Instagram Product Questions Answered From Your Catalogue
Product questions on Instagram are the “price?”, “is this in stock?” and “does it come in black?” messages that arrive under every post and in every DM. AeroChat answers them from your live product data in Shopify, a Google Sheet, Airtable or Square, replies privately to comments, and sends the product link so the customer can buy while they still want it.
What happens today
A post does well and the comments fill up with “price?” and “link?”. Someone replies to each one by hand, or leaves a public “DM’d you” and then has to find the DM.
Stock and price answers come from memory, and they are wrong when a size has just sold out. Questions sent at night get answered the next day, after the customer has bought somewhere else.
How it runs on Instagram
- A customer asks about a product in a DM, a story reply or a comment on a post or reel.
- For a comment, AeroChat sends one private reply to that comment and carries on in DMs.
- It works out which product they mean, from the post they commented on, the product name or a description, and asks if it is not clear.
- It reads the live price, sizes, colours and stock from your store or product sheet, and answers ingredient, material or care questions from your product details.
- It sends the product link, or a similar product that is in stock if the one they asked about has sold out.
- It writes back where your rules say so, such as adding the customer to a restock list in your sheet when the item is out of stock.
- If the customer asks something your data does not cover, such as a medical question or a custom order, it hands the conversation to your team.
The recipe
Copy this into AeroChat
When someone on Instagram asks about a product, follow these steps.
- If the question came in a comment, reply privately to the comment and answer there.
- Find the product in our store. If you are not sure which one they mean, ask them to name it or send a screenshot.
- Answer with the current price and the sizes or colours in stock. Never guess stock, always read it.
- For ingredient, material or care questions, answer only from the product description.
- Send the product link.
- If the size or colour they want is out of stock, offer the closest item in stock, and add their name, Instagram handle and the item to our Restock sheet (example).
- If they ask whether a product is safe for a skin condition, pregnancy or an allergy, hand the conversation to our customer care team.
Keep answers short. Reply in the customer’s language.
Point the recipe at wherever your product data lives, and set your own handover topics.
Connect the systems behind it
- Google Sheets: holds products, prices and stock for stores without a platform, and collects restock requests.
- Airtable: product details, variants and stock kept in a base AeroChat reads.
- Square: live catalogue and stock for shops that sell in store and online through Square.
- Shopify, WordPress and Instagram catalogues. Built in. AeroChat reads products, variants and stock from your store or your Meta catalogue.
Using a different system? If it has a public API, it connects to AeroChat the same way: describe what you want, paste in its key, and it runs.
Can’t find your tool? Message us in the chat on this page and we’ll tell you how it connects.
Meta’s rules on Instagram
A comment allows one private reply within 7 days of the comment, on posts, reels, stories, Live and ad posts. Live comments can get a private reply only during the broadcast. Once the person replies, follow-ups are allowed within 24 hours of their reply. In DMs, automated replies must go within 24 hours of the customer’s last message, and a person on your team can reply by hand within a separate 7-day window. After a click-to-Instagram-Direct ad, you can reply for up to 7 days from the customer’s first message.
Also on WhatsApp, TikTok and web chat
The same workflow runs on WhatsApp, where it handles stock and availability questions, and on Facebook Messenger, TikTok (direct messages and TikTok Shop buyer chat), Telegram, web chat and email, from the same product data.
Who uses it
- Beauty stores: ingredient and skin-type questions answered from the product details.
- Fashion stores: size and fit questions answered with the sizes in stock.
Read more: Automated Instagram story replies for product questions.
Questions
Can AeroChat answer “price?” comments on my Instagram posts?
Yes. It sends a private reply to the comment with the price and the product link, within 7 days of the comment. Meta allows one private reply per comment.
Where does it get the price and stock from?
From your store or product sheet, read at the moment the customer asks. It does not answer stock from memory.
What if the customer messages at night?
AeroChat answers straight away, at any hour. Automated replies are allowed within 24 hours of the customer’s last message.
Which plan do I need?
Workflows via Skills are on every plan, Free included. Starter has 500 AI responses and 3 seats, Growth 2,000 and 10 seats, and Advanced 5,000 and 25 seats.
Answer every product question while the customer still wants it
Install AeroChat from the Shopify App Store
Not on Shopify? Start your 7-day free trial.
Related: product recommendations and payment links in Instagram DMs.