When you run a Shopify store, customers often contact you before and after a purchase with questions such as "When will this product arrive?", "Is it in stock?", and "Can I return it?" Checking each message and replying by email takes time.
With Shopify Inbox, you can set up a chat channel on your online store and respond to customer inquiries on the spot. You can also share product links and discount codes in the chat, so you can use it not only to handle inquiries but also to help customers choose products.
Shopify Editions Spring '26, released on June 17, 2026, introduced AI customer-service features for Shopify Inbox. Some stores can now also use the Inbox agent, which lets AI communicate directly with customers.
This article explains Shopify Inbox's basic features, the differences between instant answers, quick replies, and Shopify Magic, and the Inbox agent's features, eligibility requirements, and how to set it up.
※ This article is based on information available as of September 2026.
Shopify Inbox | Shopify's Free Chat App
Shopify Inbox is a chat app that Shopify provides for online stores. You can receive messages from customers browsing your store and reply from the Shopify admin or the mobile app.
Image source: Shopify Inbox | Shopify App Store
Shopify Inbox is free and can be installed from the Shopify App Store. You can view messages from customers in the Shopify admin or the Shopify Inbox mobile app. Multiple staff members can manage conversations and assign them to a specific person.
In addition to chat handled by staff, there are answer-support features such as instant answers and Shopify Magic. Eligible stores can also use the Inbox agent, in which AI serves customers.
Shopify's other official apps are covered in the article below.
What You Can Do with Shopify Inbox
Shopify Inbox does more than chat with customers. You can also view customer information and share product links and discount codes.
Chat with Customers on Your Online Store
When you display chat on your online store, customers can send messages while viewing product pages and other pages. Staff review inquiries in Shopify Inbox and reply from a computer or smartphone. You can set the hours when you are available, and you can also automate the first reply outside business hours.
Image source: Shopify
Respond While Viewing Customer Information and Conversation History
On the conversation screen, you can view the customer's profile and past messages. You can also see what they do in the store. When a customer adds a product to the cart or removes one, the change appears in the conversation. If there is an active cart, you can also check the subtotal and the number of products.
Stores that use new customer accounts can also select the "Require customers to log in" setting. After login, the conversation is linked to the customer record, so staff can refer to customer information and order information—according to their permissions—while communicating with the customer.
Send Product Links and Discount Codes
During a chat, you can search Shopify products and send a product link directly. For example, if a customer says they are looking for a black bag, you can suggest products that match in the chat. Besides product links, you can send discount codes, images, and videos. You can use it not only as an inquiry channel but also to recommend products to customers who are considering a purchase.
How Shopify Inbox's Response Features Differ
Shopify Inbox includes instant answers, quick replies, and Shopify Magic, which help staff handle inquiries, plus the Inbox agent, which lets AI reply to customers directly.
| Feature | Who answers | Main use |
|---|---|---|
| Instant answers | System (automatically displays registered answers) | Answering frequently asked questions |
| Quick replies | Staff | Replies using templates |
| Shopify Magic | AI drafts a reply and staff send it | Help writing replies |
| Inbox agent | AI | Automatic replies to customers |
Instant Answers Automatically Display Registered Answers
Instant answers are a feature for registering questions and answers in advance. For example, you can prepare an entry such as "Tell me about returns" and set return conditions and a link to the policy page.
If you are not using the Inbox agent, a registered answer is displayed when a customer selects a question in the chat. When the Inbox agent is enabled, the behavior is different: the agent shows suggested ways to start the conversation and then handles the replies that follow.
Quick Replies Are Templates for Staff
Quick replies are a feature for saving text that staff use often. You can call up messages you use repeatedly, such as shipping-date information or a thank-you for an inquiry, from a shortcut. Unlike instant answers, they are not displayed to customers automatically. Staff select a template and send it.
Shopify Magic Uses AI to Draft Replies for Staff
With Shopify Magic, AI generates a draft reply to a message from a customer. The generated text is a draft for staff. It is not sent automatically. Staff review the content, edit it if needed, and then send it.
As of September 2026, automatically generated reply drafts support English only. To use them, the online store and the Shopify admin must be in English, Shopify Inbox must have at least one conversation, and the product count must be 200,000 or fewer, among other requirements. Shopify Magic reply drafts are not used for the Inbox agent's automatic replies.
