WooCommerce: Send Email to Admin Every 3 Hours (Cron Job)

This snippet consists of many WooCommerce tasks: setting up a “WordPress Cron Job” (i.e. schedule a hook that runs on a specific time interval), getting the WooCommerce completed orders from the database, and finally sending a simple email to the store admin.

Complex, but as usual you can simply copy/paste and re-adapt it to your unique specifications. For example, I’m using it to send a survey email to each customer who has placed an order. There are thousands of applications, so this is just the start. Enjoy!

Setting up custom Cron Jobs in WooCommerce / WordPress

Snippet (PHP): Set up a Cron Job to Send WooCommerce Completed Orders to Admin Every 3 Hours

As I wrote in the introduction, there are 3 distinct code sections: the one where I create and schedule the cron job every 3 hours, the one where I query the database for completed orders in the last 3 hours, and the one where I generate the email.

To view and debug cron jobs in WordPress, I use “Advanced Cron Manager” from WordPress.org: https://wordpress.org/plugins/advanced-cron-manager/. Please note cron jobs won’t run unless there is frequent website traffic – otherwise it is advised to set them up via your hosting cPanel.


/**
 * @snippet       Schedule Email to WooCommerce Admin Every 3 Hours
 * @how-to        Get CustomizeWoo.com FREE
 * @sourcecode    https://businessbloomer.com/?p=106360
 * @author        Rodolfo Melogli
 * @compatible    WooCommerce 3.5.4
 * @donate $9     https://businessbloomer.com/bloomer-armada/
 */ 

// ---- ---- ----
// A. Define a cron job interval if it doesn't exist

add_filter( 'cron_schedules', 'bbloomer_check_every_3_hours' );

function bbloomer_check_every_3_hours( $schedules ) {
    $schedules['every_three_hours'] = array(
        'interval' => 10800,
        'display'  => __( 'Every 3 hours' ),
    );
    return $schedules;
}

// ---- ---- ----
// B. Schedule an event unless already scheduled

add_action( 'wp', 'bbloomer_custom_cron_job' );

function bbloomer_custom_cron_job() {
	if ( ! wp_next_scheduled( 'bbloomer_woocommerce_send_email_digest' ) ) {
		wp_schedule_event( time(), 'every_three_hours', 'bbloomer_woocommerce_send_email_digest' );
	}
}

// ---- ---- ----
// C. Trigger email when hook runs

add_action( 'bbloomer_woocommerce_send_email_digest', 'bbloomer_generate_email_digest' );

// ---- ---- ----
// D. Generate email content and send email if there are completed orders

function bbloomer_generate_email_digest() {	
	$range = 180; // 3 hours in minutes
	$completed_orders = bbloomer_get_completed_orders_before_after( strtotime( '-' . absint( $end ) . ' MINUTES', current_time( 'timestamp' ) ), current_time( 'timestamp' ) );
	if ( $completed_orders ) {
		$email_subject = "Completed Orders Email Digest";
		$email_content = "Completed Order IDs: " . implode( "|", $completed_orders );
		wp_mail( '[email protected]', $email_subject, $email_content );
	}
}

// ---- ---- ----
// E. Query WooCommerce database for completed orders between two timestamps

function bbloomer_get_completed_orders_before_after( $date_one, $date_two ) {
	global $wpdb;
	$completed_orders = $wpdb->get_col(
		$wpdb->prepare(
			"SELECT posts.ID
			FROM {$wpdb->prefix}posts AS posts
			WHERE posts.post_type = 'shop_order'
			AND posts.post_status = 'wc-completed'
			AND posts.post_modified >= '%s' 
			AND posts.post_modified <= '%s'",
			date( 'Y/m/d H:i:s', absint( $date_one ) ),
			date( 'Y/m/d H:i:s', absint( $date_two ) )
		)
	);
	return $completed_orders;
}

Where to add custom code?

You should place PHP snippets at the bottom of your child theme functions.php file and CSS at the bottom of its style.css file. Make sure you know what you are doing when editing such files - if you need more guidance, please take a look at my guide "Should I Add Custom Code Via WP Editor, FTP or Code Snippets?" and my video tutorial "Where to Place WooCommerce Customization?"

Does this snippet (still) work?

Please let me know in the comments if everything went as expected. I would be happy to revise the snippet if you report otherwise (please provide screenshots). I have tested this code with Storefront theme, the WooCommerce version listed above and a WordPress-friendly hosting.

If you think this code saved you time & money, feel free to join 17,000+ WooCommerce Weekly subscribers for blog post updates and 250+ Business Bloomer supporters for 365 days of WooCommerce benefits. Thank you in advance!

Need Help with WooCommerce?

Check out these free video tutorials. You can learn how to customize WooCommerce without unnecessary plugins, how to properly configure the WooCommerce plugin settings and even how to master WooCommerce troubleshooting in case of a bug!

Rodolfo Melogli

Business Bloomer Founder

Author, WooCommerce expert and WordCamp speaker, Rodolfo has worked as an independent WooCommerce freelancer since 2011. His goal is to help entrepreneurs and developers overcome their WooCommerce nightmares. Rodolfo loves travelling, chasing tennis & soccer balls and, of course, wood fired oven pizza.

11 thoughts on “WooCommerce: Send Email to Admin Every 3 Hours (Cron Job)

  1. How would I change this to send a digest of new orders instead of completed orders? Would I change $completed_orders to $new_orders and wc-completed to wc-new?

    1. Not really. Which is the order status for new orders (e.g. on-hold)?

  2. How can we send this email using the WooCommerce email template?

    1. Hi Ravi, try with a variation of this: https://businessbloomer.com/woocommerce-send-custom-email/

  3. This can be done without an extra Cron plugin, using the built-in Scheduled Actions function in WooCommerce(since 3.5):

    add_action( 'init', 'wc_setup_admin_email_cron' );
    function wc_setup_admin_email_cron() {
        $queue = WC()->queue();
        $next  = $queue->get_next( 'wc_admin_email_send' );
        if ( ! $next ) {
            $queue->schedule_recurring( time(), HOUR_IN_SECONDS*3, 'wc_admin_email_send' );
        }
        add_action( 'wc_admin_email_send', 'wc_send_admin_email_with_cron' );
    }
    
    function wc_send_admin_email_with_cron() {
    //function that sends the emails
    }
    
    
    1. Fantastic!

      1. For example I can add

        woocommerce_email_attachments

        filter hook too? Or it’s only working with action hooks?

        1. Surely there is a way

    2. thank you so much to both, you guys saved my life.

  4. thanks,
    this is very helpful post

    1. Great to hear that!

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