What it does
Turn missed sales into WhatsApp follow-ups
When a shopper adds items to their cart and leaves, when an order comes in or changes status, or when a customer signs up, the plugin lets your Vaakuos account know. Vaakuos can then reach out on WhatsApp — a friendly nudge to finish checkout, an order update, or a thank-you.
It all happens quietly in the background, so your pages and checkout stay fast for shoppers. It works with the latest version of WooCommerce, including the newer block-based cart and checkout, and it respects WordPress privacy tools for exporting or erasing a customer’s data.
What you need
Before you start
Set it up
Four simple steps
- 1
Add the plugin to your store
First make sure WooCommerce itself is installed and active. Then add Vaakuos the same way you add any plugin: in your WordPress dashboard go to Plugins → Add New, search for “Vaakuos”, click Install, then Activate. Were you sent a .zip file instead? Choose Upload Plugin at the top, pick the file, and activate.
- 2
Copy your API key from Vaakuos
Your API key is what links this store to your Vaakuos account. In your Vaakuos dashboard open Settings → API / Integrations and copy the key. Treat it like a password — don’t post it anywhere public.
- 3
Turn it on and save your settings
In WordPress go to Vaakuos → Settings. Tick Enable, paste your API key, and leave the Backend API URL exactly as it is. Choose which order updates you want to send (for example “completed” or “shipped”), and set your Default country code — for example 91 for India — so local phone numbers work on WhatsApp. Click Save, and you’re done.
- 4
Optional: keep delivery timely on low-traffic sites
The plugin sends everything in the background, and on a busy store that happens right away. On a very quiet store, sending waits until someone next visits the site. If that’s you, ask your hosting provider to run a “server cron” every few minutes — most managed WordPress hosts offer this as a setting in their control panel — so messages go out on schedule.
Check it's working
A quick two-minute test
- Open your store in a private/incognito window so you look like a new shopper. Add a product to the cart and enter an email on the checkout page — but don't complete the purchase.
- In Vaakuos → Settings, temporarily lower Abandon after to 1 minute and save, so you don't have to wait.
- Wait a couple of minutes, then open Vaakuos → Event Log. You should see an abandoned cart marked as sent.
- That's it — set Abandon after back to your normal value (for example 30 or 60 minutes) and save.
Who gets messaged
Stay in control of consent
By default, anyone who leaves their contact details can be messaged. If you turn on Require opt-in, marketing messages — like abandoned-cart reminders — only go to shoppers who agreed to receive them; everyone else is simply skipped.
Order updates such as “your order has shipped” always go out, because they're service messages people expect, not marketing. If you have a custom consent checkbox at checkout, ask support and we'll help you connect it.
About phone numbers. WhatsApp needs the country code to reach someone. That's why you set a Default country code during setup — it turns a local number like 9876543210 into a full WhatsApp number automatically. Just make sure it matches where most of your customers are.
If something's off
Common questions
| What you're seeing | Where to look | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Messages aren’t going out | Vaakuos → Event Log | On a quiet store, sending waits for the next visitor. Open your store in a browser to nudge it, or set up the optional server cron above. |
| An error about the key (401 / 403) | Vaakuos → Event Log | Your API key is wrong or expired. Re-copy it from your Vaakuos dashboard into Settings. |
| A “not found” error (404) | Vaakuos → Event Log | The Backend API URL was changed by mistake. Set it back to https://api.vaakuos.com. |
| Some shoppers aren’t being messaged | Event Log (look for “skipped”) | “Require opt-in” is on and those shoppers never agreed to marketing messages. |
| An abandoned cart wasn’t sent | Vaakuos → Abandoned Carts | The shopper never entered an email or phone number, so there’s no way to reach them. It still counts toward your stats. |
| No abandoned carts show up at all | Vaakuos → Settings | Your “abandon after” time may be set too high. Lower it and test with a cart of your own. |
Still stuck? Contact support and we'll take a look with you.
Removing it
Turning the plugin off
To pause it, just Deactivate the plugin — your settings and data stay put, and nothing new is sent. To remove it completely, Delete it from the Plugins screen; that cleans up its settings and data for good.
Ready to win back more sales?
Create a free Vaakuos account, add the plugin, and start following up on WhatsApp in about five minutes.