WhatsApp in Odoo: Order Confirmations, Reminders and Support Conversations

Sending from Records, App Settings and Automation Rules

By Hand, from the Chatter

Once a template is approved for a model, a WhatsApp button appears above the chatter composer on that model's records. It opens a Send WhatsApp Message window with the approved templates, so a salesperson can send a quotation or a reminder without leaving the record. Canned responses work in WhatsApp conversations too.

From App Settings

Several apps send templates on their own once you choose one. Online order confirmations are set under Website > Configuration > Settings, in the eCommerce section. Payment reminders use the Send WhatsApp message action on follow-up levels under Accounting > Configuration > Follow-up Levels; a negative number of days sends a reminder before the due date, and Odoo advises reconciling the bank first so nobody is chased for an invoice already paid. Point of Sale shares receipts once WhatsApp Enabled is ticked, and events can include WhatsApp reminders in their communication schedule.

With Automation Rules

For everything else, use automation rules. Create one in Studio, choose a trigger, add conditions and pick Send WhatsApp as the action with an approved template. Useful triggers include a value being set, such as an order's status, a time before or after a date field, such as the day before a delivery or an appointment, and record creation. Time-based rules are checked by a scheduled action every four hours by default, and more often when a rule's delay is short, so do not promise reminders to the minute.

A Worked Example: A Dispatch Notice in Arabic and English

1. Create the template. In WhatsApp > Templates, create "Order dispatched" in English, applying to Transfer, with the category Utility and the phone field pointing at the contact's phone.
2. Write the body. "Hello {{1}}, your order {{2}} has left our warehouse and is on its way. Reply here if you need to change the delivery time." Map the variables to the contact's name and the source document, which holds the sales order reference.
3. Add a button. A Quick Reply such as Talk to us invites replies.
4. Repeat in Arabic. Create the Arabic version as a second template with its own name and translated text.
5. Submit and sync. Submit both for approval, then sync them once Meta approves.
6. Automate. In Studio, create two automation rules on Transfer that run when the status becomes Done, limited to delivery operations, to contacts who have opted in and to one language each.
7. Test. Validate a delivery for a test contact, check the message and its status under WhatsApp > Messages, then let the rules run for everyone.

Opt-in and Consent in Odoo

Meta only allows you to message people who have given you their number and agreed to receive messages from your business, and Odoo cannot know who agreed unless you record it. A simple pattern works:

• Collect consent wherever you collect numbers, naming your business in the wording.
• Record it on the contact with a tag or a Studio field, with the date and source.
• Add the consent condition to every automation rule that sends WhatsApp, and check consent before switching on WhatsApp in follow-up levels, event reminders or receipts.
• Remove it as soon as a customer asks to stop, on any channel.
• Keep offers separate: consent to order updates is not consent to promotions.

The category matters for cost as well. Since 1 July 2025 Meta charges per delivered template, with rates by category and country, while utility templates sent inside an open customer service window and free-form replies are not charged. Check Meta's current rates for your markets before switching on high-volume rules.

Replies, Discuss and the 24-Hour Window

Replies arrive in Discuss. When a customer writes first, Odoo opens a group chat with the users listed under Notify users on the WhatsApp account. Once a colleague is talking to the customer, only the people in that conversation are notified; if nobody responds for 15 days, the customer's next message goes to the whole group again. Odoo 19 also shows which WhatsApp account is used to reply, which helps when one team runs several numbers.

Meta's 24-hour rule still applies. For 24 hours after the customer's last message your team can reply freely; after that, only an approved template can restart the conversation. When a chat turns into a support case, typing /ticket in the conversation creates a Helpdesk ticket, so the case is tracked in one place.

Where StarBot Adds AI Conversations and Handover

Odoo's WhatsApp app is built for templates your records send and replies your team writes. Odoo 19's AI agents, covered in our guide to AI in Odoo 19, are documented for the AI app, Discuss and website Live Chat. If you want an assistant that answers on WhatsApp itself, that is where StarBot comes in.

StarBot answers from a knowledge base your team approves, detects whether a customer writes in Arabic or English and replies in the same language. Connected to Odoo through OdooStar, it can check an order or delivery status in your sales, inventory, helpdesk and CRM records, with each lookup limited to what the person asking may see. When a request needs a person, it hands over on keywords, sentiment, repeated misunderstanding or simply because the customer asked, with the transcript and captured details attached.

Since 15 January 2026, Meta's WhatsApp Business terms have barred AI providers from using the Platform to offer general-purpose AI assistants, but, as TechCrunch reported, Meta has said businesses using AI to serve their own customers are not affected. Decide which system answers each number before go-live, so a customer never gets two replies.

A Go-Live Checklist for WhatsApp in Odoo

• Meta app set to Live, with a privacy policy URL, a permanent token and verified webhooks.
• Notify users set for each account, with cover for evenings and weekends.
• Utility templates approved in Arabic and English, with unique names.
• Consent recorded on contacts and used as a condition in every rule.
• Automation rules tested with test contacts before they run for all customers.
• Failure Type and Failure Reason columns shown under WhatsApp > Messages and reviewed every week.

How Star Bit Solutions Can Help

Through our Odoo Enterprise practice, we set up the WhatsApp app end to end: the Meta business account and app, webhooks and tokens, templates in Arabic and English, automation rules, follow-up levels and the Discuss routing your teams will use. On Odoo Community, where the WhatsApp app is not available, we can connect StarBot to your Odoo records or plan a move to Enterprise; our guide to Odoo Enterprise vs Community explains the difference.

When you want conversations as well as notifications, StarBot adds an AI assistant on WhatsApp, web and social channels, with handover to your team inbox or helpdesk. Contact us, call +971 55 973 4524 or email [email protected], and tell us which messages you want Odoo to send.