How to automate customer service on WhatsApp with AI
Automating customer service on WhatsApp comes in three steps: the free tools in WhatsApp Business, the menu chatbot, and an AI that looks up your store’s data before answering. Below: what each one does, where each one stops, and the step-by-step to put Andavor’s AI on your store’s WhatsApp.
Three ways to automate
| Way | What it does | Where it stops |
|---|---|---|
| WhatsApp Business tools | Greeting message, away message and quick replies, free, in the app. | The text is always the same: it doesn’t check stock, price or shipping. |
| Menu chatbot | Follows a flow of buttons and keywords that someone built. | Gets stuck when the question goes off script. |
| Store-connected AI | Understands the question, looks up price and stock and builds the order. | Passes the cases you choose to your team. |
Meta also has an AI inside the WhatsApp Business app: what it does and how to turn it on is in WhatsApp Business AI. The difference between a button flow and an AI attendant is in Chatbot or AI.
What WhatsApp Business already does for free
In the WhatsApp Business app, under Tools, there are three automations that cost nothing:
- Greeting message: the first reply to anyone who messages your store.
- Away message: the notice for anyone who messages outside the hours you set.
- Quick replies: ready-made texts you call up by typing a slash (/) and a shortcut, such as /payment or /shipping.
They handle “hi, I’ll get back to you”. They don’t handle the question that needs data: “do you have it in M?”, “how much is shipping to my ZIP code?”, “can I pay in installments?”. For that, someone has to look it up in the system, and that’s where AI comes in.
When AI is worth it
- When the same stock, price and shipping questions take up your team’s day.
- When sales come in after hours and wait until the next morning. At a niche store that uses Andavor, 82 of the 194 orders closed with the AI in September 2026 were paid outside business hours (the case study).
- When customers ask their own way, with typos or across several messages, and a menu doesn’t understand.
Step by step: AI on your store’s WhatsApp with Andavor
- Create your account at Create account and choose a plan. Personal comes with 14 days free.
- Connect WhatsApp in the dashboard (Conectar WhatsApp): through Meta’s official WhatsApp, the option the screen recommends, or by QR code, like WhatsApp Web. You don’t need a new number.
- Bring in your catalog: in a WooCommerce store, products come from the website; on other platforms, you add them in the app’s Catalog. Integrate your payment provider to charge and your shipping tool to quote shipping.
- Tell it how your store sells: payment methods, delivery, exchanges, the usual questions and, in the Instructions, when the AI passes the conversation to your team.
- Turn the attendant on and choose the hours it answers. You can take over any conversation in the dashboard, whenever you want.
The whole path, from sign-up to the attendant turned on, is in Getting started.
You stay in charge
- If you reply from the dashboard, or someone at the store replies from WhatsApp on the phone, the conversation passes to you: the AI stays quiet in it until you hand it back.
- Contacts you add to the never-reply list don’t get answers from the AI.
- It doesn’t make things up: price, stock and shipping come from a lookup in the system. When it passes the conversation to your team is up to you, in the Instructions.
How much it costs
WhatsApp is in every Andavor plan, together with the website chat, Instagram and Facebook. Plans start at $20.00/month, with 14 days free on Personal, no setup fee and no long-term contract. On Meta’s official WhatsApp, Meta charges WhatsApp’s fees. The math is in What AI costs.
About Andavor
Andavor provides AI and an app for sales and customer service management, with its own AI trained for sales across different levels of customer service. It answers on WhatsApp, the website chat and Instagram and Facebook.
Questions
Can I automate WhatsApp for free?
Yes, with the WhatsApp Business tools: greeting message, away message and quick replies. They are fixed texts: they don’t check stock, price or shipping.
Do I need a new number?
No. By QR code, you link the WhatsApp already on your store’s phone to Andavor, like WhatsApp Web. Through Meta’s official WhatsApp, you choose the number in Meta’s window; if it’s already on the WhatsApp Business app on your phone, it keeps working there.
Do I need to know how to code?
No. You connect WhatsApp, bring in your catalog and tell it how your store sells, all in the dashboard. There’s no flow to design.
Does the AI answer at night and on weekends?
It answers during the hours you choose, which can be all day, including nights and weekends. You pause and turn WhatsApp back on whenever you want.
Can I reply to the customer myself?
Yes. When you reply from the dashboard, or someone at the store replies from WhatsApp on the phone, the conversation passes to your team and the AI stays quiet in it. To have it answer again, hand it back (Devolver para a IA).