Chat
With Chat, signed-in buyers can message your shop straight from the storefront, without switching to WhatsApp. In a multivendor shop, buyers can also chat with sellers, and you can read those conversations for moderation.
Chat is available from the Growth plan. On Free the chat button does not show on the storefront, but older chat history stays readable.
Chat is off by default. While it is off, the WhatsApp button keeps showing as usual.
Switching it on
In Shop settings, under Other settings, Operations group, open the Chat row:
- Customers can chat with the shop: turns chat on. Buyers see a Chat with the shop button
- Customers can chat with sellers (multivendor shops): buyers see a Chat with seller button on products and seller pages. It is on by default, but only works while shop chat is on
Owners and admins can change these settings.
What buyers see
- Chat with the shop or Chat with seller buttons on product pages, seller pages, and orders. A chat started from a product or order carries a card for it
- one conversation per buyer with the shop, and one per seller. Opening chat again continues the same conversation
- text up to 2,000 characters and one image per message (JPG, PNG, or WEBP, max. 5 MB). Images are private, not public links
- a Read mark on messages that were read
- Close conversation to stop receiving messages, and Report seller in a seller conversation
- a notice in every conversation: "The shop's managers can read this conversation to keep everyone safe."
Guests (checkout without an account) cannot chat. Phone numbers and e-mail addresses inside messages are not masked.
Replying from the Dashboard
The Chat menu shows when chat is on, or when your shop is multivendor (for moderation). The Shop chats tab holds conversations between buyers and the shop. Pick one, read it, and Write a reply…. You can also block a conversation.
| Role | Can |
|---|---|
| Owner and admin | reply to shop chats, read every conversation, block |
| Cashier | reply to and block shop chats only |
| Kitchen | does not see chat |
Replies from the Dashboard are text. Images from buyers still show.
While chat is off, history stays readable, but buyers cannot start new chats and you cannot reply.
Moderating seller conversations
Owners and admins see two more tabs: All conversations (buyers with sellers included) and Reported. Filter by the buyer's name.
A conversation between a buyer and a seller is read only: you cannot reply in it, and reading it does not mark messages read for the seller. If something is wrong, choose Block conversation. While it is blocked, nobody can send messages; the buyer and the seller see "The shop's managers closed this conversation." Choose Unblock to open it again.
When a buyer reports a seller from chat, the buyer's side closes the conversation and it is marked Reported by the customer. If your shop accepts buyer reports, the report also lands in the report queue.
Sellers reply from Seller Center
Sellers reply from the Chat menu in Seller Center. Sellers cannot start a conversation; buyers do. A suspended seller can still read but cannot send.
Notifications
A message still unread 2 minutes after it was sent triggers a notification, at most once per 30 minutes per conversation:
- shop: the Dashboard notification bell and a push
- seller: the Seller Center inbox, WhatsApp, and e-mail (within the shop's monthly message quota)
- buyer: a push in the app
Each sender can send at most 20 messages per minute.