If you run an online store from outside the US, a +1 number tells American shoppers there is a reachable business behind it. It only helps if buyers can find it, know when you answer, and get a call back when they leave a message. Here is where to put the number, how to write your hours, a voicemail script for order questions, how to handle returns calls and texts, and what the number does for your own sign-in codes.
Why put a US number on an online store?
Most buyer questions arrive by email or chat. A phone number matters for the rest: a buyer who wants to check an order before paying, a parcel that has not arrived, a return, or a wholesale buyer who wants to talk before a large order. A US number lets them call you as an ordinary US call, without thinking about international rates.
The TripoSIM US Virtual Number runs in an app on your phone, over Wi-Fi or mobile data, wherever you run the store. When you are offline or asleep, callers leave a voicemail. Our online sellers page covers marketplaces, call budgets and a five-day setup.
Where should the number appear?
| Place | What to show | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Contact page | Number, hours in a US time zone, support email | Where buyers look first |
| Footer | Number with a short label, such as “US support” | Visible on every page, including product pages |
| Order confirmation email | Number, hours and your order-question email | Buyers search their inbox, not your site, when something goes wrong |
| Shipping email | Number and a link to tracking | Most “where is my order” calls start here |
| Returns page | Number, hours and the steps to start a return | Returns questions are the ones most likely to need a call |
| Invoices and packing slips | Number and email | For buyers and wholesale customers who keep paper |
Write it as +1 and the 10 digits, for example +1 212 555 0123 (a made-up number), and link it with tel:+12125550123 on your site so mobile buyers can tap it. Our guide on how to write a US phone number has every format, and the business contact checklist has the rest of the contact page.
On a marketplace, keep buyer conversations and payments in the marketplace’s own messages. Use the number on your own store, and with wholesale buyers and suppliers.
How should you write your hours?
In a US time zone, because that is how your buyers read them. Write “Mon–Fri, 9 a.m.–1 p.m. Eastern”, not your local time. Say “Eastern”, “Central” or “Pacific” rather than EST or PST: Eastern Standard Time is used only in winter, according to NIST.
Choose hours that overlap with your own day. If you work from Lisbon, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Eastern is early afternoon to early evening for you for most of the year. The US time-zone clock shows each zone now, and the best time to call US clients has overlap windows for Europe, the Gulf and Asia.
Change your hours before a busy season or a holiday, on the page and in your greeting, so both say the same thing.
What should your voicemail greeting say?
Many US buyers will call outside your hours, so the greeting does a lot of work. Ask for what you need to find the order. A script to adapt:
“Thanks for calling [store name]. We answer Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Eastern. Please leave your name, your order number and the best number to reach you, and we’ll call you back within one working day. To start a return, visit the returns page on our website. Please don’t leave card details in your message.”
Keep it under 30 seconds. Voicemail messages can be up to 2 minutes, up to 30 a month, kept 30 days, so check them every working day. More scripts are in voicemail greeting scripts for a US business.
How do you handle returns calls?
- Get the order number first. Everything else follows from it.
- Check the order before you promise anything, then explain your returns policy in plain words.
- Confirm in writing. Email the steps, the address or the label the same day, so the buyer has something to follow.
- Log the call: order number, question, who calls back and when. Keep card details and personal data out of the log.
- Call back when you said you would. A missed promise on a return turns into a dispute faster than anything else.
Calls you make use your 300 outgoing minutes to US and Canadian numbers. Each outgoing call is rounded up to the next full minute; unanswered calls are free. A buyer outside the US and Canada can still call you, but you cannot call them back from the number, so reply by email. The customer callback checklist has more on callbacks.
What do you do about texts?
The TripoSIM number receives texts from US and Canadian senders, but sending texts is not included. Plan around it:
- Write “call or email” on your contact page and in order emails, not “call or text”.
- Put your support email next to the number, so buyers who prefer writing go there.
- Check incoming texts daily. If a buyer texts and gave you an order number or an email, answer by email or with a call.
- If your buyers expect replies by text, use a business messaging tool for that and keep the US number for calls and voicemail.
Read more about receiving texts on a US number.
Can the number receive your own sign-in codes?
Yes. The number receives verification codes (OTP SMS) from apps, so you can use it for the sign-in codes of the services behind your store. TripoSIM tested Amazon, PayPal, Stripe, Wise, Payoneer and Google on October 3, 2026; the full list of 22 apps shows examples, not a limit. See the tested apps or check one app.
Two habits make this safer:
- Add a second sign-in method, such as an authenticator app or a passkey, wherever a service offers one.
- Keep the plan paid while the number is on your store and your accounts. If a plan ends, the number is kept 30 days (yearly) or 90 days (monthly), then released and can go to someone else.
The guides for Amazon, Stripe and Payoneer cover each one.
How many minutes does a small store use?
Count calls in and calls out separately, because they have separate allowances.
A made-up example, not a customer result: a store selling ceramics from Lisbon gets 25 buyer calls a month of about 4 minutes each. That is 100 incoming minutes, inside the 300-minute fair use. The owner returns 12 voicemails a month with calls of about 6 minutes, which uses 72 of her 300 outgoing minutes.
In a holiday peak, 80 buyer calls of 4 minutes would be 320 incoming minutes. After 300 minutes, callers reach voicemail until the next month, so point buyers to email in your busy season. If you need more outgoing minutes, 100 more cost $5. Try your own numbers in the cost calculator.
When does a store need something else?
- A team shares the line. The number is for personal and small-business use, and call centers are not allowed. A business phone system built for teams fits better.
- Buyers expect replies by text. Use a business messaging tool for that.
- You call buyers outside the US and Canada. Calls out go to US and Canadian numbers only.
- Emergencies. The number cannot call 911 or any emergency service, so keep a local mobile line.
The bottom line
Put your US number on the contact page, in the footer and in order and shipping emails, with your hours in a US time zone and an email beside it. Record a greeting that asks for the order number, call back when you promise, and confirm returns in writing. Say “call or email”, because the number receives texts but cannot send them. Compare the two plans on the plans page, or start with the online sellers page.