The first thing everyone asks right after they pay
You'll know exactly what line to display in your store, right next to the price, so the person paying knows at that moment when their order will arrive, instead of texting you on WhatsApp to ask.
By Yodai · Published on September 6, 2026 · Updated on October 12, 2026
Someone just paid. The money's already out of their account, the screen says "thank you," and in that same second their mind asks one question: so when does this arrive?
If nothing they read while paying answers that, they'll answer it themselves: they'll pick up their phone and text you on WhatsApp. An hour after paying you, they're already waiting on an answer about something you could have told them the moment they checked out.
The question isn't what you're going to tell them. It's when you say it, and in what words, so they never end up texting you at all.
The first minute is yours, not theirs
Right after they pay, you have one minute while the person is still looking at the screen. It's the cheapest chance you'll ever get to answer that question: you don't need to write anything new, open the chat, or stop what you're doing. All it takes is for what they read at checkout to already say when the next thing happens: the timeframe, posted in your store right next to the price. The message you send afterward just repeats it, but it won't arrive in that first minute.
Once that minute passes, they put their phone away and go on with their day. The question doesn't disappear: it just waits, and comes back as a message the moment doubt creeps in, almost always before you've done anything yet.
That's why the rule is simple: the date and time get read at checkout, not in a message that arrives hours later. Whatever doesn't fit in that first minute, you won't read in time.
- "We'll be in touch with you soon"
- It doesn't say when that "soon" starts counting
- It leaves the door open for them to ask that same afternoon
- "You'll have it at your door by 2:00 PM Thursday"
- The date is the first line, not the last
- If it can't be guaranteed, you say that too: "we'll text you if that changes"
Which one do I pick: Always pick the specific date, even if it's a range ("between Thursday and Friday"). You only allow yourself to be vague when you truly can't know the date yet, and then you say so in the next section.
If you still don't know the exact date
Some businesses have dates that depend on something you don't control yet: a supplier, a waiting list, this week's appointment slots. In that case, you can't fake a date you don't have. But you don't stay quiet either.
What you say in that case is a window and a commitment for when the exact date will come: "Your order ships this week; we'll confirm the delivery day on Thursday." You haven't solved the whole question, but you've solved the part you could: when you'll follow up, so they don't have to ask.
That second notice, the one that confirms the exact date once you know it, isn't this lesson: it's the email that comes after, and that's what we cover in the next one.
- You've decided exactly what line the customer reads at checkout: the date or the time, right in the first line
- You know what to say when you don't have the exact date yet: a range and when you'll confirm it
- You've picked the safer of the two dates you were torn between, not the most optimistic one
- The next lesson gives you the email that wraps this up so nobody has to ask, "so, where's my order?"
In Yodai the store comes with the Free plan, with a catalog, a cart and orders. See how to create your online store for free.
NextThe email that avoids the question "So, where's my order?"