Connect AfterShip Shipping to WhatsApp and AI Chat for Shopify
Yes. AeroChat works directly with AfterShip Shipping. It calculates shipping rates, reads your labels with their tracking numbers and carrier details, and creates and cancels return labels and courier pickups through the AfterShip Shipping API, on WhatsApp, Instagram, web chat and every other channel your shoppers use.
If your Shopify store ships with AfterShip Shipping, the label and rates app formerly called Postmen, AeroChat can answer shipping questions with your real carrier data. AfterShip Shipping sits on top of many carriers, such as UPS, USPS, FedEx and DHL, and uses the carrier accounts you added to it. A shopper on WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger, Telegram, web chat or email asks what delivery to Canada costs, and AeroChat quotes it from your carrier accounts. A customer who needs to send an item back gets a return label in the same chat. Your Shopify store is built into AeroChat, and AfterShip Shipping connects through its public API. You describe the workflow in your own words, AeroChat builds it, and AfterShip Shipping stays the place your team buys labels and manages carriers.
What you can do with AfterShip Shipping and AeroChat
- Quote a shipping rate. AeroChat takes the shopper’s address and the items in their cart or order from Shopify, asks AfterShip Shipping to calculate rates from your carrier accounts, and replies with the services, prices and delivery times you allow.
- Answer “where is my shipment?”. AeroChat finds the label for the order in AfterShip Shipping by order number or tracking number and replies with the carrier, service, tracking number, ship date and the delivery date the carrier gave.
- Send a return label. For a return your policy allows, AeroChat creates a return label in AfterShip Shipping on your carrier account and sends the label link in the chat.
- Book a courier pickup for a return. If the customer would rather not visit a drop-off point, AeroChat books a pickup in AfterShip Shipping for the date and time window they choose. AfterShip Shipping supports pickups for FedEx, UPS, DHL Express and Purolator.
- Change delivery instructions. Some carriers give a link to change the delivery date or address. AeroChat reads it from the label in AfterShip Shipping and sends it to the shopper.
- Cancel an unused return label. When a customer decides to keep the item, AeroChat cancels the return label in AfterShip Shipping, so you are not billed by the carrier for a label nobody uses, where the carrier allows a refund.
What it looks like on WhatsApp
Customer: Hi, how much is shipping to Calgary for the Fjord rain jacket? (example)
AeroChat: To Calgary, T2P 1J9, you can choose UPS Standard for $18.40, delivered in 4 business days, or UPS Express Saver for $34.90, delivered in 2 business days. Which would you like?
In AfterShip Shipping: nothing changes. AeroChat calculated rates with your UPS account for the jacket’s weight and the shopper’s address.
Customer: My order #4120 hasn’t arrived. Where is it? (example)
AeroChat: Order #4120 shipped on 7 November with FedEx International Priority. The tracking number is 794608667143, and FedEx gave 12 November as the delivery date. You can follow it on the FedEx website with that number.
In AfterShip Shipping: nothing changes. AeroChat found the label by the order number and read its carrier, tracking number and dates.
Customer: The boots are too big. Can I send them back? Order #4033 (example)
AeroChat: Sorry they don’t fit. Order #4033 is within our 30-day returns window. Here is your prepaid UPS return label. Print it, stick it on the box and drop it at any UPS location.
In AfterShip Shipping: a new return label for order #4033 on your UPS account, with its tracking number.
Works on every chat channel
Your shoppers message you wherever they already are. The same AfterShip Shipping connection and the same workflows run on each of these channels, and AfterShip Shipping stays the record whichever one they use.
| Channel | What your shoppers can do |
|---|---|
| Message your WhatsApp Business number to get a shipping quote, find their tracking number, get a return label or book a pickup. Voice notes are transcribed, so a spoken request works too. | |
| Send the same requests by direct message. A comment on your post can get an automatic reply that moves the conversation to a DM. | |
| Facebook Messenger | Send the same requests to your Facebook Page. Comments on your Page posts can get an automatic reply too. |
| Telegram | Send the same requests to your business on Telegram. |
| Web chat | Ask the same questions in the chat on your Shopify store, on any page. |
| Write to your Gmail or Office 365 address and get the same answer the chat gives. |
How the connection works
There are two parts. Your Shopify store is built into AeroChat: you install AeroChat from the Shopify App Store and connect the store in the dashboard, and it syncs your products and looks up orders. AfterShip Shipping connects through its public API, documented at aftership.com/docs/shipping. Through it, AeroChat calculates rates, reads and searches labels, and creates return labels, pickups and label cancellations on the carrier accounts you added to AfterShip Shipping.
- What AeroChat reads from AfterShip Shipping: shipping rates for an address and parcel, with the carrier, service, total charge, delivery date and transit time where the carrier returns them, labels found by tracking number or reference, with their status, carrier, service, tracking numbers, ship date, label, invoice and packing slip files, and any carrier link for delivery changes, and your pickups and canceled labels.
- What AeroChat writes to AfterShip Shipping: new labels, including return labels, created on your carrier accounts, courier pickups for FedEx, UPS, DHL Express and Purolator, and label cancellations.
To connect, log in to your AfterShip Shipping admin, go to Settings and click API Keys to generate a key. AfterShip lists the labels and shipping rates API and webhooks on its Pro plan and above (as of November 2026). Labels and shipping are billed by AfterShip Shipping and your carriers to your own accounts, never by AeroChat. AeroChat has no partnership with AfterShip or with any carrier.
