SMS Overview
The SMS add-on lets your store send text messages to customers — "Your order is ready", "Your table is booked for 7 PM", "Don't forget your appointment tomorrow". Texts reach customers even when they're not looking at email, which makes them great for time-sensitive updates.
Points, top-ups and message history are paused
Text messages are paid per message from your Wallet, and top-ups are paused while we finish setting up our payment provider — so your balance stays at zero, and the Wallet, message history and reconciliation screens are hidden for now. You can still set everything up: turn the add-on on, write your templates, choose your automations, and build your opt-out list. Points, top-ups and history come back when payments go live.
How it works, start to finish
- You turn on the SMS add-on for your store.
- You keep some credit in your Wallet (1 point = 1 message segment).
- When something happens — an order is ready, a booking is coming up — Fuze Store sends the matching text.
- Each text sent subtracts points from your Wallet.
You only pay for messages that actually go out. If a message can't be sent (for example, the customer opted out), you are not charged. There's no monthly message bundle to use up — it's pure pay-as-you-go from your Wallet.
What sending costs
Messages are billed in segments. A normal short text is one segment (1 point). A longer message is split into more segments and costs proportionally more. The app shows your balance as both points and an estimated number of messages, so you always know roughly how many texts you have left.
To add credit, see Topping Up Your Wallet.
What you can send
You can text customers about:
- Orders — accepted, ready, completed, and other order updates.
- Events — appointment and reservation confirmations and reminders.
- Refunds — confirmation that a refund was completed.
- Waiting list — "Your table is ready" (and similar). These can send automatically: pressing Call on a queue entry texts the customer when the waiting-list trigger is enabled in Automation, and a "you're in the queue" text can go out on join when the Auto-send SMS on join preference is on (Preferences → Order → Waiting list). Staff can also send by hand with Send SMS.
Each store also has a free-form Test send so you can text your own phone and confirm everything works.
Settings & test send
Open Configurations → SMS → Settings.
- Turn on Enable SMS dispatch (app) / Enable SMS notifications for this store (web). When this master switch is off, no SMS goes out — even if the add-on is active and the Wallet has points.
- Optionally set Sender ID (leave blank for the platform default FuzeStore).
- Set Low-balance alert email and Low-balance threshold (points) so Fuze can email you when the Wallet drops below that many points (platform default if blank).
- Save (Save settings on the app, Save changes on the web).
- Under Send a test SMS / Send test SMS, enter your Mobile Number (or E.164 phone on the web), a short message, and send.
- Success (app): toast Test SMS dispatched — check the recipient's phone.
- On the web, the test description notes: Each test debits the wallet.
- Confirm the text on your phone, then open Message History for status.
Common send failures: empty Wallet (SMS_INSUFFICIENT_BALANCE), invalid phone, opted-out number, or master switch off.
The SMS hub
Everything SMS lives under Configurations → SMS. The hub shows your Wallet balance summary and a short reconciliation strip, then links to:
| Section | What it's for |
|---|---|
| Settings | Turn SMS on, set your sender name, alert email, and low-balance threshold. Includes a test-send. |
| Message templates | Customize the exact wording of each message. See Message Templates. |
| Automation | Choose which messages send automatically, and set reminder timing. See Automation. |
| Suppression list | Numbers that have opted out and won't be texted. See Suppression List. |
| Message history | A record of every text and its delivery status. See Message History. |
Top-ups and top-up receipts live on the separate Wallet screen (Configurations → Wallet), not as SMS hub rows — the SMS hub links out to Wallet when you need to add points.
How your texts appear
Your messages are sent from a recognizable sender name, and the default wording signs off with your store's name, like:
Your order #1042 is ready for pickup. – Acme Cafe
This way customers instantly know who the text is from.
If a text doesn't arrive
Most non-delivery comes down to one of these. Check them in order:
- The wallet is empty. A send needs at least one point. Top up, then try again. See Topping Up.
- The number opted out. If a customer is on your suppression list (they replied STOP, or you added them), the message is skipped and your wallet is not charged. Remove them only if they ask to be re-subscribed.
- The message wasn't set to auto-send. Automatic messages only go out for the triggers you turned on. Check Automation.
- The customer has no mobile number on file. Add one to their customer record.
- The number isn't a valid mobile number. Landlines and malformed numbers are rejected before sending.
Every send — delivered, queued, failed, or skipped — shows up in Message History with its status, so start there to see what happened to a specific text.
Before you start
- The SMS add-on must be active on your store (it's included free during a trial).
- Your Wallet needs some points.
- Customers must have a mobile number on file for them to be textable.
Always respect customers who opt out. If someone replies STOP, they're added to your suppression list automatically and won't be texted again. This keeps you compliant with messaging rules.