Shopify AI Chatbot: How to Add One to Your Store

A Shopify AI chatbot is worth adding when the same questions keep landing in your inbox: “Where is my order?”, “Does this run small?”, “Can I still cancel?”. The chatbot answers from your catalog and policies, looks up the order in Shopify, and passes anything unusual to your team.

This guide covers the Shopify-specific setup. For the wider picture, from costs to choosing a tool, see our complete ecommerce chatbot guide.

First, check whether Shopify Inbox is enough

Shopify’s own Shopify Inbox is free and describes itself as “an AI-powered sales associate on your storefront”. It connects to your catalog, inventory and policies. If you mostly need pre-sale product answers on your storefront, start there.

You’ll want a separate AI chatbot if you need any of these:

• Order lookups and cancellations handled in the chat
• WhatsApp chats in the same inbox as your storefront chats
• Routing to teammates by working hours, with private notes and transfers
• Answers from PDFs, Word files or Google Drive, not just store pages
• Sync with Freshsales for leads

The rest of this guide uses ZynfoAI. Our comparison of ecommerce chatbots covers Shopify Inbox, Tidio, Gorgias and others side by side.

Step 1: Install the app and sync your catalog

In ZynfoAI, open Integrations, choose Shopify, and approve the app in your Shopify admin. Your product catalog syncs into the agent’s knowledge, and the agent can then recommend products as cards with an add-to-cart button.

Resync is manual. Add “click Resync” to your checklist for every new collection, price change or sale.

Step 2: Add what Shopify doesn’t hold

Your catalog doesn’t explain your returns window or how the linen washes. Add your shipping and returns pages, size guides and care PDFs as sources. Every answer shows its source, so you can see whether a reply came from the size guide or the product page.

Step 3: Set the order rules

With Shopify connected, the agent can:

• Look up an order’s status when the shopper gives the number
• Cancel an order that hasn’t been fulfilled, after the shopper confirms
• Log a refund or return request
• Share a discount code you’ve set up
• Save a back-in-stock request for a sold-out variant

Write the rules in the AI Agent instructions. “Always confirm the order number and ask for a yes before cancelling” is a good first line. Shipped orders go to your team. Shopify itself won’t cancel an order once it’s partly fulfilled, so the agent doesn’t try.

Step 4: Decide who takes over

Damaged items, refund exceptions and custom requests need a person. Turn on human handoff, set your working hours, and choose round-robin, least busy or broadcast routing. The agent writes a summary when it hands off, and stops replying while your teammate handles the chat. Outside hours, shoppers can leave a message.

Step 5: Test, then turn on the widget

In the Playground, ask the questions that trip bots up: a sold-out size, an order that has shipped, a return after the window, a product you don’t sell. When the answers hold up, turn on the chat widget from the app.

What it looks like on the storefront

Shopper: Where is my order #1042?

Agent: Order #1042 has shipped and is on its way. (order card: In transit · 2 items)

Shopper: Do you have the linen shirt in medium?

Agent: Yes, the Linen Shirt is in stock in medium. (product card: Linen Shirt · $48 · Add to cart)

What it costs

ZynfoAI is one plan: $99 a month or $990 a year, with 5,000 conversations, 11 seats and Shopify included. There’s a 7-day free trial. See pricing.

For what the app connects and the setup checklist, see the Shopify integration page. For costs, choosing and setup on any platform, read the complete ecommerce chatbot guide. And for the eight questions to ask any vendor, go back to the AI chatbot for ecommerce guide.