ShipThanks

How it works

Every ShipThanks conversation follows the same two-phase flow. Phase A is automatic; Phase B is always a human decision.

Phase A — something worth thanking happens, the seller is prompted

  1. Your system starts a conversation with one API call when something worth thanking happens — an order, a renewal, a subscription (see the API reference, or use a connector such as the upcoming Shopify plugin).

  2. ShipThanks resolves the seller who owns that customer — by your rep id or by phone number, provisioning the seller on the fly if they're new.

  3. The seller receives an SMS from your organization's number:

    "Sarah just ordered — tap to thank them: …"

  4. The link opens straight to the record screen — no app, no login — with the event context ("Monthly protein powder") so the seller knows what to say.

A few guarantees built into this phase:

  • One prompt per event. Conversations are idempotent by your reference id — retries and duplicate calls never prompt the seller twice.
  • No prompts that can't lead anywhere. If the customer has opted out of SMS or the seller can't be reached, no prompt goes out; the conversation surfaces in the dashboard queue instead.
  • No stale prompts. Events that arrive before your number registration completes aren't prompted retroactively — a weeks-late thank-you prompt reads wrong, so they appear only in the dashboard queue.

Phase B — the seller records and sends

  1. The seller records a short video in the browser, previews it, and hits send.
  2. ShipThanks generates an animated GIF preview and sends the customer an MMS: the GIF inline, plus a link to the full video on a branded watch page.
  3. A conversation opens. If the customer replies, the message lands in the seller's dashboard inbox and the seller is notified.

The customer message is never auto-sent. If a seller never records, no customer message goes out for that event. This is deliberate: an automated "personal" video isn't personal, and customers can tell.

Message templates

The text wrapping each thank-you (greeting, video link, sign-off) comes from your organization's default template, with variables like the customer's name, the seller's name, and the watch link resolved at send time. If no template is configured, a minimal system default ensures a recorded video always goes out.

Channels

SMS/MMS is the live channel today. The platform is designed channel-aware, with email support planned — customers reachable only by email will become promptable when that channel ships.