Guide
Shopify AI chatbot: the complete guide
Updated by the SayMaya team
The short answer
A Shopify AI chatbot is a chat window on your storefront that answers shopper questions from your store's own data and passes the rest to a person. A good one reads live products, prices, stock, policies and discounts, checks orders only after the shopper proves who they are, and bills predictably. SayMaya does this with a free plan and paid plans from $29 a month.
What is a Shopify AI chatbot?
It is an app that adds a chat button to your online store and uses AI to reply to shoppers in plain language. Unlike a scripted bot with fixed buttons, it reads the question, looks up the answer in your store data, and writes a reply. The better ones also know when to stop and hand the chat to your team.
What can it answer?
Questions that have a clear answer in your store. These make up most of what shoppers ask before and after they buy:
- Product questions: sizes, materials, what is in stock, which item fits a need
- Prices and active discounts, exactly as they are set in your store
- Store policies: shipping, returns, exchanges
- Order status, after the shopper gives a matching order number and email
What should it never do on its own?
Anything that needs judgment or moves money. With SayMaya these always go to a person:
- The shopper asks for a person
- The AI is unsure of the answer
- Refunds, cancellations, address changes and anything that moves money or edits an order
- Your AI conversations for the month are used up: new chats go straight to the inbox
The AI never issues refunds or changes orders. Those decisions stay with your team. Some helpdesk apps let the AI refund or edit orders; decide how much you want to automate before you choose.
Where does the AI get its answers?
From your Shopify store at the moment the shopper asks. SayMaya reads products, prices, inventory, store policies, active discounts and, after verification, orders. You switch each source on or off in Settings. There is no site scan to rerun when a price changes, so an answer matches what is on the shelf today.
How do you add an AI chatbot to Shopify?
With SayMaya it takes three steps and no code:
- Install from the Shopify App Store. Approve the app in your Shopify admin. Your team inbox is created for you, with one-click sign-in from the app.
- Switch on the chat in your theme editor. SayMaya is a theme app embed. Turn it on, save, and the chat button appears on your storefront. No code edits, no theme files to change.
- Choose what the AI may use. In Settings, pick the data the assistant can answer from: products, inventory, orders, policies and discounts. Change it any time.
Not on Shopify? SayMaya also works on any website through my.saymaya.com, paid by card, with a snippet you paste into your site.
How much does a Shopify AI chatbot cost?
Pricing models differ more than features do. SayMaya includes the AI and the team inbox in every plan: Free (100 conversations, 50 by AI), Starter $29, Growth $99 and Pro $299 a month, billed through Shopify every 30 days with a 14-day free trial on paid plans and no overage charges. Shopify Inbox is free. Tidio sells its Lyro AI as its own plan from $39 a month. Gorgias charges its AI Agent when it resolves a conversation, Zendesk charges per automated resolution, and Re:amaze includes 5 to 20 AI resolutions per staff user a month.
Will a chatbot slow down my store?
Until a shopper reaches for the chat button, the page carries only a small deferred launcher. The chat window loads when they tap it.
How do you keep order details private?
Make the chatbot ask for proof before it shares anything about an order. SayMaya shares order status only after the shopper gives an order number and the email that matches it. Without a match it shares nothing about the order, so a stranger who guesses an order number learns nothing.
Which Shopify AI chatbot should you pick?
Start from where your support happens. If most questions arrive in storefront chat, a focused chat app with live store answers and a team inbox is enough. If you also answer email, SMS, social and phone, you need a full helpdesk. Our alternatives pages compare the common options on price, AI billing and channels, with a source for every fact.
