Order self-service in chat

With order self-service switched on, your chat window offers Track or change an order beside its other topics. A visitor types the email address they ordered with, enters the 6-digit code we email them, and sees their recent orders from your Shopify store: status, items, total and tracking links. From an order they can report a problem, ask for a return or ask you to cancel it. Each request becomes a ticket with the order attached.

Nothing changes in your store on its own. A request is a request: an agent decides, then refunds, cancels or arranges the return from the ticket.

Before you start#

The chat window shows Track or change an order only when all four are true:

1. A Shopify store is connected in Settings > Store. With more than one connected, orders come from the one connected first.

2. Growth Dept has set up the email that sends the codes. Until then Workflows > Order management says "Codes cannot be emailed yet".

3. At least one of the options below is switched on.

4. The chat has order lookup switched on.

Without a store, the Order management page shows only Connect a store. Admins change these settings; other roles can read them.

Set it up#

1. Open Workflows > Order management.

2. Under What visitors can do, choose the options to offer (each is described below), the tag for each kind of request and their time limits.

3. Set Orders listed: how many of the visitor's most recent orders the window shows, from 1 to 8. The default is 5.

4. Save your changes.

5. Under Chats, flip the switch beside each chat that should offer order lookup. Each switch saves at once. A chat then shows Offered, or Waiting when it is switched on but the code email is not set up yet or every option is off.

You can also switch it on for one chat from that chat's Automate tab: Settings > Chat, open the chat, then Orders > Offer order tracking and requests.

The options#

Change a tag in Tag for these tickets to fit how your views and rules are set up. Switch everything off and chats stop offering order lookup.

When a request is switched on but an order does not qualify, the visitor sees why instead of the button, for example "Returns open once the order is delivered." or "This order has shipped, so it can no longer be cancelled here." Options you switch off are not shown at all.

The reasons visitors choose from#

The reasons are fixed. You cannot add your own reasons or write an automatic answer for each one yet; if a reason needs a set reply, write a macro for it.

What the visitor sees#

1. They choose Track or change an order and enter their email address.

2. A 6-digit code arrives by email in the chat window's language. It works for 10 minutes and allows 5 tries. The window says the same thing whether or not that address has orders, so nobody can use it to find out who shops with you.

3. With the right code, they see their most recent orders, read live from Shopify. Test orders are left out. Product photos are not shown.

4. Each order shows one of these states:

5. To ask for help, they open an order, pick a request, choose a reason, add details if they like and send.

The verified session lasts 30 minutes and lives only in that browser tab. Reloading the page means asking for a new code. One address can request 3 codes an hour.

What your team receives#

A request starts a chat conversation on behalf of the verified customer, live or offline depending on who is available. Its first message says what the visitor asked, such as "Return request for order #1002" and the reason they chose. The ticket also gets:

• the request's tag, so a view or rule can pick these tickets out;

• an internal note with the order's status, total, items, shipments and a link to the order in Shopify admin, ending "Nothing was changed in the store."

Reply in the conversation, then act on the order from the customer sidebar: see Refund, cancel, duplicate and replace orders.

See how it is used#

Analytics > Automation counts visitors who looked up their orders and the problems, returns and cancellations they asked for. Requests become tickets, so they are not counted as resolved by automation. See the automation report.

Not available yet#