it was rejected:". It is usually one of the reasons above: a variable at the start or end, too many variables in a short text, or a category that doesn't fit the content. Edit the template and resubmit it — a rejected template can be edited.

Avoid deleting an approved template to recreate it under the same name: Meta doesn't allow a new template with the name of a deleted approved template for 30 days. Edit the template instead.

Everything a store needs to send these notifications is on the ATMET Chat for stores page.