Share:
Table of Contents
You can easily customize, automate, and print delivery notes for WooCommerce orders using a dedicated plugin like WooCommerce Shipping Labels and Delivery Notes by WebToffee. Unlike an invoice, a delivery note is not a legal document but a helpful summary your customers value during order receipt. After activating the plugin, you can customize the delivery note template, configure details such as which order statuses should generate a note and update the settings with just a few clicks. To bulk print delivery notes, go to the WooCommerce Orders page, select the orders you need, and choose Print Delivery Note from the actions menu.
In this article, we’ll walk you through the complete process of customizing, auto-generating, and printing WooCommerce delivery notes using the WebToffee Delivery Notes plugin.
Key Takeaways
- While not legally required, such as invoices, delivery notes help customers validate received products and improve overall order fulfillment.
- Physically delivering or automatically emailing WooCommerce delivery notes along with the shipped goods makes it easy for customers to validate the products received.
- Using WooCommerce delivery notes and other optional shipping documents enhances your order fulfillment process and showcases your professionalism.
- Using the WebToffee WooCommerce delivery notes plugin, you can customize, auto-generate, print, and email delivery notes.
A delivery note in WooCommerce is a shipping document that outlines the products and the number of products that are shipped to the customers. It can be a physical document sent along with the products or an electronic document emailed before delivery.
The delivery note makes it easy for customers to cross-check the items they received with the items they ordered. If they find anything missing in the received package, they can immediately contact you with the information in the delivery notes.
WooCommerce delivery notes do not hold the same importance as invoices, as they are not legally valid for tax purposes. They just act as proof of delivery, complementing the invoice. Customers are not responsible for initiating the payment for the order because they received the delivery note. Moreover, the delivery note may sometimes not even contain the amount to be paid.
A delivery note is a document enclosed within the shipment of goods that contains information about the purchase order. Most often, it contains the information a driver needs for the delivery, including name, address, and contact information.
However, in some cases, you will find more information. You might be able to see the weight of the package or if it has any special delivery instructions. In general, the delivery note will include any details that help you successfully deliver the order.
If you choose cash on delivery as the payment method, your delivery note is a bill or receipt. Adding the aggregate amount to the delivery note ensures the delivery agent collects the correct amount.
Did You Know? A WooCommerce delivery note gives buyers a clear overview of what they ordered and what was shipped. If any items are missing due to stock shortages or unavailability, the note keeps them informed. Plus, when the recipient signs and returns a copy, it serves as proof of delivery for the seller!
Use Cases of WooCommerce Delivery Notes
Besides physical products or deliveries, there are other use cases of WooCommerce delivery notes:
- Proof of Purchase & Order Reference
Sending a delivery note via email provides customers with a clear record of their purchase, making it easier for them to track and verify their orders.
- Reference for Online Sales & Order Tracking
A WooCommerce delivery note serves as a helpful order reference, helping customers and sellers manage transactions, especially for bulk or recurring purchases.
- Personalized Delivery Instructions
For products requiring special handling, delivery notes can include custom messages like ‘Handle with Care,’ ‘Deliver to Safe Place,’ or ‘Signature Required’, ensuring proper delivery instructions are followed.
Therefore, the delivery note offers more than mere details about the shipment – it is the cornerstone of the entire delivery process.
To create WooCommerce delivery notes, as mentioned earlier, you will need to use a third-party plugin. The WebToffee WooCommerce PDF Invoices, Packing Slips, Delivery Notes, and Shipping Labels plugin is the best in the niche, and we will be using this plugin.
This delivery notes plugin offers basic functionality but doesn’t allow you to customize document settings or delivery note templates. However, with the premium WooCommerce Print Delivery Notes add-on, you can unlock more customization options.
Let’s get started!
Automating WooCommerce Delivery Notes (Using Free Plugin)
Step 1: Install and Activate WooCommerce Delivery Notes Plugin
You must install the basic version of the WooCommerce delivery notes plugin for this. For this, from your WordPress dashboard:
- Navigate to Plugins > Add New in your WordPress admin console.
