WhatsApp AI agent for tailors: alteration prices, turnaround and fitting appointments answered while you sew
A tailor's hands are on the fabric and the phone is across the room. Customers message with a photo of a dress and "can you take this in, how much, how long?". The answers are in the price list and the calendar. An AI agent gives them and books the fitting, and the tailor keeps the seam straight.
Quick answer
Put a WhatsApp AI agent on your shop's number with your alteration and tailoring price list, turnaround times, fabric options, festive cut-off dates and fitting hours as knowledge. It quotes standard alterations, describes photos customers send and asks the right questions, books fitting appointments into real slots, and hands custom work and rush jobs to you. ReplyKit does this from $29 a month.
What the agent handles
Automate
- Alteration prices by job: hem, take in, let out, zip, lining, from your list.
- Custom tailoring starting prices and what is included, marked as subject to consultation.
- Turnaround times and festive-season cut-offs from a note you keep.
- Fabric options you stock, and whether customers can bring their own.
- Fitting appointment booking into real slots, with a reminder.
- Photos: describes the garment and asks what the customer wants done.
- Collection and payment methods.
Keep with a person
- Quotes for complex custom work: the agent collects the photo and details and says you will quote.
- Rush jobs inside your cut-off.
- Anything about a garment already in the shop.
- Complaints about a finished job.
Raya, Deepavali and Chinese New Year
The festive rush is where a tailor's WhatsApp becomes unmanageable. Two weeks before, put the cut-off date, the festive price note and the turnaround into the knowledge in exact words, and keep a status note ("Raya orders: closed for new custom work; alterations accepted until the 20th"). The agent turns away late orders politely and keeps taking the alterations you can still do. See peak days for the full routine.
Setup for a shop
- Use a dedicated number. ReplyKit connects your number through Meta's official WhatsApp Business Platform: keep the number you already use in the WhatsApp Business app and the agent works alongside it, or add a dedicated number. Personal WhatsApp numbers cannot be connected. Keep your long-standing number out of it; see Meta's messaging limits explained
- Upload the price list by alteration type and write turnaround, fabrics and cut-offs as text.
- Add fittings as a service with your hours.
- Instruct the boundaries: custom quotes and rush jobs to you.
- Connect the number through Meta's sign-in and test with a photo of a jacket and "take in the waist, ready by Friday?".
Frequently asked questions
Can the agent quote alterations?
Yes, standard jobs from your price list. Complex custom work is handed to you with the photo and details collected.
Does it understand photos?
It describes the garment and asks what the customer wants done, then quotes if the job is on the list.
Can it book fittings?
Yes, into real slots, with a reminder the day before.
How does it handle the festive rush?
From a cut-off and status note you keep, turning away late custom orders and accepting what you can still do.
How much does it cost?
From $29 a month for one number and 1,000 replies. 7-day free trial.
Quote the hem while you sew the sleeve
Price list, turnaround, fitting slots, connect your number through Meta's sign-in. 7-day free trial.
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? · how Meta's messaging limits and quality rating work
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.