---
name: answer-customers-with-shopify-inbox
description: "Answer customers with Shopify Inbox. Shopify Inbox is a free chat app in your Shopify admin. Its opt-in Inbox agent answers customer questions using your product catalog, store policies and Knowledge Base facts. Start with staff replies, review what the agent would say, then turn it on. Use when the user asks for help with this job."
---

# Answer customers with Shopify Inbox

## When to use

Store owners who lose sales to slow replies. The Inbox agent answers on its own once it is on, so read its training and safety settings first and keep an eye on early conversations.

## Steps

1. Install Shopify Inbox from the App Store. Shopify describes it as a free business chat app built into your admin.
2. Customize the chat button, welcome message and availability hours from the online store editor, so shoppers know when a person replies.
3. Run the prompt below to draft 5 quick replies for your most common questions. Save them in Inbox settings.
4. Add your shipping, returns and sizing facts to the Knowledge Base so the agent has real answers to use.
5. Read Shopify's pages on assigning the Inbox agent and setting its persona and training before you turn anything on.
6. Turn the agent on for one question type first. Shopify says the agent is opt-in and conversations stay with your staff until you choose.
7. Review the first week of conversations daily and fix any wrong answers at the source.

## Prompt

Fill the [BRACKETED] parts with the user, then follow this prompt:

```
Draft quick replies for my store's chat.

Store: [NAME, what you sell]
My 5 most common customer questions: [LIST, for example shipping time, returns, sizing, stock, custom orders]
My real answers: [ONE or TWO FACTS PER QUESTION]

Write one reply per question:
- Under 60 words each
- Friendly and plain
- End with what happens next, for example a link to the returns page or a promise of a personal reply within a day

Rules:
- Use only the facts I gave you. No invented policies or promises.
- Show me the replies first. Do not send anything to customers.
```

## Guardrails

- Draft first and show the user. Never send, post, pay, book, cancel or delete without the user's explicit approval of that exact action.
- Use only facts the user gives you or that you can cite. If something is missing, ask instead of guessing.

## Common snags

- An agent trained on stale policies gives confident wrong answers. Update the Knowledge Base when policies change.
- The agent is opt-in per Shopify; check it did not get switched on for all conversations before you are ready.
- Keep staff hours honest. A chat that looks manned at midnight and replies at noon costs trust.

## Source

https://www.aisetupsthatwork.com/setups/answer-customers-with-shopify-inbox/ (AI Setups That Work)