Customer conversations

When you respond to messages in Shopify Inbox, the responses send through the original messaging service, so that your customers receive replies to their original message.

If a customer adds or removes a product from their cart, then the event is shown to you, the merchant, in the conversation. If the product name is fewer than 41 characters long, then the name of the product is included in the event description. You're also shown the customer's cart subtotal, and the quantities of the products in the cart, at a per-item level.

Learn more about setting up desktop notification alerts when you receive new messages in Shopify Inbox.

Responding to a message from a customer

If the customer is actively on your store, then an "Online" indicator is displayed next to the customer's email address in the conversation list. On mobile, the "Online" indicator is also displayed next to the customer's avatar in a conversation.

When the customer leaves your store, the "Online" indicator disappears and is replaced with a message indicating that your reply is sent to the email address that the customer supplied at the start of the chat session.

Desktop

1. In Shopify Inbox, click the conversation you want to open.
2. Type your message and select Send.

iPhone

1. From the Shopify Inbox app, tap the conversation you want to open.
2. Type your message and tap the Send icon.

Android

1. From the Shopify Inbox app, tap the conversation you want to open.
2. Type your message and tap the Send icon.

Message classification

To help you manage and prioritize your customer messages, Shopify Inbox automatically labels the conversation with a topic. Each message initiated by a customer is analyzed by a machine learning classification system. If there is high confidence that it matches a topic, the appropriate label is applied. The conversation list shows up to two topics per conversation, with the most recent topic appearing first.

The ten possible topics for customer conversations are:

Possible message classification topics for Shopify Inbox

Topic	Messages related to
Checkout	Payments or placing a new order.
Edit orders	Cancelling or changing an order.
Order status	Order confirmation, order status, and payment balance.
Pricing/Discounts	Discounts, applying discounts, or promo codes.
Product details	Color, size, quantity, weight, volume, stock and inventory, customization requests, or requests for product photos or videos.
Product interest	General product inquiries or interest.
Returns/Delivered orders	Issues with orders received, refunds, and returns for orders received.
Shipping	Local pickup or shipping costs.
Store info	Contact info such as phone number, location, store hours, general return policy, and marketing requests.
Wholesale	Wholesale inquires.

The classification system doesn't label messages with a confidence rating below 90%.

Note

Currently, Inbox message classification is only available in English.

To have message classification applied to your online store conversations in the mobile app, ensure your Shopify Inbox app is version 5.12.1 or later.

Send a link to a product in a conversation

You can share products that are available in your online store in Shopify Inbox. Learn more about sales channel availability for products.

Steps:

Desktop

1. In Shopify Inbox for desktop, click on a conversation.
2. Click the price tag icon to open a list of your store's products.
3. Click a product to select it, or enter a search term to locate a specific product and then click to select it.
4. Type any additional information you want to send with the product, and click Send.

iPhone

1. In the Shopify Inbox app, tap on a conversation.
2. If you don't see any options next to the text field where you write a message, then tap the + icon to expand the conversation options.
3. Tap the price tag icon to open a list of your store's products.
4. Tap a product to select it, or enter a search term to locate a specific product and then tap to select it. You can select up to three products at a time.
5. Tap Share product to send the product information to the customer, or type any additional information you want to send with the product before tapping Share product.

Android

1. In the Shopify Inbox app, tap on a conversation.
2. If you don't see any options next to the message box, then tap the + icon to expand the conversation options.
3. Tap the price tag icon to open a list of your store's products.
4. Tap a product to select it, or enter a search term to locate a specific product and then tap to select it. You can select up to three products at a time.
5. Tap Share product to send the product information to the customer, or type any additional information you want to send with the product before tapping Share product.

Send a discount code in a conversation

You can share discount codes in Shopify Inbox. When a customer clicks the discount code, the discount code is automatically applied to their cart. You need to create discount codes before you can share them.

Steps:

Desktop

1. In Shopify Inbox for desktop, click on a conversation to open it.
2. Click the discount icon to open a list of your store's discount codes.
3. Click a discount code to select it, or enter a search term to locate a specific discount and then click to select it. If the discount code is inactive, then an error message appears asking you to update the discount code in the Shopify app.
4. Click Share discount to send the discount code to the customer.