For more on Shopify Magic's features and how to use them, see the article below.
The Inbox Agent Lets AI Answer Customers Directly
The Inbox agent has AI answer customers directly. Shopify Magic creates draft replies for staff, while the Inbox agent is a feature that communicates with customers in chat.
Other AI features available in Shopify are covered in the article below.
What Is Shopify Inbox's AI Feature, the Inbox Agent?
The Inbox agent is an AI feature in Shopify Inbox that handles conversations with customers. It answers questions about choosing products and about orders while referring to the product catalog and information registered in the store.
AI Automatically Answers Customer Questions
When you enable the Inbox agent, AI replies to questions that arrive in chat. Its main scope is inquiries about product details, availability, price, shipping, returns, size, and store policies. It answers in the language the customer uses in chat, but some catalog information, such as product names, may be shown in the store's language.
You can assign every conversation to the Inbox agent, or choose a setting that leaves AI in charge only during hours when staff cannot respond.
Support Product Recommendations and Order Inquiries
The Inbox agent does more than answer questions. It searches the catalog for products that match the customer's criteria and recommends them. It also handles order inquiries, and it can refer to past order information if the customer is logged in. For customers who are logged in to Shop, it may also personalize product recommendations based on purchase history, size, preferences, and similar details.
Refer to Products, Policies, the Knowledge Base, and More
The Inbox agent uses several kinds of information registered in Shopify when it answers. Its main sources include the product catalog, store policies such as shipping and returns, the Knowledge Base, online store pages, blog posts, and size guides. When it needs reviews or ratings for the store's products, it may also use web search with citations as a supplement.
Hand Off to Staff When Needed
Questions that are hard for AI to judge, or cases where the customer wants to talk with a staff member, can be handed off to a person. When a conversation is handed off, staff can also view the conversation with the AI up to that point.
If a handoff is not possible, such as during hours when staff cannot respond, the customer is given the store's sender email address and the inquiry switches to email.
Requirements for Using the Inbox Agent
To use the Inbox agent, you need to meet several requirements, including installing Shopify Inbox and using an eligible plan.
There Are Requirements Such as an Eligible Plan and New Customer Accounts
To use it, you need to meet the following requirements.
- Shopify Inbox is installed
- The store is an active online store
- The store uses new customer accounts
- The store is on Basic, Grow, Advanced, or Shopify Plus
To see whether you can actually use it, open Inbox from Sales channels in the Shopify admin.
What to Prepare to Make the Most of the Inbox Agent
What the Inbox agent says depends on the information registered in Shopify. Before you turn it on, review the information the agent will refer to.
Organize Product Information and Store Policies
Start by checking product information such as product names, descriptions, prices, inventory, and sizes. Also confirm that store policies—shipping methods, shipping rates, and return and exchange conditions—match how you actually operate. For example, if a return window is still set to an old period, the Inbox agent may refer to those outdated return conditions.
Add Frequently Asked Questions to the Knowledge Base
Information that product pages and policies alone cannot cover can be added to the Knowledge Base. It is suited to store-specific FAQs, such as business hours, contact options, and descriptions of your own services. For content already written on product pages or in policies, updating the original information is easier to manage than registering it again in the Knowledge Base.
For more on the Knowledge Base's features and how to use it, see the article below.
Set the AI's Tone and Service Style with a Persona
In the Inbox agent, you can set a persona. It is a feature for specifying the tone and behavior used with customers, such as "keep answers short," "use polite language," or "don't push products too hard."
Manage how customers are served in the persona, and manage information about products and the store separately on product pages, in policies, and in the Knowledge Base. Information such as business hours or shipping rates written only in the persona is not treated as a source, and it may not be used consistently in answers.
How to Set Up Shopify Inbox
After you install the app, you use Shopify Inbox by displaying chat on your online store.
Install Shopify Inbox
Install Shopify Inbox from the Shopify App Store. After installation, you can open Inbox from Sales channels in the Shopify admin.
Image source: Shopify
Display Chat on Your Online Store
In the Shopify admin, open Online Store, then Themes, and customize the theme you are using. Enable online store chat from app embeds and save, and a chat widget appears on your store.
Set the Chat Design and Available Hours
Set the chat button's position and design, the greeting message, and similar options. You can also specify the hours when staff are available, and you can show an automatic reply outside business hours.
