Wholesale Handler
Wholesale Handler can email both sides of an order. A customer can switch on order receipts to get a copy of every order they place, update or cancel. A merchant can switch on order activity emails to hear whenever one of their customers does the same. Both are off by default, work independently, and are just a copy for your records - the order saved on the site is always the source of truth.
What emails does Wholesale Handler send about orders?
There are two separate streams, one for each side of the order. Each is controlled by its own toggle, so you only ever receive the emails you've opted into.
- Order receipts go to the customer. When the customer has these on, they get a copy of their order each time it's placed, updated or cancelled. The placed and updated copies itemise the order with today's prices and totals; the updated copy also shows what changed. The cancelled copy is a short confirmation, because the order no longer exists to itemise.
- Order activity emails go to the merchant. When the merchant has these on, they're emailed whenever one of their customers places, updates or cancels an order, so they hear about changes without watching the orders list.
Standing orders add a few more emails on top of these - covered in How standing orders work on Wholesale Handler and summarised below.
What's the difference between order receipts and order activity emails?
They sound similar but they point in opposite directions. Order receipts are the customer's copy of their own order. Order activity emails are the merchant's heads-up that a customer did something. Each side owns its own toggle and only controls its own emails - a merchant turning activity emails on has no effect on whether the customer gets receipts, and the reverse is also true.
The wording reflects that. The customer's email is a "receipt" - a copy for their records, not a confirmation, because the order is confirmed simply by being saved on the site. The merchant's email is an "activity" notification - it tells them what happened, with a link straight to the order.
How do I turn order emails on or off?
Open Settings. Customers find a card called Order receipts; merchants find one called Order activity emails. Flip the switch to On or Off and save. The change takes effect from the next order - it doesn't resend emails for orders already placed.
Merchants need a confirmed email address before they can switch activity emails on, since that's where the notifications go. If you're still on a free trial that hasn't confirmed its email yet, confirm it first and the toggle becomes available.
Will the other person know I've been emailed?
Yes, and that's deliberate. When a merchant has order activity emails on, the customer sees a short note on the order form before they place, change or cancel - "[supplier] will be notified by email when you place this order", with the wording matched to the action. It means nobody is quietly copied in without the other side knowing.
The disclosure is symmetric. When a customer has receipts on, the merchant sees the equivalent note while editing or cancelling that customer's order. The note only appears when the relevant toggle is on, so an empty inbox and a missing note always agree.
Why didn't I receive an order email?
A few things have to line up before an email goes out, even with the toggle on:
- The toggle is off. This is the common one - both default to off, so check Settings first.
- The email address isn't confirmed yet. Unconfirmed accounts don't receive order emails.
- It was a guest order placed without an account. There's no confirmed customer address to send a receipt to, so only the merchant's activity email goes out.
- The account is a demo or has been closed. Neither receives real order emails.
If none of those apply, the order itself is still safe on the site - the email is only ever a copy. Open the order to confirm it saved as expected.
Do standing orders send their own emails?
Yes. A standing order is governed by the same two toggles but sends a few extra emails on its own schedule:
- A set-up confirmation to both sides when the standing order is created.
- A preview to the customer a few days before each delivery, with a one-click "Skip this order" link. This one only ever goes to the customer.
- An alert to both sides if a schedule is paused because it needs attention - for example, a delivery that fell under the merchant's minimum spend.
See How standing orders work on Wholesale Handler for the full picture, including how to skip a single delivery from the preview email.
How Wholesale Handler handles order emails
Order emails are opt-in on both sides and granular by intent, not by volume. There's no digest setting and no per-order choice - each order event sends its own email the instant it happens, or nothing at all. That keeps the behaviour predictable: an email always corresponds to a real change, and the absence of one always means the toggle is off or the order didn't change.
Both toggles live in Settings, and the cross-notification disclosure on the order form means each side can see when the other is being kept in the loop. Whatever the toggles say, the order on the site is the record that counts - the email is a convenience, never the source of truth.
