As your business grows, so does the time spent on customer service. Many inquiries — particularly from first-time shoppers asking about things such as product details and delivery options — are routine enough to be dealt with using automated responses.
With the Chatbot Store feature, you can create bots to respond to customers via Facebook Messenger using automated scripts. Chatbot Store allows merchants to maintain a 24/7 customer service presence, send out promotional links, as well as let customers browse products directly on Facebook Messenger.
1. Before you begin
To use the Chatbot Store feature, you have to first connect their store to a Facebook Page in SHOPLINE Admin. For detailed instructions on how to do this, please see: Connecting to Facebook Pages | Channel Integration. If your store is already connected to a Facebook Page, please skip ahead to the next section.
2. Chatbot store setup
Chatbot Store scripts can be used to respond to commonly encountered customer queries. For example, frequently asked questions, popular product overviews, information on discounts, and links to redirect customer traffic to your store.
When a customer sends a message containing a keyword, Chatbot Store will reply automatically according to a pre-saved script. This means that customers don't need to wait for a member of staff to answer their questions in person, allowing them to check out quicker.
Chatbot Store settings in SHOPLINE Admin
In the SHOPLINE Admin, go to [Social Commerce] > [Chatbot Store] to find a full list of previously created chatbot scripts.
You can perform the following actions on this page:
- Create new scripts
- Add Quick Templates
- Edit scripts
- Delete scripts
- Rename scripts
You can also view the following information about already created scripts:
- Script name
- Script status
- Channels a script is published on
- Last date edited/most recent editor
Edit a custom script
Click on + New Script at the top right of the page to enter the chatbot script editor.
The left-hand side of the window provides a step-by-step overview of the script. You can add new script elements using the menu in the center of the window. Below is a detailed overview of each section of the script editor:
1. See how to call this script: All of the script trigger conditions are displayed here. There are currently two methods for triggering a script:
- Matching keyword
On the edit page, you will see two main panels:
(i) left panel, showing the overview of this script:
The "How to call the script" section lists all the trigger conditions for this script. There are two ways to trigger the script that you have edited before.
- Matching keywords
The script will be triggered and shown to the customer when the customer enters a message that (i) contains any, (ii) all keywords, or (iii) exactly matches one of them. It is recommended that merchants use keywords based on frequently asked customer questions commonly or products SEO keywords to ensure that customers can get the exact response they are looking for.
- First initiate conversation
This script can be triggered if the customer sends a message to your page for the first time.
2. First step: When a customer triggers a script by using a keyword, this is the first message they will receive in reply.
3. Attached Steps: A list of the additional steps contained within the script. When adding a "Send new message" button or "link to other scripts" button, all of the newly added steps will appear here.
4. Step name: You can edit the name of each step to help you distinguish between them. When you edit the step name, it will be updated at the same time in the list of steps in the menu on the left-hand side.
5. Templates: You can, according to your requirements, use different types of templates. Each template can have a maximum of three new buttons. When users click on the buttons, you can get them to perform different actions.
Text Template
- You can use the text template to add a text-based message.
Image Template
- In the image template, you can add images, plus up to three buttons.
- Maximum image dimensions/file size: 4096 x 4096 pixels or 1 MB.
Card Template
- A card template can contain an image, title, subtitle, and up to three buttons.
Carousel Template
- A carousel template allows you to create an image carousel of up to 10 cards. Each card can contain an image, title, subtitle, and up to three buttons.
- Press the "+" button below the carousel template to add more card templates.
Products Template
- You can add a maximum of ten products to a product template.
Please note: Each step can contain a maximum of three templates.
Button
As shown in the image below, there are three types of action a button can perform: "send message", "open website", and "start another script".
Send message
When shoppers click the "send message" button, they will trigger the messages in the linked step.
- You can create and name a new step by clicking the ”Create New Message“ area.
- You can also choose to link the button to an existing step from the list below. (E.g. “Welcome Message” in the image above).
Open website
- Users will be directed to the linked site when they click on the button-embedded URL inside Facebook Messenger.
- You can also choose an in-app viewing size that best suits the content contained within the URL: Compact 50%, Medium 70%, and Tall 90% (supported by Android models).
Start another script
- These types of buttons link to an existing script that shoppers can enter to get more detailed information about other topics.
Quick Reply
There is a choice of two actions for a Quick Reply template (see image below): "Send message" and "Start another script".
Send message
When shoppers click on a Quick Reply button, this will trigger the messages in the linked step.
- You can create a new step by clicking the "Create New Message" area and naming the step.
- You can also choose to link a "Quick Reply" template to an existing step from the list below.
Start another script
- You can also choose to link "Quick Reply" to an existing script so that shoppers can enter into another script for more details about certain information.
3. Publishing a Custom Script
Final check
Before publishing a script, please make sure there are no error icons. Error icons will appear when a required field has not been filled in correctly.
Publishing custom scripts
- Publish a script: Once you are happy with the content of your custom script click [Publish] in the top right-hand corner. After clicking Publish, the script will be triggered when a customer uses the correct keyword(s) on Facebook Messenger.
- A "Publish" status indicator will be shown next to the [Publish] after a script has been successfully published.
- Unpublish a script: When your script is published, there will be a "tool" icon next to the script title. Clicking the tool icon will bring up the "Unpublish" option, which you can use to unpublish/republish a script.
On Facebook Messenger for shoppers
When shoppers message the correct keyword(s) via Facebook Messenger to your store's Facebook Page, they will successfully trigger the first step of the script.
Image Template:
Carousel Template:
Product Template:
Quick Reply:
Default scripts
Other than the custom script, we also provide several default scripts that you can start using with just a few clicks. To find out more, visit the links below:
- Chatbot Store on Facebook Messenger - Welcome Template
- Chatbot Store on Facebook Messenger - Default Script
4. Notes
- Please note that once you publish an updated script, it will replace the original and it cannot be restored.
- Unpublishing a script may result in previously programmed responses not being triggered by new inquiries. It may also render links and other functions in older messages unusable.
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