A WhatsApp CRM for an online shop, such as WACRM, is one shared inbox on your own WhatsApp Business number, linked to your store, so the team answers every buyer in one place and order updates go out on WhatsApp from approved templates. Set it up in five steps: connect the number, share the inbox, connect the store, turn on order messages, then add AI.
This playbook follows that order. Each step works on its own, so a shop can stop after any one of them and still be better off than before. The setup described here is the one WACRM for online shops uses; the rules behind it come from Meta, WooCommerce and Shopify, and apply whichever tool you pick.
What does a WhatsApp CRM do for an online shop?
It turns one phone into a team tool. Most shops start on the WhatsApp Business app: one owner, one phone, every question answered by hand. That works until orders pick up and the same person is confirming orders, chasing cash-on-delivery buyers and answering “where is my parcel” at the same time.
A CRM adds what the phone alone cannot:
| Task | One phone with the WhatsApp Business app | A WhatsApp CRM such as WACRM |
|---|---|---|
| Who replies | Whoever holds the phone | Every teammate, from one shared inbox |
| Customer history | Scroll back in the chat | Contact card with labels, notes and recent orders beside the chat |
| Order confirmations | Typed one by one | Sent from an approved template when the order is created |
| Delivery and COD checks | Remembered, or forgotten | Order messages set up per store event |
| Repeat questions | Answered again each time | AI drafts the answer, a teammate approves it |
The examples change by what you sell. A fashion store answers size and colour questions, a cosmetics brand gets “is this right for dry skin”, an electronics seller gets “will this cable fit my phone”, a bakery with online orders gets “can I collect on Saturday”. The setup below is the same for all of them.
What do you need before you start?
A short list, most of which a shop already has. Gather it before the first call with anyone, because the number connection is the one step that waits on Meta.
Checklist before setup
- ☐ The WhatsApp Business number customers already write to, and the phone it runs on
- ☐ Admin access to your Meta business portfolio, or the person who has it
- ☐ Admin access to your store: Shopify, Wix or WooCommerce
- ☐ Where buyers agree to WhatsApp messages today, for example a checkbox at checkout
- ☐ Who on the team answers sales, who handles delivery, who has the last word on refunds
- ☐ The answers you give most often: delivery times, returns, payment options
The opt-in item matters more than it looks. Meta’s opt-in rules ask a business to get the customer’s agreement before it starts a WhatsApp conversation, so a phone number collected only for delivery is not enough for order messages. If your checkout has no WhatsApp consent line yet, add it now; everything in the order-message step depends on it.
How do you connect your number and keep the phone app?
You connect the number you already use, through Meta’s own signup flow, and the phone app keeps working. There is no need to buy a new number or tell customers to write somewhere else.
Connecting through Embedded Signup
Embedded Signup is Meta’s flow for linking a WhatsApp Business number to the WhatsApp Business Platform from inside the tool you are signing up to. You sign in with your Meta account, pick or create the business portfolio, and confirm the number. The Embedded Signup guide shows each screen and what Meta checks. If you would rather not do it yourself, Quick Setup connects the number with coexistence in 48 hours.
What coexistence keeps
Coexistence means the same number is active in the WhatsApp Business app and on the Platform at once. Meta documents it as onboarding WhatsApp Business app users. The owner can still reply from the phone at the weekend, while the team works from the WACRM inbox during the day.
Note
Before you connect: a few behaviours change once a second system shares the number. Read the coexistence guide first, including what to do if the phone is lost or reset.
How should the team share the inbox?
Give each person their own login and split the work by who does what, not by who holds the phone. In the WACRM team inbox every teammate sees the same conversations, leaves internal notes the customer never sees, and sees the 24-hour service window on every chat.
A simple split for a small shop:
- Sales takes new chats: product questions, sizes, stock, “can I pay on delivery”.
- Fulfilment takes order chats: address changes, delivery dates, COD confirmations that need a call.
- The owner takes refunds, complaints and anything a teammate tags for a decision.
Invite each teammate from the Team screen; the team members guide covers the invite link, what Staff can reach and how to revoke access. Notes do the handover work: a teammate who picks up a chat reads the note and does not have to ask the customer again.
How do you connect WooCommerce or Shopify?
Our team connects the store for you as part of Setup Commerce, quoted up front and usually ready in 3 to 5 days. WACRM connects to WooCommerce, Shopify and Wix. Until the store is connected, the inbox, AI assist and broadcast templates already work; the store connection adds the order side.
What the connection brings in
Two things: products and orders. Products give the inbox and the AI agent the real name, SKU, price, stock and variants of what you sell. Orders show up beside the chat in the inbox, newest first, and give order messages their trigger.
Order messages follow your store’s own statuses, so it helps to know them. In WooCommerce, per its order status documentation, Pending payment means the order was received but not paid, Processing means it is paid and waiting to be fulfilled, and Completed means it has been fulfilled. A cash-on-delivery order is a special case: WooCommerce’s Cash on Delivery method treats the order as paid only once the cash is collected. Shopify tracks payment and fulfilment on each order in the same spirit; its order management help explains the screens. During Setup Commerce our team maps each order message to the matching event in your store.
