Use case
After-hours chat that answers, then hands off
Updated by the SayMaya team
The short answer
SayMaya answers storefront chats when your team is offline, using your live product, price, stock, policy, discount and verified order data. Chats it should not handle alone, or that a shopper wants a person for, move to your team inbox. If the shopper has not left an email, the chat asks for one so your team can reply when they are back.
What does the AI handle while you are away?
The same questions it handles during the day. It does not need a person online to answer them:
- 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 waits for your team?
Anything that needs a person, whatever the hour:
- 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
Those chats land in your team inbox with the full conversation, and your team gets an email notice, so the first person in can pick them up without searching.
How does the shopper hear back?
After a handoff, if the shopper has not given an email yet, the chat shows a short email form. Your teammate can then reply from the inbox once they are back, with the whole conversation in view.
Why does after-hours chat matter for a small store?
Shoppers browse in the evening and on weekends, when a small team is offline. A question like "is this in stock in Medium?" has a clear answer in your store data; leaving it unanswered until morning gives the shopper time to buy elsewhere. Answering it in seconds, and saving the hard ones for your team, keeps the evening shift covered without anyone on call.
Does it cost more to run the AI at night?
No. Plans count conversations, not hours: Free (100 conversations, 50 by AI), Starter $29, Growth $99 and Pro $299 a month. A conversation counts once however many messages it has. Past your AI limit for the month, new chats go to your inbox; you are never charged extra.
How do you set it up?
There is no separate night mode. Install SayMaya, switch on the chat in your theme editor, and choose what the AI may use:
- 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.
