WhatsApp chatbot for online stores
Most US shoppers text or email a store, but some would rather ask on WhatsApp: customers abroad, Spanish-speaking shoppers and people who tap a click-to-WhatsApp ad. A WhatsApp agent answers the questions they would ask a clerk (does this come in green, when will it ship, can I return it) from your catalog and policies, and your team only steps in when a person is really needed.
What does a WhatsApp chatbot do for an online store?
It answers shoppers on your WhatsApp Business number at any hour, using your product sheets, shipping rates and returns policy. It can share product links, explain delivery times by region, start a return request and send opted-in shoppers shipping updates with approved templates. Refunds, exchanges outside policy and complaints go to your team with the conversation attached.
Worked example
A Sunday of messages for a small apparel brand
Consider a brand selling around 40 orders a day that runs click-to-WhatsApp ads on Instagram. These are example messages from one Sunday:
| Example message | What the agent does |
|---|---|
| "Do the linen pants run small?" | Quotes the fit notes from your product sheet and links the size chart |
| "How long to ship to Texas?" | Gives the delivery estimate from your shipping table |
| "Can I return a sale item?" | Explains the returns policy and what counts as final sale |
| "I was charged twice" | Does not discuss refunds; hands it to the team with the order number |
| "Do you restock the blue one?" | Says what you published about restocks and offers a back-in-stock message if the shopper opts in |
Four of five close on a Sunday. The billing issue is waiting for your team on Monday with the details already collected.
Templates and opt-in
Rules that apply to every store on WhatsApp
- The official WhatsApp Business API, not the free app. Meta business verification usually takes 24 to 48 hours.
- Opt-in before you message first. Add a checkbox at checkout or a click-to-chat button so shoppers choose WhatsApp.
- Approved templates for shipping updates, back-in-stock alerts and anything else you start.
- Free replies inside 24 hours of the shopper's last message.
Meta bills its own template fees and Botcadence does not mark them up. Keep promotions occasional; shoppers who feel spammed block numbers, and that hurts your account quality with Meta.
Shopify and other platforms
Using it alongside a Shopify store
Shopify connects natively from your Botcadence dashboard. Once the store is linked, the agent can look up an order by order number, email or phone, and an order that ships or is cancelled can send the matching approved template automatically. Stores on WooCommerce, BigCommerce or a custom build send order events through Zapier or a webhook instead. Either way, product answers come from the catalog sheets and policies you upload.
In the US, SMS is still the default text channel, so run it beside WhatsApp. Both channels share one agent and one inbox, and a shopper gets the same answer on either.
Boundaries
What not to do in chat
Do not take card details or payments in the thread. Do not let the agent approve refunds, store credit or discounts that are not already public. And do not send marketing to shoppers who only opted in to shipping updates.
See ecommerce AI answer a where-is-my-order question
Book a demo to map order status, return FAQs or cart follow-up onto Botcadence.
Common Questions
Online store WhatsApp questions
Yes, once order data is connected. With a Shopify store linked, the agent looks the order up by number, email or phone; other platforms send order data through a webhook or Zapier. Without either, it explains your shipping times and hands specific order questions to your team, who can reply in the same thread.
Yes, to shoppers who asked for them, using a Meta-approved template. The alert is billed by Meta as a template message; any reply and follow-up within 24 hours is free.
Yes. Upload a spreadsheet of products with sizes, materials, care and prices, or point it at your product page URLs. Answers stay within that content, so keep the sheet current when you add products.
A footer link sends messages to a person who has to answer each one. The agent answers the routine ones immediately and only passes on the conversations that need a decision from your team.
Start with order questions or cart follow-up
Start with order status or cart follow-up, then add product recommendations and return FAQs once you can see what shoppers ask.
- Reader-first workflows
- Human handoff when needed
- Grounded in your content