Overview

The Shopify integration empowers your AI agents to connect directly to your e-commerce store. This allows them to perform automated actions, with the primary function being to check a customer's order status in real-time, providing instant support and reducing the load on your human agents.

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How It Works

The process involves two main stages:

1. Connecting Your Store: You first provide your Shopify store's credentials to create a secure connection.
2. Creating a Shopify Tool: You then define what your agent can do with the connection—like checking a customer's order status.

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Step 1: Connect or Update Your Shopify Store

This setup is done from the main Integrations section of your dashboard.

1. Go to Integrations:

   • From your dashboard, click on "Integrations".

2. Find the Shopify Integration:

   • Locate the Shopify integration card.

3. Begin Integration:

   • Click the button labeled "Integrate" (or "Update" if already connected).

4. Enter Shopify Store Credentials:

   • Fill in the required information:

     • Shopify API Key
     • Shopify Admin Access Token (starts with shpat_)
     • Shop Name (e.g., my-cool-store)

5. Save the Connection:

   • Click "Connect" or "Update" to save your Shopify credentials.

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Step 2: Enable Shopify Functionality for an Agent

After connecting your store, enable your AI Chat Agent or voicebot to use it:

1. Open Your Agent Settings

2. Find the "Functions" or "Tools" Section

3. Add a New Function:

   • Click "+ Add Function" and choose "Shopify"

4. Fill in Function Details:

   • Function Name: Choose a simple, descriptive name like get_order_status_by_email
   • Description: Explain when the AI should use this, e.g., "Use this function to check a customer's Shopify order status after getting their email address."

5. Save:

   • Your agent is now equipped to use the Shopify integration.

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How It's Used in a Conversation

1. Customer: "Where is my order?"
2. Agent: "I can help. Could you please provide the email you used for your order?"
3. Customer shares their email.
4. Agent looks up the order in Shopify using that email.
5. Agent responds with the order’s current status in real-time.

This integration lets your agents provide immediate, accurate support for order inquiries—without any manual effort from your support team.

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Best Practices

• Write a precise function description: The agent uses the description to decide when to call the Shopify function. Be specific: "Use this function when a customer asks where their order is or wants order tracking information, after collecting their email address." Vague descriptions lead to the function being triggered at the wrong moments.
• Ask for email before checking orders: Shopify order lookups require a customer identifier. Configure your conversation flow to collect the customer's email address before the agent attempts a status check.
• Test with real Shopify orders: After setup, create a test order in your Shopify store and ask the agent about it. Verify the order status returned is accurate before going live.
• Use a limited-scope Admin Access Token: When generating your Shopify Admin API credentials, grant only the permissions needed (read orders). Avoid using tokens with write access for this integration.

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Troubleshooting

The agent says it cannot find the order after the customer provides their email. Confirm the email the customer entered matches exactly the email used when placing the Shopify order—including capitalization and any typos. Also verify the Admin Access Token you provided has read access to orders.

I get a connection error when saving Shopify credentials. Double-check the Shop Name field. Enter only the store subdomain (e.g., my-cool-store), without https://, .myshopify.com, or any trailing slashes. The API Key and Access Token must also be valid and not revoked.

The Shopify function is not triggering even when customers ask about orders. Review the function's description field. If it is too broad or too narrow, the AI may not match it to order inquiry intents. Update the description to include explicit examples of phrases that should trigger it.

I updated my Shopify credentials but the agent still uses the old connection. After updating credentials in the Integrations section, open each agent that uses the Shopify function, confirm the function settings, and save the agent. Some caching may require a brief wait before the new credentials take effect.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Does the Shopify integration work with Shopify Starter plans? The integration requires access to Shopify's Admin API, which is available on all Shopify plans including Starter. Verify that your plan allows API access by checking your Shopify admin under Settings > Apps and sales channels > Develop apps.

Can the agent perform actions beyond checking order status, like cancelling or refunding orders? Currently, the primary supported action is checking order status. Write operations (cancellations, refunds) are not exposed through this integration to prevent accidental modifications.

Can I connect multiple Shopify stores? You can update the connection to point to a different store, but only one Shopify store can be connected per account at a time. Contact support if you need multi-store support.

Is customer order data stored by Kipps.AI after being retrieved? Order data retrieved from Shopify is used only to formulate the agent's response in that conversation session. It is not stored persistently in Kipps.AI beyond standard conversation logging.

What Shopify API permissions are required for this integration? The minimum required permission is read_orders. When creating a Custom App in your Shopify admin, enable the read_orders Admin API access scope and use the generated Admin API access token for the integration.