An AI chatbot on a Shopify store does one job: it answers shoppers' questions while they are still deciding. Done well, it saves you time and helps shoppers buy with confidence. Done badly, it guesses, makes promises you never made, and creates support work instead of removing it. The steps below are the same for most AI chat apps on the Shopify App Store. Where we use Catchly as the example, we say so.
Before you install anything
Spend ten minutes on your store data first. An AI chat can only be as good as what it reads, and most good answers already exist on your store in some form.
- Policies. In your Shopify admin, open Settings and then Policies. Make sure your shipping and refund policies are filled in, current and specific: where you ship, what it costs, how long it takes, the return window and what cannot be returned.
- Product pages. Check that your best sellers say what shoppers ask about: material, fit or size, care, dimensions and what is included. A line such as "Fit: runs small, size up" answers a question before it is asked.
- A size guide or FAQ page. If you sell clothing or footwear, publish a size guide page. If you get the same few questions every week, publish an FAQ page with the answers.
Not sure what shoppers ask? Our guide to what shoppers ask before they buy lists the common questions and where each answer should live.
Step 1: choose an app
Search the Shopify App Store for AI chat and you will find many options. They differ most in four ways.
- Where answers come from. Look for an app that answers only from your store's own products, pages and policies, and says it is not sure when the answer is not there. An app that falls back on general knowledge or the web will sooner or later tell a shopper something your store never said.
- What happens when it cannot help. A shopper should be able to reach a person, or leave an email for a reply, at any point.
- How usage is counted. Apps count conversations, AI messages, tickets or store visitors. Work out what your busiest month would cost, and what happens when you pass the limit: overage charges, a silent chat, or a paused AI with the chat still open.
- Channels. If you need WhatsApp, Instagram or email in the same place, choose an app that covers them. If your questions come from shoppers on your store, a storefront chat is enough.
Our comparison pages set out pricing and limits for several popular apps side by side, with sources.
Step 2: install the app
Install from the Shopify App Store. Shopify shows the permissions the app asks for. A chat app usually needs to read your products, pages and policies, and to add chat leads to your customer list. Be wary of an app that asks for much more than it needs.
A good app starts reading your store straight away. With Catchly, the Home page in your Shopify admin shows a setup checklist, counts your products and pages as they come in, and marks the step done when the first sync has finished. Product changes then sync on their own.
Step 3: turn on the chat in your theme
Shopify apps add a chat to your storefront through an app embed. It is a switch in your theme editor, so there is no code to paste and nothing to remove from your theme files if you uninstall.
- In your Shopify admin, open Online Store, then Themes, then Customize.
- Open App embeds in the left sidebar.
- Switch on the chat app's embed and press Save.
Many apps, Catchly included, give you a button that opens the theme editor with the embed already switched on, so you only press Save. If you change themes later, switch the embed on in the new theme too, because app embeds are saved per theme.
Step 4: set the basics
- Look and position. Match your brand colours, and check the chat button on a phone. It should not cover your add to cart button or a sticky cart bar.
- Greeting. Say what the chat can help with, in one short line.
- Business hours. Tell shoppers when a person can reply.
- Email capture. Decide when the chat asks for an email: after the first answer, only when the AI is not sure, or when a person is needed outside your hours. Keep marketing consent as an unticked box.
- Handoff. Choose the words that bring in a person, and topics the AI must never discuss.
Step 5: test it like a shopper
This is the step most stores skip, and the one that matters most. Ask at least ten real questions before you let the chat greet shoppers. Include easy ones and hard ones:
- A product question with a catch, such as "Is this jacket waterproof?" when your page says water resistant.
- A sizing question: "I am usually a medium, which size should I get?"
- Shipping to a country you do not ship to.
- A refund request outside your return window.
- A question your store never answers, such as a restock date you have not announced.
- A request for a discount code.
For each answer, check two things: is it correct, and where did it come from? Catchly shows the store pages behind every test answer, under Why it answered this way. The right result for the last three questions is not a confident answer. It is the chat saying it is not sure, declining politely, or offering a person.
When an answer is wrong, fix the source if you can, for example by correcting the product page. If you want a fixed reply, Catchly's Fix this answer turns your correction into a rule the chat follows from then on.
Step 6: go live and watch the first week
Open your store in a private browser window, the way a new shopper sees it, and send a message. Then check your chat inbox daily for the first week. Look for three things: questions the AI could not answer, answers you would phrase differently, and products shoppers ask about that are missing details. Each one is a small fix that improves every later answer.
Common mistakes
- Launching without testing. Ten test questions take ten minutes and catch most problems.
- Hiding the person. A shopper with a refund problem wants a person, not a loop. Keep Talk to a person easy to find.
- Writing facts into the bot instead of the store. Prices, delivery times and policies belong on your store, where shoppers and the chat both see the same thing.
- Ignoring speed. Check that the chat loads only a small script until a shopper opens it, so your pages stay fast.
Doing this with Catchly
Catchly follows these steps: install, switch on the app embed with one click, send a test chat that shows its sources, then go live. It is built to answer only from your store's own data and to offer a person when it is not sure. Plans start free, with paid plans from $19 a month and no overage charges. Catchly is on the Shopify App Store. You can try it on our demo store first, then install Catchly when you are ready.