AI chatbot for an online store 2026: what it must know to sell and take the order
An AI chatbot for your online store: what it must know about products, offers and shipping, how it takes orders on WhatsApp, Messenger, Instagram and web chat.
The ArabyBot teamOfficial Meta partner · written from our own platform dataOn this page 8
- What must an online store chatbot know in order to sell?
- What is the difference between a chatbot that reads a copy of the store catalogue and one that reads the store itself?
- On which channels does the store chatbot answer customers?
- How does the store chatbot take the order inside the chat?
- What does the store chatbot do when a size or colour is sold out?
- How do you know which orders the store chatbot sold, and from which channel?
- What does the store chatbot on ArabyBot not do?
- Frequently asked questions
The short answer
An online store chatbot that actually sells knows the store as it is at the moment of the question: products with their sizes, stock and prices, the running offers, and the shipping, payment and returns rules, and then records the order inside the chat through the same checkout. In ArabyBot the bot and the store are one system, so the AI agent sells from the store itself on WhatsApp, Messenger, Instagram and the store chat, every order carries the channel it came from, and when a size runs out it offers the customer «notify me when it is back» instead of selling what is not there.
Also asked as: «عايز شات بوت يرد على عملاء المتجر ويسجل الأوردر» · «أبي بوت ذكاء اصطناعي يبيع من متجري» · «بدي شات بوت للمتجر يعرف الأسعار والمقاسات» · «بغيت شات بوت للمتجر الإلكتروني ديالي» · «أريد بوت يرد على الزباين بالمتجر شلون أسويه»
What must an online store chatbot know in order to sell?
An online store chatbot needs to know the store as it is at the moment of the question: the product with its sizes, colours and a photo per colour, the stock, today's price, the running offers, the shipping zones and fees, the payment methods and the returns policy. A bot that answers from old information sells what ran out or promises a discount that ended, and loses a customer who was about to buy.
| What the bot knows | What it gets wrong without it | Where it reads it in ArabyBot Store |
|---|---|---|
| The product with its sizes and colours | Offers a colour that does not exist, or sends the first photo instead of the requested colour's | The product and its variants, each with its own price, stock and photo |
| Stock | Sells a size that ran out days ago | Each variant's stock at the moment of the question |
| Price and quantity offers | Quotes an old price, or forgets the «two for» offer | Today's price, the was-price and quantity offers |
| Running automatic offers | Promises a discount that ended, or invents a coupon code | The offer's name, what it gives, its minimum and its end date |
| Shipping | Invents a fee or a delivery time | Shipping zones, their fees and delivery days |
| Payment | Offers cash on delivery where you closed it | Payment methods and cash-on-delivery rules |
| Returns and vacation | Promises a return your policy does not allow, or takes an order while the store is on vacation | The returns policy and the vacation state |
| Trust | Has nothing to say to a customer asking «is the store reliable?» | The average rating from verified buyers, and the loyalty points rule |
| The page the visitor is reading | Asks «which product do you mean?» while the product is in front of the customer | In the store chat: the product's name, price, availability, sizes and colours |
The AI agent in ArabyBot Store is instructed never to invent a coupon code, and to say that something is not available rather than guess — an area your shipping zones do not cover, or a payment method you have not switched on.
What is the difference between a chatbot that reads a copy of the store catalogue and one that reads the store itself?
A store chatbot that reads a copy answers from a product file uploaded or synced at some earlier time, so it knows price and stock as they were at the last upload. A bot that reads the store itself asks the store at the moment of the question, answers with what is on sale now and records the order in the store directly. Between the two sits a middle way: a connection to a store on another platform.
| The way | What it does well | Its limits | Price and stock in the reply |
|---|---|---|---|
| A copy of the catalogue | Works with any store and is quick to set up | Offers and shipping are written by hand; the order usually finishes outside the chat | As they were at the last upload or sync |
| A connection to a store on another platform | No copy and no store move | Bounded by the platform's API; two systems and two panels | From the store at the moment of the question |
| The bot and the store as one system | Offers, shipping, payment and returns from the store's settings; the order through the same checkout | A newer platform without a wide app market; moving to it takes work | From the store itself at the moment of the question |
The first way suits a seller with no store, or a small store that rarely changes. The second is what ArabyBot offers stores on Shopify and WooCommerce, covered in the guide to an agent that reads your store; there the shipping and returns policy usually comes from a knowledge base you write. The third is what ArabyBot Store is built on: the AI agent reads the store's own tables, so there is no copy to go stale and no connection between two systems.
