Restaurant Pickup Texts with WooCommerce and Twilio

Short version: take the order online, mark it Ready for Pickup when the bag is packed, and let the customer get a text. No calling out names at the counter, no “is my order ready?” phone calls. Here is how a restaurant or café sets that up in WooCommerce.

The flow

1. Customer orders on your WooCommerce site, picks Local Pickup, and ticks the SMS consent box.
2. Kitchen works the order as Processing, as usual.
3. Staff click “Ready for Pickup”, a new order status OrderRing adds, from the order screen or the orders list.
4. OrderRing texts the customer through your Twilio number. The default message is “Hello {customer_first_name}. Your order #{order_number} is ready for pickup. Please come to the store when convenient. Thank you.” You can edit it, and add {store_name}.
5. The customer collects and staff mark the order Completed.

Free with OrderRing Lite

• The Ready for Pickup status and an automatic SMS when an order enters it.
• “Local Pickup only” filter, so delivery orders never get a pickup text.
• Checkout consent checkbox, plus automatic STOP, HELP and START handling.
• Uses your own Twilio account; nothing is sent to Tillpress.

What Pro adds for busy counters

• Two-way chat. Customers can reply “running 5 min late” and staff see it inside WooCommerce (Messages inbox), not on a personal phone.
• Pickup reminder. If an order is still waiting after a set time (24 hours by default), OrderRing sends one reminder. It is skipped if the order was already collected.
• Quiet hours. An order marked ready after closing is texted when quiet hours end, not at midnight.
• Voice call option. Call a landline-only customer with the same message, read out.
• WhatsApp. Send the same update by WhatsApp if your Twilio account has it enabled.

Restaurant-specific tips

• Keep the text short and include the order number. That’s what staff ask for at the counter.
• Put where to collect in the template: “side door”, “bar counter”, “curbside bay 2”.
• Turn on “Local Pickup only” if you also deliver, so delivery customers don’t get a pickup text.
• Register for 10DLC early. US carriers can take days to approve a restaurant campaign. See A2P 10DLC for restaurants.

Costs

You pay Twilio for the number (about a dollar or two a month) and per text sent, and you pay any one-time 10DLC registration fees to Twilio and the carriers. OrderRing Lite is free. Pro is $69 a year for one site, or $9 for a single month. OrderRing never adds a fee per message.

Setup walkthroughs: order-ready SMS setup, Twilio credentials and webhook, and SMS consent and STOP handling.

Get OrderRing Lite free Buy Pro — $69/year

Related: OrderRing: WooCommerce SMS order notifications