Studies show that 72% of customers expect order status updates. When an order fails in WooCommerce, it can be due to various reasons such as payment declines, gateway errors, or customer mistakes during checkout. WooCommerce Failed Order Emails can help notify merchants of these issues promptly.
Sending a failed order email helps notify both the store owner and the customer about the issue, allowing them to take appropriate action.
In this instructional guide, you’ll discover why the WooCommerce failed order email is important and learn how to enable and customize it for your store.
Customize your WooCommerce failed order emails with Spark Editor – professional, branded, and engaging.
What is the WooCommerce Failed Order Email?
A WooCommerce failed order email is a notification sent when a customer’s payment fails or an order encounters an issue during checkout. This email informs the customer about the order failure notification and allows them to take corrective action.
Common reasons for a WooCommerce failed payment notification include:
- Insufficient funds or declined transactions
- Payment gateway errors
- Technical issues during checkout
- Expired or incorrect payment details
The failed order email template in WooCommerce helps store owners communicate effectively with customers, reducing confusion and improving the chances of recovering lost sales.
Why Send WooCommerce Failed Order Emails?
Sending a WooCommerce failed order email is important for business operations and customer experience. Here’s why:
Keeps Customers Informed: A failed order email to customers lets shoppers know their payment wasn’t complete, avoiding confusion and frustration.
Facilitates Order Recovery: When there is an explicit WooCommerce order failure message, customers can resubmit payment (retry failed order WooCommerce) and finalize the purchase. You can make this easy with some best plugins out there.
Detects Checkout Problems: Monitoring WooCommerce transaction failed emails helps you identify technical or payment gateway issues that are hampering sales.
Enhances Customer Confidence: Timely, transparent communication convinces customers that payment security is a concern, minimizing WooCommerce transaction declined error anxiety.
By modifying WooCommerce failed order email templates, you can achieve consistency between your message and your brand while maximizing recovery rates.
No coding skills? No problem! Discover how to personalize WooCommerce emails easily with a drag-and-drop editor in this detailed guide.
Managing Default WooCommerce Failed Order Emails
Sending a WooCommerce failed order email keeps customers informed and may help recover lost sales. WooCommerce has default settings for sending emails to failed orders. Follow these steps:
1. Enable Failed Order Emails
- Go to WooCommerce > Settings > Emails
2. Customize and send the Email
- Use a clear subject (e.g., “Payment Failed—Try Again”)
- Include order details and retry options
- Enter the recipient email address (usually the store admin).
- Add a payment link to simplify checkout
3. Test the Email
- Place a test order with a failed payment
- Check if the customer receives the email
- Adjust content if needed
Troubleshooting WooCommerce Failed Order Emails
WooCommerce failed order emails are crucial for notifying customers about payment failures. However, issues may arise that prevent these emails from being sent correctly. Here are some common problems and how to fix them:
1. Emails Not Sending
- Check if the Failed Order Email is enabled in WooCommerce > Settings > Emails.
- Verify your email-sending service (SMTP) is properly configured.
- Test with a different email address to rule out delivery issues.
2. Incorrect Email Content
- Ensure the email template is correctly customized under the email settings.
- Include clear payment retry instructions and order details.
- Use a consistent subject line to avoid confusion.
3. Payment Gateway Delays
- Some payment gateways take time to confirm failed transactions.
- Check the WooCommerce order status and update it manually if needed.
- Enable instant notifications from your payment provider.
4. Emails Going to Spam
- Use a professional email domain (e.g., @yourstore.com).
- Avoid spam trigger words in the email content.
- Set up DKIM, SPF, and DMARC records for better email deliverability.
5. Missing Order Details
- Ensure the order information is correctly mapped in the email template.
- Test with a failed order to confirm details appear properly.
- Use a custom email plugin like Spark Email Editor to enhance clarity.
How to Customize WooCommerce Failed Order Emails?
Let’s have a clear look at how to customize your failed emails using our SparkEditor:
1. Log in to Spark Editor
- Open the SparkEditor.
