Ecommerce chatbot
An ecommerce chatbot is software that answers an online store’s shoppers and customers in a chat, on the store’s website or in messaging apps, about products, stock, delivery, orders and returns.
What it means in practice
A shopper on your product page types “do you have this in size 8?”. A customer on WhatsApp asks “where is my order?”. Someone on Instagram asks what delivery to their city costs. An ecommerce chatbot is whatever answers those messages before a person on your team does.
Three kinds go by the same name. A rule-based chatbot shows buttons and replies to keywords, such as “Track my order” or “Talk to us”. An AI chatbot reads the question in the shopper’s own words and writes a reply, usually from your store’s content. An AI agent does that and also carries out the action the shopper asked for, such as looking up the order or sending a payment link. See chatbot vs AI agent.
Why it matters for an online store
- The same questions arrive all day. Stock, sizing, delivery costs and order status make up much of what a store is asked, and the answers sit in data you already have. See WISMO.
- Shoppers ask while they are deciding. A question about fit or delivery at 11pm is a buying question. If the answer comes the next day, the shopper may already have bought elsewhere or left their cart. See cart abandonment.
- A wrong answer costs more than no answer. A chatbot that guesses a stock level or quotes the wrong price creates a refund, a complaint or a lost customer. See AI hallucination.
- Customers message on more than one channel. The same store gets questions on its website, WhatsApp, Instagram and marketplace chats, and every one needs the same correct answer.
How it works in chat
- It reads your real store data. Products, variants, prices and stock come from your store platform, such as Shopify, WooCommerce or Wix, so answers match what the shopper can buy.
- It checks who is asking before sharing an order. Order details are personal data. A good setup verifies the customer’s email or phone first, then reads the live order.
- It answers policies in your own words. Returns, delivery times and care instructions come from the pages you wrote.
- It can finish the sale in the chat. When a shopper says “I’ll take it”, a payment link arrives in the same conversation.
- It knows when to pass to a person. A damaged parcel or an upset customer goes to your team with the conversation attached. See live chat handover.
AeroChat is chat infrastructure that does this for online stores. Shopify and Wix are built in, it answers on web chat, WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger, Telegram, email and TikTok Shop buyer chat, and it supports Shopee and Lazada. You describe each workflow in your own words and AeroChat builds it. It verifies the customer before reading an order, and orders are never stored.
An example exchange
Shopper, in the store’s web chat: Do you have the Trail runner in size 8, and how much is delivery? (example)
AeroChat: Yes. The Trail runner in size 8 is in stock in black and gray, at US$95. Delivery to your area is US$6, or free over US$100. Which color would you like?
Shopper: Black. I’ll take it.
AeroChat: Great. That’s US$101 with delivery. Here’s your secure payment link.
AeroChat: Payment received, thank you. Your order is confirmed and I’ll send the tracking link here once it ships.
Related terms
Read next
- Conversational commerce in practice: the four pieces a chat sale needs
- WhatsApp order tracking that answers from your store data
- WhatsApp stock and availability answers from live inventory
Answer your shoppers from your real store data
Start your 7-day free trial. No credit card needed. Connect your store and your chat channels, and AeroChat answers stock, delivery and order questions and sends the payment link in the same chat.
On Shopify? Install AeroChat from the Shopify App Store.