Live delivery status, such as “out for delivery”, comes from parcel tracking, which is a separate AfterShip product. If you use it, see the AfterShip tracking integration. The AfterShip Shipping API gives AeroChat the tracking number, carrier and dates on each label.
You describe the workflow in your own words, for example “when a shopper asks what shipping to their country costs, calculate rates in AfterShip Shipping with our carrier accounts and reply with the three cheapest services”. AeroChat builds the workflow as a draft and asks for the AfterShip Shipping API key by name. You enter it in the AeroChat dashboard. It never passes through the conversation.
Workflows to copy
Six ready-made workflows for AfterShip Shipping. Copy one into AeroChat, add your AfterShip Shipping API key, and it runs on every channel.
1. Quote a shipping rate
Copy this into AeroChat
When a shopper asks how much shipping costs or how long delivery takes, ask for the destination country, city and postal code. Find the products they want in our Shopify catalog and use their weights. Calculate rates in AfterShip Shipping with our carrier accounts. Reply with up to three services, each with the price and the delivery date or transit time if the carrier returned one. Only offer the services listed in the knowledge base. If no rate comes back, say so and give our standard shipping times from the knowledge base. Reply in the customer’s language.
2. Answer “where is my shipment?”
Copy this into AeroChat
When a customer asks where their order is, ask for the order number and the email on the order. Check the order in Shopify. Search our AfterShip Shipping labels by the order number. Reply with the carrier, the service, the tracking number and the ship date, plus the delivery date if the carrier returned one. Tell them they can follow the parcel on the carrier’s website with that number. If there is no label yet, say the order has not shipped and give our dispatch time from the knowledge base. Never share another customer’s label.
3. Send a return label
Copy this into AeroChat
When a customer wants to send an item back, ask for the order number and the email on the order. Find the order in Shopify and check it is within our returns window and the item can be returned, using the knowledge base. Ask which item and why. Create a return label in AfterShip Shipping from the customer’s address to our returns address, with our usual return carrier and service. Send the label link and tell them how to pack and drop off the parcel. If the item cannot be returned under our policy, explain the rule and hand the conversation to our team.
4. Book a courier pickup for a return
Copy this into AeroChat
When a customer with a return label asks if the courier can collect the parcel, check the label’s carrier. If it is FedEx, UPS, DHL Express or Purolator, ask for the pickup date and a time window, and confirm the pickup address. Create the pickup in AfterShip Shipping for that label and confirm the date and window in the chat. For any other carrier, say pickups are not available and give the drop-off steps.
5. Change delivery instructions
Copy this into AeroChat
When a customer asks to change their delivery date or leave delivery instructions, find their label in AfterShip Shipping by the order number. If the label has a carrier link for delivery changes, send it and explain they can choose a new date or address there. If it does not, give the carrier name and tracking number and tell them to contact the carrier. Do not promise a change on the carrier’s behalf.
6. Cancel an unused return label
Copy this into AeroChat
When a customer says they no longer want to return an item, find the return label in AfterShip Shipping by the order number. If the label has not been used, cancel it and tell the customer the return is closed. Do not cancel outbound labels for orders on their way to the customer. If the cancel fails, hand the conversation to our team with the label and the order number.
Who uses it
Shopify stores that ship with their own carrier accounts, especially across borders, get the same shipping questions every day: what does it cost, when will it arrive, how do I send it back. These recipes fit a store that runs on Shopify and AfterShip Shipping:
- Fashion stores: order tracking and returns and exchanges.
- Beauty stores: order tracking and returns and exchanges.
What stays in AfterShip Shipping
AfterShip Shipping stays your shipping record. Your carrier accounts, shipping rules, label printing, manifests and automation settings all live there. Every label AeroChat creates shows in AfterShip Shipping like one your team made, on the carrier account and service the recipe names.
AeroChat handles the conversation. It quotes rates, answers “where is my shipment?”, sends return labels, books pickups and passes anything outside your rules to your team, and leaves the rest to AfterShip Shipping.
WhatsApp workflows that use AfterShip Shipping
These end-to-end WhatsApp workflows run with AfterShip Shipping and your Shopify store behind them. See them all in the WhatsApp workflows library.
- WhatsApp Order Tracking That Answers From Your Store Data
- WhatsApp Delivery Updates From Your Order and Shipping Data
- WhatsApp Returns and Refunds Checked Against Your Policy
Questions
Does AeroChat work with AfterShip Shipping?
Yes. It connects through the AfterShip Shipping API with an API key from your own AfterShip Shipping admin. It is not an AfterShip product, and AeroChat has no partnership with AfterShip or with any carrier.
Can customers get a return label on WhatsApp?
Yes. AeroChat checks the order against your returns policy, creates a return label in AfterShip Shipping on your carrier account and sends the link in the chat. See also how to start a return in chat.
Who pays for the labels AeroChat creates?
You do, through your own AfterShip Shipping and carrier accounts, the same as a label your team creates. The recipes say which carrier and service to use, so AeroChat never picks a more expensive one.
Which plan do I need?
On the AfterShip side, the labels and shipping rates API is listed on the Pro plan and above (as of November 2026), and you create the key under Settings, API Keys. On the AeroChat side, workflows via Skills are on every plan, with a 7-day free trial. Choose by message volume: Starter covers 500 AI responses a month, Growth 2,000 and Advanced 5,000.
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.
Answer shipping questions in the chat
Install AeroChat, paste the rate quote recipe, add your AfterShip Shipping key, and ask your own chat what delivery to your next market costs.
7-day free trial.