---
title: "Notifications and AI ordering"
description: "Notifications keep customers, merchants, and drivers informed at every step. An AI ordering agent can take orders by chat on WhatsApp or your website."
canonical: https://docs.ordering.co/docs/discovery-ordering/launch-your-marketplace/part-7-grow/notifications-and-ai-ordering/
---

# Notifications and AI ordering

Notifications keep customers, merchants, and drivers informed at every step. An AI ordering agent can take orders by chat on WhatsApp or your website.

## Choose who is notified, and when

- **Push notifications** (**Settings › Pro › Push notifications**): turn alerts on or off for admins, merchants, customers, and drivers, event by event.
- **Email alerts:** choose which order statuses send an email to each role. Click Save at the bottom of the page; leaving without saving loses your changes.
- **SMS and WhatsApp messages:** connect a Twilio account to send text updates and verification codes at signup.

> **Less is more**
>
> Customers want three moments: order confirmed, driver on the way, delivered. Merchants want every new order, loudly. Drivers want new offers. Turn off the rest so the important alerts are not ignored.

## AI ordering agent

If your plan includes it, an AI agent can chat with customers on WhatsApp or as a chat widget on your website. It reads your menus, answers questions about products, delivery, and payment, takes the order, and hands over to a person when needed. It can even send product photos in the chat.

1. **Connect a WhatsApp Business number** through Meta, or choose the web chat widget for your site.
2. **Link the agent to your stores and menus.**
3. **Test it with a full example order** before you publish it.
4. **Promote it:** add the WhatsApp number and a QR code to banners, bags, and social profiles.

> **People often ask**
>
> **"How do customers pay when they order by WhatsApp?"**
>
> The agent sends a secure payment link, or the customer chooses a payment on delivery that your stores accept.