Connect ShipStation to WhatsApp, Instagram, TikTok and AI Chat
Customers ask about shipping on WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger, TikTok, Telegram, web chat or email, but your shipments and labels are in ShipStation. AeroChat answers those conversations and works with ShipStation as it goes: it compares rates, creates the shipment and label with the address and package details the customer gave, shares the tracking number and answers “where is my parcel” from the label’s live tracking. It connects through ShipStation’s public API. You describe the workflow in your own words, and AeroChat builds it.
What you can do with ShipStation and AeroChat
- Book a delivery from WhatsApp. AeroChat collects the address and package details, creates the ShipStation shipment and, if your recipe says so, buys the label with the carrier service you set.
- Answer where-is-my-parcel questions. AeroChat finds the label for the order and replies with its latest tracking event.
- Quote shipping in chat. AeroChat compares ShipStation rates for the customer’s address and package and gives the price for the services you offer.
- Send a return label. When a return is approved, AeroChat creates a return label and sends it in the conversation.
- Void a label. If an order is cancelled before it ships, AeroChat voids the unused label in ShipStation.
Works on every chat channel
Your customers message you wherever they already are. The same ShipStation connection and the same workflows run on every channel AeroChat supports, and ShipStation stays the record whichever one they use.
| Channel | What your customers can do |
|---|---|
| Message your WhatsApp Business number to get a shipping price, book a shipment, get a return label or ask where their parcel is. 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. |
| TikTok | Send the same requests by TikTok direct message or TikTok Shop buyer chat. Both arrive in the same TikTok inbox. |
| Telegram | Send the same requests to your business on Telegram. |
| Web chat | Do the same from the chat on your website, without leaving the page. |
| Write to your Gmail or Office 365 address and get the same answer the chat gives. |
How the connection works
AeroChat connects through ShipStation’s public API. It compares rates, creates shipments, creates and voids labels, and reads tracking for a label. Each workflow uses only what its recipe asks for. ShipStation can also send tracking events to a webhook. Where you set that up, AeroChat can pass a tracking event on to the customer in the conversation they started.
To connect, open the API Settings page in your ShipStation account, check that your plan includes API access, and generate an API key. The key is shown only once, so copy it straight away. The ShipStation API documentation covers the details. Paste the key into the AeroChat dashboard when AeroChat asks.
You describe the workflow in your own words. AeroChat builds it as a draft, works out which ShipStation calls it needs, and asks you to connect. Keys and credentials are entered in the AeroChat dashboard and never pass through the conversation.
Labels are billed to your own ShipStation and carrier accounts. POS Malaysia delivery is built into AeroChat. This page is for businesses that already ship with ShipStation.
Workflows to copy
Copy this into AeroChat
When a customer on WhatsApp asks how much shipping costs, ask for their full address and what they are ordering. Use the package sizes in our knowledge base. Compare ShipStation rates from our warehouse for our ground and express services (example). Tell them the price and delivery estimate for each. Reply in the customer’s language.
Copy this into AeroChat
When a customer asks where their parcel is, ask for their order number if you do not have it. Find the ShipStation label for that order and check its tracking. Tell them the latest tracking event and its date in one line. If there has been no update for 3 days (example), hand the conversation to our team. Reply in the customer’s language.
Who uses it
Online stores that ship with several carriers from one place use it, from small shops to retailers with their own warehouse. These recipes cover delivery questions in chat:
- Order tracking for fashion stores
- Order tracking for beauty stores
- Returns and exchanges for fashion stores
What stays in ShipStation
ShipStation stays your record of shipments. Orders, carrier accounts, labels, packing slips and billing live there, and your team still packs and ships.
AeroChat handles the conversation. It quotes, creates and tracks the shipments your recipe asks for and leaves the rest to ShipStation and your team.
Questions
Does AeroChat work with ShipStation?
Yes. AeroChat connects through ShipStation’s public API with an API key you generate in your ShipStation API settings.
Can customers book a ShipStation shipment on WhatsApp?
Yes. AeroChat collects the address and package details in the WhatsApp conversation, creates the shipment in ShipStation, and creates the label if your recipe allows it.
Do I need a developer?
No. You describe the workflow in your own words, generate a ShipStation API key and paste it in, and switch it on. AeroChat builds the ShipStation connection from your description and shows a checklist of what is left to do.
Which plan do I need?
Workflows via Skills are on every plan. Choose by message volume: Starter covers 500 AI responses a month and 3 seats, Growth covers 2,000 responses and 10 seats and adds payment links and broadcasts, and Advanced covers 5,000 responses and 25 seats.
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.
Connect ShipStation and try it
Paste the first recipe, add your ShipStation key, and ask for a shipping price in the chat yourself.
Start your 7-day free trial. No credit card needed.
On Shopify? Install AeroChat from the Shopify App Store.