Ask any shop owner where WhatsApp orders go wrong and the answer is the same: the address. The customer says "yes I want it", the shop says "great", and nobody writes down where the parcel goes.
What a complete order looks like
| Field | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Item and quantity | What to pack |
| Name | Goes on the waybill |
| Full address with town | The courier cannot deliver to "Colombo" alone |
| Phone number | The courier calls before arriving |
| Landmark or note | Common in Sri Lanka and often the difference between delivered and returned |
| Amount to collect | Goods plus delivery, for cash on delivery |
Ask for it in one message, not six
A back-and-forth interrogation loses people. One friendly line asking for name, address and number gets the lot in a single reply, and most customers send it exactly like that.
Take whatever the customer has already said. If they mentioned "Colombo 05" earlier in the chat, do not ask again — asking twice makes the shop look like it was not listening.
Then confirm the number out loud
Repeat the items, the delivery charge and the total to collect back to the customer. It takes one line, and it prevents the two arguments that actually happen at the door: the wrong item and the wrong amount.