A WhatsApp AI agent for dropshipping and small e-commerce stores: answer shipping-time, tracking, sizing, returns and product questions from your policies, handle "where is my order" from a status note, and hand over refunds and disputes
Dropshipping's support problem is shipping: two to four weeks of "where is my order" per sale, plus pre-sales doubts about sizes, materials and whether it will arrive at all. A store with no support team either ignores the messages or spends the margin answering them. An agent that sets expectations before the sale and answers status after it removes most of the queue.
Quick answer
Put your product descriptions, size charts, materials and compatibility notes, shipping times by region in honest ranges, customs and duties guidance, tracking instructions, returns and refund policy, and a weekly dispatch note into a WhatsApp AI agent and the same assistant on your storefront, and it answers pre-sales questions in the customer's language, sets realistic delivery expectations before purchase, answers tracking and "where is my order" from the note and the carrier link, and hands over refunds, chargebacks and supplier problems. ReplyKit runs both from $29 a month.
Pre-sales that prevent post-sales
- Shipping times by region, stated honestly as ranges, before purchase. Customers who were told 12 to 20 days do not message on day 8.
- Sizing and materials from the product descriptions and size charts; the format that works is in product descriptions the agent can use.
- Customs and duties guidance per region, and who pays.
- Returns. Who pays return shipping, where it ships to, the window. Quoted exactly.
- Payment and security. Methods accepted, how refunds are issued.
The website assistant catches these on the product page, which is where the doubt happens; see adding the assistant to Shopify, Wix, Squarespace and WordPress.
"Where is my order"
- Keep a dispatch note per week: orders placed in a date range, when they left the supplier, carrier, typical transit.
- The agent answers from it and gives the tracking instructions (the email, the tracking page), and explains that tracking can show no movement for several days in transit.
- For an order outside the typical window, the agent collects the order number and hands over.
- Lost or stuck parcels: your policy on reshipping or refunding after {n} days, quoted exactly; the decision is yours. The full approach is in order tracking and status updates.
Returns, refunds and disputes
The agent quotes the policy, collects photos and the order number for a return or damage claim, and hands over. Refunds and chargebacks are human decisions, and a fast human reply after a fast agent acknowledgement is what prevents a chargeback. Templates for the shipping-delay apologies are in shipping delay and customs templates.
What the owner keeps
What stays with a person:
- Refunds, reshipments and chargebacks.
- Supplier problems and stock-outs.
- Orders outside the normal window.
- Complaints about product quality.
- Anything the policies do not cover.
Everything else the agent handles, and when it is unsure it says so and offers a human rather than guessing; see why the agent says it is not sure.
One honest note before the setup. ReplyKit connects to your number by QR pairing, the same linked-device mechanism as WhatsApp Web. It is live in minutes and needs no Meta approval, but Meta does not sanction automation this way, so a number can be restricted. We enforce limits of 30 replies an hour and 200 a day per number with a warm-up ramp for new numbers, reply to inbound messages only, and recommend a dedicated number rather than your main line. The full picture is in our ban guide.
Starter at $29 a month covers one number, one agent, one website assistant and 1,000 AI replies; Growth at $49 adds two more numbers, five agents and follow-up nudges; the 7-day free trial needs no card. Only the agent's own messages count. Pricing is in USD and the service works wherever WhatsApp does. What it costs in practice.
Frequently asked questions
Can the agent tell a customer where their order is?
From your weekly dispatch note and the carrier's tracking instructions. It cannot look up an individual order unless you keep per-order notes.
Does it reduce "where is my order" messages?
Mostly by setting honest shipping expectations before purchase, on the storefront and on WhatsApp, and by answering the rest from the note.
Can it handle returns?
It quotes the policy, collects photos and the order number, and hands over the decision.
Does it answer in the customer's language?
Yes. Worldwide customers get replies in their own language from your English policies.
Does it work on my store's website?
Yes. The same assistant installs on Shopify, Wix, Squarespace or WordPress with one line of code.
Expectations set before the sale, status answered after
Shipping, sizing, returns and tracking handled on WhatsApp and your storefront. 7-day free trial, no card.
Sources and further reading
- Harvard Business Review, The Short Life of Online Sales Leads (Oldroyd, McElheran, Elkington, 2011) · firms that responded within an hour were about seven times more likely to qualify the lead
- WhatsApp Business Messaging Policy · opt-in, opt-out and prohibited-use rules every business must follow
- ReplyKit, Will WhatsApp ban my number for automation? · our own account of the risk and the limits we enforce
ReplyKit is an independent product and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Meta or WhatsApp. This article is general guidance for running a small business, not legal, financial or regulatory advice.