# How online stores answer product and order questions with AI > How an online store can use AI to recommend products, check stock and orders safely, and handle returns, plus WhatsApp's rules for selling there. Canonical: https://heykiko.io/blog/ai-for-online-stores Last updated: 2026-11-05 AI agent guides · by The HeyKiko team · published 5 November 2026 · 8 min read An online store can let an AI agent answer shoppers before and after they buy: recommending products from its catalogue with real prices and links, checking stock and order status from a read-only connection to its database, and answering delivery and returns questions from its own policies. Refunds and damaged orders go to a person to decide. On WhatsApp, some goods can't be sold at all, and order updates and offers follow different template rules. ## What shoppers ask Questions online shoppers ask, before and after buying | Before they buy | After they buy | | --- | --- | | Do you have this in size M? | When will my order arrive? | | Which moisturiser is good for dry skin? | Can I change my delivery address? | | Do you ship to Malaysia, and how much? | Can I return a sale item? | | Is it back in stock soon? | My parcel arrived damaged | The first column wins sales; the second keeps customers. Both have answers in information you already have: your catalogue, your stock and order data, and your policies. ## Before they buy: products that fit - Describe each product the way a shopper would ask about it: who it's for, what it's good at, sizes and materials. - Recommend only close matches, with a short reason why, and link to the product page to buy. - Use the catalogue's own name, price and link, and never invent one: if the catalogue and the website disagree, fix one of them. - Don't push a product on every reply; suggest one when it clearly helps. [Product recommendations in HeyKiko](https://heykiko.io/features/product-answers) ## Stock and prices that change A catalogue is right for descriptions; stock changes by the hour. If your stock lives in a database, a read-only connection lets the agent check it at the moment of the question, so “is it in stock?” is answered from now, not from last week's import. > Use a database login that can only read, and choose exactly which tables the agent may look at. ## After they buy: “where's my order?” The most common question after a purchase can be answered from the order itself, if it's done safely: - Look an order up only by something the customer typed, such as their order number. - Show its status, items and delivery, never who it belongs to or anyone else's orders. - Never list customers, totals or samples of records to someone who isn't signed in. - Put these limits in code, not in the AI's instructions, so no clever question gets around them. [Live answers from your database](https://heykiko.io/features/database-answers) ## Returns and problems Return windows, sale items and delivery times are policy questions, so the agent can answer them from your policy pages. A damaged parcel or a refund request is different: it needs a decision. 1. **The agent gathers the details**: Order number, what happened, a photo if there is one. 2. **It opens a case**: With everything a person needs to decide, instead of the customer explaining it all again. 3. **A person decides**: And approves the reply before the customer hears back. An AI agent shouldn't issue refunds or promise them on its own. [Cases and approvals](https://heykiko.io/features/cases-and-approvals) ## Selling on WhatsApp: the rules - Restricted goods: WhatsApp's Business Messaging Policy prohibits buying, selling or promoting goods such as alcohol and tobacco, drugs, medical and healthcare products, weapons, live animals, adult products and real-money gambling. - Exceptions: alcohol and over-the-counter medicines are allowed in some listed countries, on the WhatsApp Business Platform only, and never to people under 18. - Order updates, such as shipping and delivery, go out as utility templates when the customer hasn't written in the last 24 hours. - Offers, new arrivals and abandoned-cart nudges are marketing templates, sent only to customers who opted in to hear from you. [WhatsApp Business Messaging Policy](https://whatsappbusiness.com/policy/) · [Meta: getting opt-in](https://developers.facebook.com/docs/whatsapp/overview/getting-opt-in) · [WhatsApp template messages](https://heykiko.io/blog/whatsapp-template-messages) ## Setting it up in HeyKiko 1. **Add your catalogue**: Each product with a name, a description, a price, a link, a photo and a category, or import a CSV. 2. **Teach it your policies**: Delivery, returns and FAQ pages from your website, or as documents. 3. **Connect your database, if you have one**: A read-only MySQL or MariaDB login and the tables for stock and orders. 4. **Turn on cases**: For damaged orders and refund requests, with a person approving each reply. > HeyKiko doesn't take payments, keep stock counts, or sync with Shopify or WooCommerce: customers buy on your own site through each product's link, and live stock comes from your database. ## Sources Checked on 5 November 2026. We make HeyKiko, which this guide uses as its example. - [WhatsApp Business Messaging Policy](https://whatsappbusiness.com/policy/) - [Meta: getting opt-in for WhatsApp](https://developers.facebook.com/docs/whatsapp/overview/getting-opt-in) ## Questions people ask ### Can an AI chatbot recommend products? Yes. Given your catalogue, it can suggest products that match what the shopper describes, with a reason, the price and a link to buy on your site. ### Can a chatbot tell customers where their order is? Yes, if it can read your order data safely: looking an order up only by the number the customer types, showing its status but never who it belongs to or anyone else's orders. ### Can a chatbot check stock? From a catalogue, only as current as your last import. With a read-only connection to your stock database, it checks at the moment of the question. ### Should an AI chatbot issue refunds? No. It should gather the details and open a case, and a person decides and approves the reply. ### Can I sell on WhatsApp? Most goods, yes. WhatsApp's policy prohibits some, such as alcohol and tobacco, drugs, medical products, weapons and adult products, with exceptions for alcohol and over-the-counter medicines in some countries on the Business Platform. ### Does HeyKiko work with Shopify? Not directly. HeyKiko doesn't sync with Shopify or WooCommerce or take payments; add your catalogue or import it as a CSV, and connect a MySQL or MariaDB database for live stock and orders. ## Related - [HeyKiko for online stores](https://heykiko.io/solutions/online-stores) - [Product recommendations](https://heykiko.io/features/product-answers) - [Live answers from your database](https://heykiko.io/features/database-answers) - [Cases and approvals](https://heykiko.io/features/cases-and-approvals) - [All guides](https://heykiko.io/blog)