Instagram auto-reply: what you can do in DMs and comments

• Saved replies: on a professional account, you press and hold a message you sent, tap More and then Save, and create a shortcut. To use it, type the shortcut in the chat and tap the icon that appears (Instagram Help Center).
• Frequently asked questions: up to four questions shown to people about to message your account, each with the answer you write (Instagram Help Center).

On a computer, the Meta Business Suite Inbox has automations for people who message your business on Instagram, Facebook and Messenger (Meta Business Help Center):

• Instant reply: a greeting for anyone messaging you for the first time.
• Away message: the reply for when you’re not available.
• Frequently asked questions: suggested questions, each with its answer.
• Custom keywords: a ready-made text when the message contains a word you chose. Desktop only.
• Comment to message: a reply to a comment that contains the hashtags you chose. Desktop only.

According to Meta, when a keyword and the away message both apply, the away message is sent; and if you turn on Meta Business Agent, your existing automations are paused.

All of them send a text you wrote beforehand. None of them checks stock, price or shipping, and none builds an order. When the customer asks “do you have it in M?” or “how much is shipping to my ZIP code?”, someone still has to look it up and answer.

• Answers DMs with your store’s real data: the price, the stock and the versions of each product.
• Follows the conversation: the chosen product, the ZIP code and the payment method stay organized, and the customer doesn’t have to repeat what they already said.
• Builds the order with the items and the total. Once your shipping tool is integrated, it quotes real shipping by ZIP code.
• It builds the order and sends your store’s checkout link. Once your payment provider is integrated, it creates the charge in your own account, and the money goes straight to you. A payment below the total doesn’t complete the order.

Messages keep showing up in the Instagram app. If you reply there, or from the Andavor dashboard, the conversation passes to you: the AI stays quiet in it until you hand it back.

For comments, Business Suite’s Comment to message automation replies when the comment contains a hashtag you chose. Andavor’s AI answers DMs: when a comment asks about price or stock, invite the person there, and the AI answers with your store’s data.

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.