Instant answers

Instant answers allow you to create automatic responses to frequently asked questions in online store chat. A list of questions is presented to the customer when they click the chat button in your online store, with the associated answer appearing after a question has been selected.

You can access the customer's session in Shopify Inbox to learn which instant answers your customer clicked on and which response was sent. These interactions won't show up as new conversations, and don't send a push notification to your phone or computer. If the customer asks a question outside of the instant answer options, then you're notified of the new inquiry on your Shopify Inbox dashboard or mobile app.

Instant answers

When a customer clicks the chat button, a chat window opens in their browser. It displays your greeting and a list of your visible instant answers. The customer can message you or select a question. They can also select "Track my order", which is included by default and automatically gives the customer their order status when clicked.

You can create as many instant answers as you want, however, only 7 instant answers (in addition to Track my order) can be visible at any one time. Other instant answers are stored in the Shopify Inbox instant answer not visible list and can be swapped in or out at any time. "Track my order" always appears as an option to your customer, and doesn't count towards your 7 visible instant answers.

Customize your instant answers

Steps:

1. From your Shopify admin, click Settings > Apps and sales channels.

2. From the Apps and sales channels page, click Shopify Inbox.

3. Click Open sales channel.

4. Click Saved responses > Instant answers.

5. Click Create instant answer.

6. The default status for a new instant is Not Visible. If you have fewer than 7 visible instant answers, then you can use the drop-down menu to change the status to Visible. If you already have 7 existing instant answers, then the new instant answer will save to your Not Visible instant answer list.

7. In the Button title field, enter the question you want to act as a prompt for your instant answer. There is a 60-character limit for this field.

8. Type in the Answer for your question. This is the response the customer gets after clicking the question.

9. Click Save.

Note

Instant answers are custom content, meaning they won't be automatically translated if your theme language changes.

Instant answer preview

You can preview how the instant answer title and response appears to customers using your online store chat.

Steps:

1. From your Shopify admin, click Settings > Apps and sales channels.

2. From the Apps and sales channels page, click Shopify Inbox.

3. Click Open sales channel.

4. Click Saved responses > Instant answers.

5. Click Preview.

Change the display order of instant answers

You can change the display order of your visible instant answers.

Steps:

1. From your Shopify admin, click Settings > Apps and sales channels.

2. From the Apps and sales channels page, click Shopify Inbox.

3. Click Open sales channel.

4. Click Appearance.

5. Click ⋮⋮ and drag the instant answer to rearrange the display list.

The updated list of visible instant answers is automatically updated in the Preview. To update your online store with this change, click Save.

Enable or disable instant answers

You can designate up to 7 visible instant answers, with the remaining instant answers appearing in your store admin as not visible. If you have 7 visible instant answers, then you'll need to change the status of at least one instant answer from Visible to Not Visible before you can designate a new instant answer as visible.

Steps:

1. From your Shopify admin, click Settings > Apps and sales channels.

2. From the Apps and sales channels page, click Shopify Inbox.

3. Click Open sales channel.

4. Click Saved responses > Instant answers.

5. Click the instant answer that you want to set as not visible.

6. In the instant answer status field, set the instant answer to Not Visible.

7. Click Save.

With an available instant answer slot open, you can now set one of your Not Visible instant answers to Visible.

1. Click Edit on the instant answer you want to set as visible.
2. In the instant answer window, set the instant answer to Visible.
3. Click Save.

Delete an instant answer

If you no longer need an instant answer and want to delete it instead of setting it to Not Visible, follow these steps:

1. From your Shopify admin, click Settings > Apps and sales channels.

2. From the Apps and sales channels page, click Shopify Inbox.

3. Click Open sales channel.

4. Click Saved responses > Instant answers.

5. Click the instant answer you want to delete.

6. Click Delete instant answer.

7. Confirm the deletion.