ArabyBot was designed around the third way from the start, since ArabyBot is the only bot in the Arab market with its own store platform; one customer is one record across the chat, the store and the campaigns. The full picture of what that changes is on the bot-and-store page.
On which channels does the store chatbot answer customers?
The AI agent in ArabyBot Store sells from the store itself on four channels: WhatsApp, Messenger, Instagram and the store chat on your site. Messenger, Instagram and the store chat need no WhatsApp number, and when you connect the number later, order confirmation and status messages start on the same link with no new setup.
| Channel | What it needs | What it adds to selling |
|---|---|---|
| The store's WhatsApp number connected to the bot | An order for the chatting number counts as confirmed in the chat; confirmation and status messages go out from it | |
| Messenger | A connected Facebook Page, no WhatsApp number | Selling in Page messages from the store itself |
| A connected Instagram account, no WhatsApp number | Selling in direct messages from the store itself | |
| Store chat | The website-chat module in your package, switched on in one tap | Knows the product the visitor is reading |
Store chat in one tap. From the store panel: «ArabyBot services → AI agent → Store chat → Turn on chat». A chat bubble appears on your store in its name and colour, answered by the AI agent or by your team from the inbox, on the free store link and on every domain you add. It knows the product page the visitor is reading: the name, the price and was-price, availability, and the sizes and colours with the sold-out ones marked. For a product without sizes or colours the bot sends a ready-order link.
Comments on product posts. On a post the store auto-published for a new product, the AI comment reply takes the product's current price, stock and link from the store, so the live figure wins over the post text, if the page's AI comment reply is on. The details are in the guide to selling on Facebook and Instagram from your store.
Switching it on. If your account has exactly one AI agent when you create a new store, that agent sells from it from the first minute; with more than one, you pick the seller in one tap from «ArabyBot services → AI agent». A new agent is created with the store switched on, and you can untick it. For the website chat window and its options, read the guide to Arabic live chat for your site.
How does the store chatbot take the order inside the chat?
The bot gathers what the order is missing — product, size or colour, quantity, name, address, shipping zone and payment method — then records it in the store through the same checkout a shopper goes through on the site, so offers, shipping fees, stock and the coupon code are worked out by the same rules, and the order reaches the store panel with its number.
- It asks for what is missing
If the size, colour or shipping zone is missing it asks, offering only the choices that exist, and never guesses; if several things are missing it asks for them together.
- It places the order through the same checkout
Automatic offers apply, the coupon code the customer types is validated, the zone's shipping fee is added, and stock is reserved inside the order itself, just as on the site.
- It settles the payment method
Cash on delivery and transfer are recorded inside the chat, and with a transfer the bot sends the transfer details. A card is paid on the store's checkout page, and the money goes straight to your account through your own gateway.
- The order reaches the panel
With its number and the channel it came from. If the order's phone is the WhatsApp number talking to the bot, it counts as confirmed in the chat; otherwise it goes through the WhatsApp confirmation before shipping if your number is connected, or arrives as «new» and you confirm it with a button.
After the order the bot answers «where is my order?» from the order's status in the store, and cancels it when its owner asks. If cash on delivery is closed for a number under your store's rules, the bot offers the other ways to pay without stating the reason; if the store is on vacation it says so and takes no order.
What does the store chatbot do when a size or colour is sold out?
The bot never offers a sold-out size as available; it says it ran out and offers the sizes and colours that are in stock. If the customer wants that exact size, it offers «tell me when it is back», records the request once they agree, and they get one WhatsApp message from your store's number when the product returns.
The details matter, because the notice is a promise to the customer:
- No request without consent. The bot offers the notice, and adds the customer to the waiting list only after they agree.
- With the number the chat proves. On WhatsApp with the chat's own number, on other channels with the number saved for the customer if there is one; otherwise the bot sends the product link so the customer leaves a number in the page's notify button, and nobody else's number is saved by mistake.
- One message from your store's number. When the product returns, one WhatsApp message goes out on a utility template you prepare once and Meta approves, because it is a notice the customer asked for, not a promotion.
The list of people waiting for a particular size tells you what is worth reordering from the supplier. The store's WhatsApp messages, from confirmation to abandoned carts, are in the guide to an online store linked to WhatsApp.
How do you know which orders the store chatbot sold, and from which channel?
Every order the AI agent records carries the channel it came from: «AI agent (WhatsApp)», «(Messenger)», «(Instagram)» or «(website chat)». So the store panel and the source reports tell you which channel actually sells, instead of every chat order being counted under one channel.
This is part of the store's «order source», which keeps the campaign (utm), the click id and the landing page with every order, and whose reports group orders by source and campaign, as in the guide to order source and pixels.
