How Do I Handle Customer Service for a One-Person Online Shop?
Let AeroChat do the repeat jobs in the chat, and keep yourself for the few conversations that need you. AeroChat answers order-status questions from your store, checks stock and sizes, sends payment links for chat orders, and opens return requests. It works on WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger, web chat, email and marketplace chat, all in one inbox. Anything outside your rules comes to you with the details collected.
Why it wears you down
When you run the shop alone, you are also the packer, the photographer, the marketer and the customer service team. Solo sellers describe answering messages between packing orders, in the middle of the night and on holiday. Most messages are the same few questions. Each one still takes a minute or two, because you have to find the order or check the stock first.
The usual fixes and their limits
- Saved replies. They cut the typing. You still have to read each message, look up the order and pick the reply.
- An FAQ page. It helps the customers who read it. Most people still message.
- A part-time helper. It frees your time but costs money every month, and you have to train them and give them access.
- Slower replies. Some sellers just accept it. Buyers who wanted an answer before buying often move on.
How to handle it with AeroChat
Pick the two or three questions that take most of your time. Paste the recipe, change the examples to your own policies, and switch it on. AeroChat does those jobs in the chat. You see every conversation in one inbox and only step in when it hands one to you.
Customer: Hi, did my order ship? #1184, 0123 456 789 (example)
AeroChat: Thanks! Order #1184 shipped yesterday with J&T (example). Here’s your tracking link. It shows the parcel at the sorting hub now.
Behind the reply: AeroChat matched the order number and phone in your store and read the fulfillment status and tracking link.
Copy this into AeroChat
I run this shop alone, so finish these jobs in the chat without me where you can.
- Order status: verify the order number and the email or phone, then give the status and tracking link.
- Stock and sizes: check stock in the store and suggest a size from our size chart.
- Buying in chat: confirm the item, size and price, send a payment link and confirm the order when the payment is detected.
- Returns: check our 14-day return window (example) and open a return request with the reason and a photo.
Anything else, or an upset customer, comes to me with a short summary. Reply in the customer’s language.
For the longer version, read automating customer service for a one-person shop.
What to connect
- Your store. Shopify, WooCommerce and Wix are built in. Selling from a spreadsheet? The Google Sheets store keeps your catalog and orders in a Sheet.
- Payment. Airwallex is built in. Other gateways connect through their API.
- Your channels. WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger, email, web chat, and any marketplace you sell on.
Questions
How long does setup take?
Connecting your store and one channel, then pasting a recipe, is a short job. Start with one workflow and add the next when you are happy with it.
Do I need to write code?
No code needed. You describe each workflow in your own words and AeroChat builds it.
Can I keep using the WhatsApp Business app on my phone?
Yes. AeroChat supports coexistence, so the same number can run in the app and through AeroChat. See WhatsApp coexistence.
What does it cost?
Plans are on the pricing page. Every plan starts with a 7-day free trial.
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.
Hand off the questions you answer every day
Connect your store, paste the recipe and test it with one of last week’s orders.
Start your 7-day free trial. No credit card needed.
On Shopify? Install AeroChat from the Shopify App Store.