Notifications
SMS Notifications
You’ll learn how to turn on SMS notifications, fund the balance that pays for them, and choose which order events send a text.
Requirements
SMS requires a paid plan and a store based in the US, UK, Canada, or Sweden. It isn’t available outside those countries, regardless of plan.
Unlike email, SMS isn’t included automatically. It’s billed against your app spending limit as you send messages, the same limit that covers extra orders and extra locations, so raise it if it’s near its cap before any text goes out.
Customer SMS also needs a phone number on the order, which means phone number collection has to be turned on in Shopify checkout first. Most stores already have this enabled, but some don’t. See Step 1.
Sending customers order updates by SMS is a compliance matter, not just a Bird setting. Make sure your store’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service disclose that customers may receive SMS notifications about their orders. Bird doesn’t check this for you.
Step 1: Enable Phone Number Collection in Shopify
Customer SMS only. Skip this if you’re just enabling staff SMS.
- In your Shopify admin, go to Settings > Checkout
- Under Customer contact method, select Phone number or email
- Click Save
If this is off, Bird has no phone number to send customer SMS to, even with SMS notifications toggled on in Step 3.
Step 2: Raise Your App Spending Limit
There’s no separate SMS balance. SMS shares the same app spending limit as extra orders and extra locations, so raise it if it’s near its cap.
- In your Shopify admin, go to Bird App > Subscriptions
- Click Update limit to open the app spending limit dialog
- Enter a new spending limit and click Confirm and increase limit. Increases are charged through Shopify billing
If this limit is maxed out, SMS stops sending along with any other usage charge. It doesn’t affect email notifications.
Step 3: Turn On SMS Notifications
- In your Shopify admin, go to Bird App > Settings > SMS Notifications
- Toggle on the notifications you want sent by text, under Customer notifications or Staff notifications
Step 4: Add Staff Phone Numbers
Staff SMS needs a phone number on file before it can send. Customer SMS doesn’t. If you’re only enabling customer notifications, skip this step.
- In your Shopify admin, go to Bird App > Settings > Configure Locations
- Open the location whose staff should get SMS
- Scroll to Internal Notifications and enter one or more numbers under Notification phone numbers (comma-separated for multiple), then click Save
Which Notifications Support SMS
SMS mirrors the same order lifecycle as email, on both the customer and staff side.
Customer
| Notification | Applies To | Trigger |
|---|---|---|
| Ready for Pickup | Pickup | Order marked ready for pickup |
| Order Picked Up | Pickup | Order marked picked up |
| Out for Delivery | Delivery | Order marked dispatched |
| Order Delivered | Delivery | Order marked delivered |
| Order Edited | All orders, incl. shipping | Delivery details changed and “Notify customer” is checked |
Staff
| Notification | Applies To | Trigger |
|---|---|---|
| New Order Notification | Pickup & Delivery | New order placed |
Shopify’s own Order Confirmation and Shipping Confirmation emails don’t have an SMS equivalent; those stay email-only.
What’s Not Supported
SMS wording isn’t customizable yet. Unlike email templates, there’s no editor for SMS text content.
Billing
Each SMS deducts from your app spending limit at send time, charged per message by the recipient’s country. That’s the same limit that covers extra orders and extra locations, not a separate SMS plan or subscription tier. See Complete Guide to Our Pricing Plans for balance and billing details, and Shopify’s third-party app charges doc for how the underlying charge works.
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