Set Up Instant Answers and Quick Replies
Registering topics that generate many inquiries as instant answers or quick replies makes them easier to handle. Add them while reviewing questions customers ask repeatedly, such as how to make a return or questions about shipping. Set them up for different uses: instant answers are for customers, and quick replies are for staff.
Set Up the Inbox Agent on Eligible Stores
On stores that can use the Inbox agent, enable it from Inbox in the Shopify admin. You can choose whether AI handles every conversation or only the hours when staff are away.
Before you start using it, check how answers tend to come out in the practice scenarios generated automatically from your product information and persona. That makes it easier to see which settings to revisit once you are operating it.
How to Review and Improve Inbox Agent Answers
After you introduce the Inbox agent, adjust the settings while reviewing real conversations.
Review and Rate Conversations and Answers
You can review conversations the Inbox agent handled. You can also rate answers and adjust how it serves customers using practice conversations. Based on those ratings, suggestions for improving the persona may be presented.
Rating an answer does not automatically change the product information or store policies themselves. To correct information, you need to edit the source data directly. Suggested improvements to the persona are not applied automatically either. They take effect when you review the content and save.
Image source: Shopify
Check Handled Sessions, Orders, and Satisfaction
Shopify Inbox also provides metrics for checking how the Inbox agent is being used. The main items are as follows.
- Assisted sessions: the number of sessions the Inbox agent handled
- Assisted orders: the number of orders placed after a conversation with the Inbox agent
- Satisfaction rate: the share of rated answers that were positive
- Average response time
Reviewing these alongside the actual conversations helps you see which questions are not fully answered and which inquiries would be better handed off to staff.
Review the Source Information When an Answer Is Wrong
If you find an incorrect answer, check the information that caused it. Correct the source that matches the topic: product information for a wrong answer about a product, store policies for shipping or returns, and the Knowledge Base for questions unique to the store.
If the tone of service or the way products are recommended is a problem, review the persona settings so the service follows your brand's approach.
Points to Keep in Mind When Using Shopify Inbox
If you use the Inbox agent or Shopify Magic, you also need to pay attention to reviewing information the AI generates and to how customer chat data is handled.
Have the Store Review What the AI Answers
The Inbox agent and Shopify Magic may generate answers that differ from what you have registered. Information that affects a customer's purchase decision—especially price, shipping, and returns—should be checked regularly to confirm that answers match what is actually registered.
Decide in Advance What AI and Staff Each Handle
Some stores have staff handle inquiries that need a careful response, such as deciding case by case whether a return is allowed, and complaints.
If you decide the scope in advance—for example, "general questions about products and shipping go to AI" and "inquiries that need individual judgment go to staff"—it is easier to separate the roles.
Check Your Privacy Policy When Using AI-Assisted Chat
With the Inbox agent, chat content with customers is processed to generate answers and improve the service. The latest privacy policy template provided by Shopify includes a disclosure about AI-assisted chat. If you use your own privacy policy, state that you use Shopify for AI-assisted chat and that chat exchanges are processed to generate answers and make improvements, and then enable the Inbox agent.
In conversations with the Inbox agent, customers are automatically notified that the chat uses Shopify and that they are chatting with AI. The notice that it is an AI chat cannot be removed or customized.
Stores That Shopify Inbox Is a Good Fit For
Shopify Inbox is a good fit for stores that want to take pre-purchase product questions and inquiries about shipping and returns on the online store. Because you can send product links and discount codes in chat, you can also use it when you want to handle both inquiries and product recommendations entirely in Shopify.
With instant answers and quick replies, even stores that handle inquiries with a small team can reduce routine responses. Eligible stores can also leave hours outside their availability to the Inbox agent.
On the other hand, if you want to manage inquiries that arrive from multiple channels, such as email and social media, in one place, compare external customer support tools as well after confirming the features you need.
Summary
Shopify Inbox is free to use. In addition to handling inquiries by chat, it includes features that support staff, such as instant answers, quick replies, and Shopify Magic. For stores that want to take product consultations and inquiries about shipping, returns, and similar topics on the online store, it is an easy option to adopt.
Eligible stores can also use the Inbox agent and leave AI to answer product questions, recommend products, and handle order inquiries. If you introduce it, first finish preparing product information, store policies, and the Knowledge Base, and set a persona. The basic way to operate it is to review the source information while checking real conversations.