- Log in using your admin credentials.
- Once inside, navigate to the Email Editor Plus Pro section.
2. Select the Failed Order Email Template
- In the SparkEditor dashboard, go to the Templates section.
- Look for the failed order email template.
- Click on your desired template to open the editor.
3. Customize the WooCommerce failed Order Email
Once inside the editor, you can modify different parts of the email.
1. Edit Email Content
- Click on the text area where the email body is written.
- Modify the default failed order message to make it more engaging and informative.
- Use placeholders to personalize it:
- Customer Name → {{customer_name}}
- Order Number → {{order_id}}
2. Customize the Design (Branding & Colors)
- Click on the header section to add your company logo.
- Adjust the font style, size, and color to match your branding.
- Modify the background color and button color to align with your store theme.
- You can customize logos and connect with your socials in the footer section.
3. Add Additional Information
- Click on Preview Email to see how it will look.
- If satisfied, click Save Changes.
- The preview looks like this:
- Send a test email:
- Enter your email in the Test Email field.
- Click Send Test Email to check the email formatting and content.
- You can refer to our YouTube video with a detailed explanation.
Step 5: Activate & send the failed order email
- Go to WordPress > Settings > Emails.
- Find the failed order email and click Manage.
- Make sure the enable this email notification option is checked.
- Set the recipient email (customer).
- Click Save Changes.
Step 6: Resend a failed Order Email Manually (If Needed)
If you need to resend an order manually failed email, follow these steps:
- Go to WooCommerce > Orders.
- Find the failed order and open it.
- Click Resend Order Email from the order actions menu.
Advantages in Using SparkEditor for Sending a Failed Order Email
Here are the key features of SparkEditor that make it a powerful and user-friendly tool for customizing and sending WooCommerce failed order emails:
Drag & Drop Email Customization: Personalize and design WooCommerce emails using an intuitive interface, such as the WooCommerce failed order email.
Smooth WooCommerce Integration: Functions seamlessly with WooCommerce email settings to enhance order status notifications.
Pre-Built WooCommerce Email Templates: Select from multiple pre-designed templates for order confirmation, order failed, and refund emails.
Live Preview & Test Emails: View real-time changes and send test WooCommerce failed order emails before going live.
Brand Customization: Include store logos, alter colors, fonts, and button styles to suit your WooCommerce store branding.
No Coding Required: Edit WooCommerce order failed emails using a simple editor—ideal for non-technical users.
Custom Email Headers & Footers: Make your WooCommerce emails more professional with custom headers, footers, and social media links.
Mobile-Responsive Email Footers: Failed order notification WooCommerce emails will look great on every device.
Multilingual & WPML Compatible: Translate WooCommerce failed order confirmation emails into multiple languages.
Send automated order follow-up emails using Retainful’s easy-to-setup email automation.
End Note
Now that you understand the importance of WooCommerce failed order emails and how to set them up, it’s time to implement these steps in your store.
A well-crafted WooCommerce failed order email and notification ensures customer trust and reduces confusion about order status.
Whether you rely on WooCommerce defaults or improve them with SparkEditor, providing customers with prompt and professional failed order emails builds credibility for your brand.
Don’t leave your customers guessing—optimize your failed order emails now and streamline the process.
Frequently Asked Questions
Go to WooCommerce > Settings > Emails, find Failed Order, click Manage, enable the notification, and save changes.
Yes, edit it in WooCommerce > Settings > Emails or use plugins like SparkEditor and Kadence WooCommerce Email Designer for advanced customization.
Ensure the email is enabled, check SMTP settings, review payment gateway issues, and use an email logging plugin to track sending failures.
Plugins like SparkEditor, WP Mail SMTP, and Kadence WooCommerce Email Designer help enhance the design and deliverability of failed order emails.
Yes, use translation plugins like SparkEditor, Loco Translate, or Polylang to send WooCommerce failed payment emails in multiple languages.