The discount code is stored in the online chat session and is applied to the customer's cart at checkout.

iPhone

1. In the Shopify Inbox app, tap on a conversation.
2. If you don't see any options next to the message box, then tap the + icon to expand the conversation options.
3. Tap the discount to open a list of your store's discount codes.
4. Tap a discount to select it, or enter a search term to locate a specific discount and then tap to select it. If the discount is invalid, then an error message appears asking you to update the code in the Shopify app.
5. Tap Share discount to send the discount code to the customer.

The discount code is stored in the online chat session and is applied to the customer's cart at checkout.

Android

1. In the Shopify Inbox app, tap on a conversation.
2. If you don't see any options next to the message box, then tap the + icon to expand the conversation options.
3. Tap the discount to open a list of your store's discount codes.
4. Tap a discount to select it, or enter a search term to locate a specific discount and then tap to select it. If the discount is invalid, then an error message appears asking you to update the code in the Shopify app.
5. Tap Share discount to send the discount code to the customer.

The discount code is stored in the online chat session and is applied to the customer's cart at checkout.

Send an image in a conversation

You can send images to customers in Shopify Inbox. Customers can't send images to you.

Steps:

Desktop

1. In Shopify Inbox, click on a conversation.
2. Click the image icon in the message bar, and then select an image from your computer to send.

iPhone

1. In the Shopify Inbox app, tap on the conversation that you want to open.
2. If you don't see any options next to the text field where you write a message, then tap the + icon to expand the conversation options and select the image icon.
3. You can send a picture from your device's photo library, or take a new photo. If it's the first time you're sending an image in the Inbox app, then you'll be prompted to give Shopify Inbox access to your photo library before you're able to select any images.
4. Tap the image that you want to send to the customer.

Android

1. In the Shopify Inbox app, tap on the conversation that you want to open.
2. If you don't see any options next to the text field where you write a message, then tap the + icon to expand the conversation options and select the image icon.
3. You can send a picture from your device's photo library, or take a new photo. If it's the first time you're sending an image in the Inbox app, then you'll be prompted to give Shopify Inbox access to your photo library before you're able to select any images.
4. Tap the image that you want to send to the customer.

Conversation details

Open a conversation in the Shopify Inbox desktop or mobile app. All conversation details are visible in the conversation window. From the conversation screen, you can also manage the status of the conversation or assign the conversation to a staff member.

Manage conversation status

Conversations can't be deleted, but they can be set to Closed on shopifyinbox.com or in the Shopify Inbox mobile app.

You can change the status of a conversation from Closed to Open, or from Open to Closed. You can also mark a conversation as Unread.

Steps:

Desktop

1. On shopifyinbox.com, open a conversation.
2. Within the conversation window, click the circle to toggle a conversation as Open or Closed. Setting a conversation to Closed moves it from the Open conversation list to the Closed conversation list.

iPhone

1. In the Shopify Inbox mobile app, tap a conversation to open it.
2. Tap the ... menu in the upper right corner of the app, and then tap Close or Reopen to set a new status. Setting a conversation to Closed moves it from the Open conversation list to the Closed conversation list.

You can also swipe right on a conversation to change the status from Closed to Open or Open to Closed.

Android

1. In the Shopify Inbox mobile app, tap a conversation to open it.
2. Tap the ... menu in the upper right corner of the app, and then tap Close or Reopen to set a new status. Setting a conversation to Closed moves it from the Open conversation list to the Closed conversation list.

You can also swipe right on a conversation to change the status from Closed to Open or Open to Closed.

Manage conversation assignment

You can assign a chat conversation to a staff member with online store chat permissions from the conversation preview or the conversation window.

Steps:

Desktop

1. In the Shopify Inbox desktop app, open a conversation.
2. Click the Assign button in the conversation header.
3. In the Manage staff assignment window, enter a search term or click on a staff member to assign the conversation to. The staff member sees a badge on each conversation that has been assigned to them in the Shopify Inbox conversation sidebar.
4. To unassign a conversation, click the Assigned to <staff member> link in the conversation preview, and then click Unassign.

iPhone

1. In the Shopify Inbox app, tap a conversation to open it.
2. Tap the ... button in the upper right corner of your device.
3. Tap Manage assignment. In the Assign Staff window, enter a search term or tap on a staff member to assign the conversation to. The staff member sees a badge on each conversation that has been assigned to them in the Shopify Inbox conversation sidebar.
4. To unassign a conversation, tap the Assigned to <staff member> link in the conversation window, and then tap Unassign.