And your team sees the orders beside the chat. The web inbox has a «Store» panel beside every conversation: the customer's orders and their status, what they spent, their points, group and note, and with each order their answer to the WhatsApp confirmation — awaiting, confirmed, cancelled or no reply. Orders your other connected stores sent for confirmation appear there too, with their source and never twice. The owner sees it, and so does anyone whose role includes the orders section.
From the message box a teammate inserts a product with its name, price and link, or a ready-order link for a product without sizes or colours, and nothing is sent until they press send. That is what the bot and the store as one system means, and it extends to WhatsApp campaigns to store-customer segments who agreed to offers, as in the guide to WhatsApp marketing to store customers.
What does the store chatbot on ArabyBot not do?
The AI agent does not invent a coupon code, an offer or a shipping fee, does not take card payments inside the chat, and does not answer TikTok direct messages. Some of what this page describes needs a WhatsApp number or a module in the package, and some of it is for ArabyBot Store alone, not for stores connected from other platforms.
- Coupon codes. It mentions the running automatic offers and applies a store code the customer types if it is valid, but it does not hand out store codes on its own; the discount codes the bot gives from its own settings are a separate feature from the store's coupons.
- ArabyBot Store only. Knowing the product page in website chat, and recording «notify me» from the chat, work with ArabyBot Store. For a store connected from Shopify or WooCommerce, the bot reads its products and confirms its orders through the connection.
- The app. The «Store» panel beside the chat is in the web inbox and has not reached the mobile app yet, and WhatsApp campaigns to store-customer segments are also created on the web.
- Reviews and follow-ups. The bot does not ask for a review automatically after delivery; you send the rating link yourself from the order. There are no event-triggered message sequences, such as a message a week after delivery.
- Channels. Four channels only: WhatsApp, Messenger, Instagram and the store chat. On TikTok, ArabyBot answers comments and moves the buyer to WhatsApp, as in the guide to TikTok comment auto-reply.
The confirmation before shipping, status messages, the abandoned-cart reminder and the back-in-stock message need the store's WhatsApp number connected to the bot, with Meta-approved templates where required, and the store chat needs the website-chat module in your package. The «ArabyBot services» page in the store panel shows the real state of each service.
If your question is wider than selling in the chat — how to organise customer service across your whole store between the bot and the team — read the guide to e-commerce customer service.
Frequently asked questions
Does the store chatbot know about a price or stock change right away?
Yes in ArabyBot Store, because the AI agent reads the store itself at the moment of the question and keeps no copy: a price you change shows in the next reply, and a size that ran out is never offered as in stock.
Do I need a WhatsApp number for the store chatbot to sell?
No. The AI agent sells from the store on Messenger, Instagram and the store chat with no WhatsApp number. The number adds the confirmation before shipping, order status messages, the abandoned-cart reminder and the back-in-stock message, and when you connect it later these start on the same link with no new setup.
Can the store chatbot invent a discount or a coupon code?
No. The AI agent is instructed never to invent a coupon code. It mentions the running automatic offer that fits the customer's order and when it ends, and the discount is applied at checkout by itself. A store code the customer types is checked when the order is placed; if it is not valid the bot says so and asks whether to continue without it.
Does the customer pay by card inside the bot chat?
No. Inside the chat the order is placed with cash on delivery or a transfer, and the merchant confirms a transfer once the receipt arrives. A card is paid on the store's checkout page through the payment gateway on your own account, so the money goes straight to you.
Does the ArabyBot chatbot work with a store on Shopify or WooCommerce?
Yes, through the connection: the bot reads the products from your store at the moment of the question and confirms orders on WhatsApp; the steps are in the guide to connecting a store to WhatsApp. What needs the bot and the store to be one system — a chat that knows the product page, «notify me» from the chat, and store-customer segments in WhatsApp campaigns — is for ArabyBot Store.
What does the store chatbot cost on ArabyBot?
The AI agent runs within the bot packages on the pricing page, and store plans are on the store page in your currency, running in the same account as the bot package. On WhatsApp specifically: Your replies inside the 24-hour window are free today — and from 1 October 2026 each phone number gets 1,000 free a month, with the rest charged at the customer's market utility rate.
How we write these guides Figures come from our platform and Meta's actual invoices, dated with their sample; we describe what works today, not what we plan, and say what we do not do and when someone else is the better choice. Reviewed by the ArabyBot team on 28 September 2026.
Read next
Your store and the bot that sells from it — in one account
One account for the store and the bot, with a trial before you pay.