Customer notifications
Gain a better understanding of what notifications to send to customers and what information to include in them
You'll need to send messages (typically emails) to your customers throughout an eCommerce transaction. These notifications provide customers with information on their purchases and inform them of important events. They also help keep your customers engaged throughout the entire process, leading to a more positive shopping experience and potentially increasing brand loyalty.
You must send certain notifications to customers to access to Digital River's MOR/SOR business model.
In many cases, you can configure webhook(s) to listen for events created by Digital River and use the data in these events to populate the emails before they get pushed to customers.
On this page, you'll find information on order notifications and subscription notifications, as well as the events in the Digital River APIs (when available) that can be used to trigger them.
Order notifications
In this section, you'll find basic information on what notifications to send to customers throughout an order's lifecycle:
Order confirmation
This notification informs your customers that their order has been approved and is currently being processed. It provides customers with a record of their purchase and assures them that the transaction is authentic.
In Required Purchase Notifications (refer to Learning tools for access information), you'll find a comprehensive list of what to include in this notification.
Recommended type of triggering event: order.accepted
This same event type can also be used for subscription acquisition notifications.
Use the following table to learn which attributes in the event's data.object contain values that can be used to populate the notification.
The identifier of the order
id
A description of each product
name, (and optionally description, image, and url) in items[].productDetails
The cost of each product
items[].amount
Assessed taxes
totalTax
Applied discounts
totalDiscount
Shipping costs
totalShipping
Total amount of order
totalAmount
Shipment notification
Send this notification to customers when some or all of an order's goods have shipped. The message must indicate which items are in the shipment and should ideally include delivery tracking information.
In Required Purchase Notifications (refer to Learning tools for access information), you'll find a comprehensive list of what to include in this notification.
Recommended type of triggering event: fulfillment.created
Use the following table to learn which attributes in the event's data.object contain values that can be used to populate the notification.
The identifier of the order
orderId or orderDetails.id
A description of each shipped product
name, (and optionally description, image, and url) in orderDetails.items[].productDetails
The quantity of each shipped product
items[].quantity
The name of the designated carrier
trackingCompany
The designated carrier's tracking number
trackingNumber
A url that allows customers to access tracking details
trackingUrl
Successful cancellation
This notification informs customers that their order has been partially or fully cancelled. Regardless of the reason for the cancellation or who initiated the request, purchasers need to be notified which items will not be fulfilled.
In Required Purchase Notifications (refer to Learning tools for access information), you'll find a comprehensive list of what to include in this notification.
Recommended type of triggering event: fulfillment.created or order.cancelled
If your application supports partial order cancellations, then we recommend listening for fulfillment.created and using it to trigger this message.
This is because the state of each items[] in an order must be cancelled before Digital River creates an event with a type of order.cancelled.
For example, if an order contains multiple items[], each with a quantity of 2, and a customer uses your site’s UI to request that only one of those line items be fully cancelled, and, after approving that request, your system sends a POST /fulfillments with an items[].cancelQuantity of 2, then Digital River generates fulfillment.created but not order.cancelled.
Use the following tables to learn which attributes in the event's data.object contain values that can be used to populate the notification.
The identifier of the order
id
A description of each cancelled product
name, (and optionally description, image, and url) in items[].productDetails
The quantity of each cancelled product
items.quantity
Failed cancellation
If customers request to have an order partially or fully cancelled but you can't honor their request for whatever reason, send a notification informing them that their goods are still scheduled for fulfillment.
In Required Purchase Notifications (refer to Learning tools for access information), you'll find a comprehensive list of what to include in this notification.
Unless Digital River coordinates a fulfillment, there are no events in the Digital River APIs that can be used to trigger this failed cancellation message.
Delayed shipment, right to cancel (1st and 2nd notices)
If a shipment is delayed, send a notification to customers that provides a revised date of when the goods are scheduled for delivery. If additional delays occur that cause that date to be pushed out even further, send customers a second notice. In both of these messages, you must give customers the option to cancel their purchase.
In Physical Goods Required Purchase Notifications (refer to Learning tools for access information), you'll find a comprehensive list of what to include in this notification.
Currently, no events in the Digital River APIs can trigger these delayed shipment notifications.
Refund confirmation
This notification confirms that a customer's refund request has been successfully processed.
In Required Purchase Notifications (refer to Learning tools for access information), you'll find a comprehensive list of what to include in this message.
Recommended type of triggering event: order.refunded
Use the following table to learn which attributes in the event's data.object contain values that can be used to populate the notification.
The order identifier
id
Total amount refunded on order
refundedAmount
The amount of each individual refund on the order (optional)
payment.charges[].refunds[].amount
Product return instructions
This message provides instructions to customers on how to return physical products they've purchased.
In Recommended Purchase Notifications (refer to Learning tools for access information), you'll find a comprehensive list of what to include in this notification.
Unless Digital River coordinates a fulfillment, no events currently exist in the Digital River APIs that can be used to trigger this message.
Subscription notifications
This section provides basic information on what notifications to send customers throughout a subscription's lifecycle and provides guidance on each notification's potential triggering event.
Refer to Subscription Purchase Notifications (see Learning tools for access information) to be provided with a comprehensive list of what's required and what's recommended in these messages.
Triggering events
If you're using Digital River's subscription service, we indicate which type of event can be used to trigger each subscription notification. However, if you engage a third-party subscription service (except for acquisition confirmation notifications), you'll need to listen for relevant triggering events emanating from that service.