Android

1. In the Shopify Inbox app, tap a conversation to open it.
2. Tap the ... button in the upper right corner of your device.
3. Tap Manage assignment. In the Assign Staff window, enter a search term or tap on a staff member to assign the conversation to. The staff member sees a badge on each conversation that has been assigned to them in the Shopify Inbox conversation sidebar.
4. To unassign a conversation, tap the Assigned to <staff member> link in the conversation window, and then tap Unassign.

If you don't see the appropriate staff member's name on the Assign Staff screen, then the staff member may not have the required permissions for online store chat. For more details, refer to online store chat permissions.

Context

You can view a customer's profile in your Inbox conversations. The customer's profile shows details like the customer's status (a new or returning customer), the customer's location and time zone, and order context (if available). You can also leave notes about the customer that are visible to your staff.

Customer profile

View a customer's profile from any open or closed conversation in the Shopify Inbox web or mobile app.

Steps:

Desktop

1. Log into Shopify Inbox and then click on a conversation to open it.
2. Click Show profile.

A panel with the customer's information appears to the right of the conversation. The details shown in the customer profile differs based on the customer and the number of interactions they've had with your online store.

You can view and interact with the following customer information in the profile panel:

Customer profiles for Shopify Inbox

Section	Description
Customer details	The customer's name and status (returning or new) is shown at the top of the customer profile panel. A default customer avatar is shown.
Info	Info shows the customer's personal information, including their name, email address, phone number, location, and local time, along with how long they've been a customer and their lifetime spend amount. You can click the page icons next to the email address and phone number to copy that information to your computer clipboard.
Latest orders	Orders shows the last three orders a customer placed or has open within the last 60 days. Click on the order number to open the order. The time, date, amount, and status of the customer's most recent order is displayed under the order number. If the customer has no orders, then the order block will be empty.
Note	Add a Note to a customer's profile. Customer notes are internal, and not visible to the customer. Notes added to a customer profile are saved to the customer's account.
Conversation	The Conversation block shows when the conversation was started and the platform the customer used to send the message.
More options	Click the ... menu at the top of the profile panel. From here, you can close the profile panel by clicking Hide customer details. You can also open the customer's full account details by clicking Manage customer. This opens the customer's account in the Customers portion of your Shopify admin.

Mobile

1. Open the Shopify Inbox app and then tap on a conversation to open it.
2. Tap the customer's name in the conversation header to open their profile. You can also tap the avatar image in the conversation, or use the ... menu and select View customer profile.

A page with the customer's details opens. The details shown in the customer profile differs based on the customer and the number of interactions they've had with your online store.

You can view and interact with the following customer information in the profile panel:

Customer profiles for Shopify Inbox

Section	Description
Customer details	The customer's name and status (returning or new) is shown at the top of the customer profile panel. A default customer avatar is shown.
Info	Info shows the customer's personal information, including their name, email address, phone number, location, and local time, along with how long they've been a customer and their lifetime spend amount. You can tap the page icons next to the email address and phone number to copy that information to your device clipboard.
Latest orders	Latest orders shows the last three orders a customer placed or has open within the last 60 days. The time, date, amount, and status of the customer's most recent order is displayed under the order number. Tap the order number to open the order in the Shopify mobile app, or tap View all orders to see all orders the customer placed in the last 60 days. If the customer has no orders, then the order area will be empty.
Note	Tap Add note to include a note on the customer's profile. Customer notes are internal, and not visible to the customer. Notes added to a customer profile are saved to the customer's account. You can edit or delete a note from the note details screen.
Conversation	The Conversation block shows when the conversation was started and the platform the customer used to send the message.
More options	In the customer profile, tap Close to return to the conversation, or Manage to open the customer's profile in the Shopify mobile app.