Which order messages should you turn on first?
Start with the order confirmation, then the COD check if you take cash on delivery, then the delivery update, and leave the abandoned-cart reminder for last. That order runs from the message customers expect most to the one that needs the most care. In WACRM the order confirmation and the COD check share one switch per project; the delivery update and the abandoned-cart reminder each have their own. All three switches are off until you turn them on.
| Order message | When it goes out | What it needs |
|---|---|---|
| Order confirmation | The store creates a new order | Approved utility template, customer opt-in |
| COD check | A cash-on-delivery order is created, before dispatch | Approved template, opt-in, a teammate for “no” replies |
| Delivery update | The order is marked fulfilled (completed) in your store; WooCommerce only for now, a Shopify fulfilment does not trigger it today | Approved template, opt-in |
| Abandoned cart | A buyer leaves checkout without paying | Approved template, opt-in, a careful tone |
The COD confirmation guide covers the cash-on-delivery check message in detail, and the abandoned-cart guide covers the opt-in rules and the tone of a reminder that helps.
1 · Store event
A new order, a COD order or a status change arrives from your store.
2 · Checks
Message switched on? Customer opted in? Template approved?
3 · Send
The template goes out once per order event, from your number.
4 · Reply
The customer’s answer lands in the shared inbox for your team.
Templates and consent
Any message you start outside an open 24-hour window must use a template Meta has approved, and Meta sorts templates into categories such as marketing, utility and authentication. Order confirmations and delivery updates are usually utility; a cart reminder is usually marketing. Write short, specific templates with the order number and one clear next step; the template approval guide lists the common rejection reasons. When a customer replies, the 24-hour window opens and your team answers in free text again.
Where does an AI agent fit?
Last, once the inbox and the order messages run. The AI agent reads incoming chats, looks the product up in your synced catalog and drafts the answer with the stored price and stock. A teammate approves each draft until the owner decides to let in-window replies go out on their own; a product answer drafted from the catalog always waits for a person.
Three things make it safe on a shop number:
- Prices are checked. If a draft names an amount that is not stored for the matched product, WACRM replaces it with a line that leaves the price out and says a teammate will confirm.
- People stay in reach. When a customer asks for a person, the agent hands the chat to the team with a private note and stops for that conversation.
- One switch stops it. The pause switch in Messaging → Automations stops every AI action for the project.
The agent recommends and moves the buyer to checkout; it does not place orders itself. The WhatsApp AI agent for ecommerce guide covers the price check, the handoff triggers and a safe rollout in full.
What does WhatsApp cost an online shop?
Two separate bills: Meta’s charge per message, and your WACRM plan. Meta has billed the WhatsApp Business Platform per delivered message, not per conversation, since 1 July 2025, per its pricing page.
| Message type | Typical shop use | Meta charge |
|---|---|---|
| Service (reply inside the 24-hour window) | Answering a buyer who wrote first | First 1,000 per number per month free from 1 October 2026, then the service rate |
| Utility template | Order confirmation, COD check, delivery update | Billed per delivered message, by market |
| Marketing template | Cart reminder, offers | Billed per delivered message, by market |
| Messages after a click-to-WhatsApp ad | Chats that start from your ads | If you reply within 24 hours, a free entry point window opens for up to 7 days: marketing, utility, authentication and service messages are not charged; Meta Business Agent messages still are |
Source: Meta pricing page, free service tier and free entry point window both as of the check on 13 November 2026. Rates differ by country; the message pricing guide has the per-market table. WACRM sends approved templates at Meta’s own message price with 0% markup. AI drafts are paid from your wallet balance, and the agent stops when the balance cannot cover a draft. Plans are listed on pricing.
What does the first month look like?
Four weeks, one layer per week. Moving faster is possible, but each week gives the team time to learn one layer before the next arrives.
Week 1 · Number and team
Connect with coexistence, invite teammates, agree who takes which chats.
Week 2 · Store and confirmations
Store connected, consent line at checkout, order confirmation switched on.
Week 3 · COD and delivery
COD check and delivery update on; watch the replies they bring in.
Week 4 · AI, approval-first
AI agent drafts, teammates approve; review the handoff notes.
At the end of each week, check three things in the inbox: chats nobody answered, order messages that were skipped and why, and questions that came up more than five times. The skipped messages usually point to missing consent or a template still waiting for approval. The repeated questions become your delivery and returns answers, which the AI agent then draws on. After week four, consider the abandoned-cart reminder, with the opt-in rules from the abandoned-cart guide in hand.
Set up WhatsApp for your online shop
A WhatsApp CRM pays off when buyers get answers and order updates on the number they already use, and the team shares the work instead of one phone. See how the inbox, order messages and AI fit together on WACRM for online shops, or let our team connect your store and order templates with Setup Commerce.