- Search for ‘PDF invoices and delivery notes for WooCommerce’
- Install and then Activate the plugin.
Step 2: Configure General Delivery Notes Settings
Activating the plugin will add an additional section named Invoice/Packing to WordPress’s left navigation bar. From here,
- Go to Invoice/Packing > Delivery note.
- Configure the general settings available, such as enabling or disabling the customer note, product image, and footer.
- Once done, click on Update Settings.
The WooCommerce delivery notes generated from this point onward will follow the customizations that you have made.
To access advanced customizations and enable automatic delivery note generation, you’ll need to install the premium plugin. Let’s take a closer look!
Generating WooCommerce Delivery Notes with Advanced Customizations (Using Plugin Add-on)
Step 1: Install & Activate WooCommerce Delivery Notes Plugin
- Go to Plugins > Add New Plugin and upload the plugin zip file that you have received after purchasing the plugin.
- Click on Install Now and then Activate the plugin.
Note: Install and activate the basic WooCommerce PDF Invoice and delivery notes plugin in your WordPress store for the premium WooCommerce delivery notes plugin to work.
Step 2: Configure General Settings of WooCommerce Delivery Notes
- Go to Invoice/Packing > Delivery note > General and configure the available options.
- If you want to group products belonging to the same category, enable the checkbox Group products by ‘Category’.
- To sort the products in delivery notes in ascending or descending order of the name or SKU, use the option Sort products by.
- To include the variation data of each product below it, enable Show variation data below each product.
- Add additional Order meta fields, Product meta fields, and Product attributes to the document if needed.
- Use the option Attach delivery note PDF in the order email option to specify the order statuses emails to which the delivery notes are to be automatically attached.
- Enable the Show print delivery note button option to add a print button to the order status emails specified just earlier.
- Click on Update Settings to save the changes.
That’s it! You’ve successfully automated delivery notes for WooCommerce orders so they are attached to order emails when an order reaches the selected status. Now, let’s look at how to customize the delivery note template using the WooCommerce plugin.
To customize the template and design of the delivery notes,
- Go to Invoice/Packing > Delivery note > Customize.
- Click on Change template and select a layout that suits your design requirements.
- Use the visual editor or code editor and the customization options on the right side of the screen (company logo, bar code, order number, billing address, etc.) to add, remove, or edit the component of your delivery notes template.
For more advanced layout and style customizations, we recommend adding the Customizer for WooCommerce PDF Invoices – a powerful add-on that lets you personalize invoice and label templates using an intuitive drag-and-drop editor.
- Once done, click on Save template and provide a template name to save it as a template.
- Click on the Save and activate button on the top right to activate this delivery note template.
This activates the selected template. You can create new templates and activate them if you need to by going to My Templates on the same page.
Since the print button is enabled in the email, the button will be embedded in the order status emails selected during configuration, in our case – the order processing email. This process will be automated, and the document will be attached automatically without manual intervention.
This is how the print delivery note option would look on the order status email.
However, you can generate and print delivery notes in WooCommerce manually with this plugin. For this,
- Go to WooCommerce > Orders and click on the order that you want.
- Click the download or print icon next to the Delivery note to initiate the document creation or download/print manually.
Bulk Print Delivery Notes in WooCommerce
To print the delivery notes in bulk for several orders at once,
- Go to WooCommerce > Orders and select the orders that you want.
- Then, choose the bulk action Print Delivery note and click on Apply.
In conclusion, with the right tools and strategies, creating delivery notes for your store can be simple and efficient.
With plugins like WooCommerce Print Invoice & Delivery Note, you can easily print and customize delivery notes from your store’s dashboard. If you want even more control and flexibility, Delivery Notes for WooCommerce lets you tweak the documents to make things easier and more polished for your customers.
By taking the time to set up and customize your delivery notes, you can improve the overall customer experience and streamline your store’s delivery process.
Hope this article was helpful.
Thanks for reading!
