WhatsApp shop assistant

The shop assistant turns your WhatsApp number into a store that answers back. When a follower writes ("headphones under $50", "any coupons?"), it replies within WhatsApp's 24-hour window with up to three of your products or deals, as tracked links with your disclosure.

Before you start

• The WhatsApp add-on, and a connected Cloud API number (see Connect WhatsApp).
• Links, collections, tags or a bio shop to answer from, or the deals feed.

Set it up

Open WhatsApp → Assistant (the first tab).

1. Turn the assistant on for the number.
2. Topics: add topics such as Deals, Coupons or Amazon finds (one-click presets exist for these). Each topic has a name, a short menu description, optional keywords, and sources: curated links (by folder, collection, tag or bio shop) and/or the deals feed. One topic is the default.
3. Settings: a price ceiling and terms to exclude.
4. Share the wa.me link or QR code for a word so followers can start a chat.

The live phone preview shows what a shopper sees.

What shoppers see

• A reply with up to three picks: image, title, price drop when there is one, a See the deal button (a tracked link with a per-contact click token) and the disclosure footer.
• Quick replies and a topic menu (More, coupons, other topics).
• Get daily deals: the only way to subscribe from a chat. Tapping it joins the topic.
• Replies in English, Spanish or Portuguese, following the shopper.

Amazon prices older than 24 hours are left out rather than shown stale. When nothing matches, the assistant says so; the request is logged under top and no-result requests so you can add what people ask for.

START and STOP

• START subscribes the shopper to your default topic.
• STOP (and its built-in translations) always opts them out of everything.
• Your topic keywords route a message to that topic; they do not subscribe anyone.

How it understands messages

Taps on buttons and menu rows are routed directly. Free text is read by one AI call that picks the topic, search terms (including English translations for English catalogs), a price ceiling and whether the shopper wants coupons; your catalog is then searched and the model picks the best matches. Shopper messages are audience data, so they are processed only by OpenAI, never by another AI provider (see AI settings and sensitive data); when OpenAI is unavailable, the assistant falls back to a plain catalog search.

Every URL in a reply is checked against the Acceptable Use Policy before it is sent.

Limits and billing

• Each shopper has an hourly limit and a daily budget; past them they get one polite notice.
• Replies and other in-session messages count on the Replies & session messages meter (WhatsApp → Usage), separate from Template sends. The add-on includes 5,000 session messages a month; beyond that, pay-as-you-go per 1,000, priced in tiers on Billing. A failed send is refunded.

Held broadcasts

A broadcast can hold a message for people outside the 24-hour window instead of paying for a template: it is delivered when they next write, for the number of days you set, or skipped. The broadcast shows Waiting for N to write while messages are held.

Troubleshooting