Acquisition confirmation
This notification informs customers that they have successfully acquired one or more subscription-based products.
Recommended type of triggering event: order.accepted
Use the following table to learn which attributes in the event's data.object contain values that can be used to populate the notification.
The identifier of the acquisition order
id
A description of each subscription product
For each items[] with subscriptionInfo, the
name, (and optionally description, image, and url) in productDetails
The cost of each subscription product
For each items[] with subscriptionInfo, the amount
Assessed taxes
totalTax
Applied discounts
totalDiscount
Shipping costs
totalShipping
Total amount of order
totalAmount
Trial conversion notification
This notification informs customers that their promotional trial period has ended, and they will be billed on a recurring basis for the subscription's products in the future.
Recommended type of triggering event: subscription.extended
Use the following table to learn which attributes in the event's data.object contain values that can be used to populate the notification.
The date the free trial was activated
subscription.stateTransitions.activatedFree
The first scheduled billing date
subscription.nextInvoiceDate
A description of each product in the subscription
name, (and optionally description, image, and url) in invoice.items[].productDetails
The cost and quantity of each product in the subscription
amount and quantity in invoice.items[]
The payment method to be charged
invoice.payment.sources[]
Taxes to be assessed
invoice.totalTax
A subtotal of the amount that the customer is to be charged
invoice.subtotal
The total amount that the customer is to be charged
invoice.totalAmount
Renewal reminder
This notification reminds customers that their recurring products are scheduled to renew soon. It should include the subscription's name and a description of its goods, the amount the customer will be charged, and the upcoming billing date.
Recommended type of triggering event: subscription.reminder
Use the following table to learn which attributes in the event's data.object contain values that can be used to populate the notification.
Start date of subscription
subscription.stateTransitions.activated
The next scheduled billing date
subscription.nextInvoiceDate
A description of each product in the subscription
name, (and optionally description, image, and url) in invoice.items[].productDetails
The cost and quantity of each product in the subscription
amount and quantity in invoice.items[]
Payment method to be charged
invoice.payment.sources[]
Taxes to be assessed
invoice.totalTax
A subtotal of the amount that the customer is to be charged
invoice.subtotal
The total amount that the customer is to be charged
invoice.totalAmount
Renewal confirmation
This notification informs customers that their subscription has been renewed and their designated payment method was successfully charged.
Recommended type of triggering event: subscription.extended
Use the following table to learn which attributes in the event's data.object contain values that can be used to populate the notification.
The order identifier
invoice.orderId
Start date of subscription
subscription.stateTransitions.activated
A description of each product in the subscription
name, (and optionally description, image, and url) in invoice.items[].productDetails
The cost and quantity of each product in the subscription
amount and quantity in invoice.items[]
The payment method that was charged
invoice.payment.sources[]
Assessed taxes
invoice.totalTax
Applied discounts
invoice.totalDiscount
A subtotal of the amount charged
invoice.subtotal
The total amount charged
invoice.totalAmount
Next scheduled billing date
subscription.nextInvoiceDate
Subscription cancelled notification
This notification informs customers that their request to cancel a subscription has been successfully processed. It should ideally contain details on the cancelled products.
Recommended type of triggering event: subscription.updated
Use the following table to learn which attributes in the event's data.object contain values that can be used to populate the notification.
The effective cancellation date
stateTransitions.cancelled
A description of each cancelled subscription product
items[].skuId
To access product details, use this identifier to retrieve the SKU.
Updated terms
This notification informs customers of an update to their subscription's terms and conditions. It should describe the upcoming changes and provide a way for customers to cancel the subscription if they don't agree with them.
Recommended type of triggering event: subscription.updated
Use the following table to learn which attributes in the event's data.object contain values that can be used to populate the notification.
The updated terms
planId
To access the updated terms and conditions, use this identifier to retrieve the plan.
A description of each product in the description
items[].skuId
To access product details, use this identifier to retrieve the SKU.
Billing failed notification
This notification informs customers that an unsuccessful attempt was made to charge the payment method funding their subscription. To avoid losing access to their recurring products, the message should contain instructions on how customers can update or replace this payment method.
Recommended type of triggering event: subscription.payment_failed
Use the following table to learn which attributes in the event's data.object contain values that can be used to populate the notification.
Payment method that could not be charged
invoice.payment.sources[]
The number of unsuccessful billing attempts that have been made so far
invoice.attemptCount
A description of the products that customers will lose access to unless they take action
name, (and optionally description, image, and url) in invoice.items[].productDetails
Subscription failed notification
This message informs customers that their subscription has been deactivated because payment couldn't be collected during the designated billing period. It's recommended that you include instructions on how customers can reactivate their subscriptions.
Recommended type of triggering event: subscription.failed
Use the following table to learn which attributes in the event's data.object contain values that can be used to populate the notification.
Description of failed subscription
planId
Use this identifier to retrieve the plan and access description information. For details, refer to name in Plans.
Description of products in failed subscription
items[].skuId
To access product details, use this identifier to retrieve the SKU.
The date that the subscription failed
stateTransitions.failed
Payment method expiration
Prior to a subscription's renewal, this message informs customers that the designated payment method has either expired or will expire before the scheduled renewal date. The notification should provide customers with a way to either update the subscription's current payment method or replace it with a new one.
In the Digital River APIs, no events currently exist that can be used to trigger this notification.
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