Should a small Shopify store use a chatbot? How I'd decide

Not always. A support chatbot helps a small Shopify store when the same questions keep coming in, often outside working hours, and the answers are already in its policies and product pages. If you get a handful of messages a week, or a free tool already covers you, you probably don't need one yet.

I build a chatbot for small pet brands, so I'm not neutral on this. I'd still rather you made the right call than bought something you don't need.

When you probably don't need one

If you only get a few customer messages a week, answer them yourself. It's quick and it's free, and a chatbot would be one more thing to manage for very little saving.

The same goes if most of your messages are one-off and personal, about individual orders or unusual situations. A bot can't handle those on its own, so it won't save you much.

If your delivery and returns information is vague or missing, sort that out first. A chatbot can only read what you give it. Fixing your policies helps your customers straight away, and it's the same work a bot would need anyway.

And Shopify Inbox might be enough. It's free, and it lets you chat with visitors, manage messages in one place and set up some simple automated answers. For a lot of very small stores that covers it. I've compared the two at Hope AI and Shopify Inbox, including where Inbox is the better choice.

When a chatbot starts to earn its keep

• You're answering the same handful of questions most evenings: sizing, delivery times, returns, ingredients or materials.
• Customers shop at night and at weekends, when you're not at your desk, and some leave without an answer.
• You or one other person handle all support, and the repeat questions get in the way of the work only you can do.
• Your information is already clear: FAQ, shipping and returns policies, a good product catalogue.

If that sounds like you, a chatbot can answer the repeat questions at any hour and leave the unusual ones for you.

What a chatbot can't do

This is where buyers get caught out most, so I'll be direct.

Many chatbots can't look up an individual order. Hope AI is one of them: it doesn't connect to your Shopify order data, so if a customer asks "where is my parcel?" all it can give them is your general shipping policy. Some products do connect to orders, usually at a higher price and with more setup. Ask any vendor which kind theirs is.

A bot can't replace your judgement either. Complaints, damaged goods and upset customers need a person. It only knows what you've told it. And it shouldn't give advice you aren't qualified to give, which for a pet brand means veterinary advice. I go into that in handling "is this safe for my dog?" questions.

Questions to ask before you choose one

1. Where does it get its answers? From your own content only, or from the open internet?
2. What does it do when it doesn't know? It should say so and send the customer to you instead of guessing.
3. Can it see order data? If it can't, what does it say to "where is my order?"
4. What will it cost in total? Look for setup fees, monthly fees, per-conversation fees and usage limits.
5. How easy is it to cancel? Check the contract length.
6. Where is customer data stored, and who processes it? Under UK GDPR you should know.
7. Can you see it working on your own content before you pay?

Try this for two weeks

For two weeks, tally every customer message by topic. At the end, work out what share could have been answered by a sentence from your own website. If the share is small, or there just aren't many messages, wait. If it's more than half and you're losing evenings to it, a chatbot is worth a look. Either way, the tally shows you which pages on your site need work.

If you do go for one, Hope AI is an option for small UK pet brands on Shopify. It's built from your own FAQ, policies and catalogue and answers only from them. It doesn't look up individual orders, and it declines pet health questions and points people to a vet. You can see it working on a private demo page before paying anything. Details are on the pricing page and in the FAQ, and if your tally says you're not ready yet, I'd rather you waited.