Welcome and off-hours replies

Sends an automatic reply when a customer messages you. One reply for your working hours, and a different one outside them.

The off-hours reply is the one that matters most. A customer who writes at 11 pm and hears nothing assumes nobody is there. A reply saying when you will be back keeps them waiting for you, instead of buying elsewhere.

Set it up

1. Go to Manage → Live Chat Settings.
2. Turn on welcome and off-hours messages.

3. Click Configure.
4. Set up the welcome message. Choose text, an image or a file, and pick a template or write a regular message. Click Save Configuration.

5. Do the same for the off-hours message.
6. Set your timezone, your working hours and your working days. For example, 10 am to 7 pm, Monday to Saturday.

What to write

Off-hours

Say when you are back, and what they can do meanwhile.

Thanks for your message! We're offline right now and back at 10 am tomorrow. Leave your question here and we'll reply first thing.

If you have a chatbot flow or tracking page that answers common questions, point to it. "To track your order now, reply TRACK."

Welcome

Keep it short. The customer wrote to you with something in mind, so a long welcome only gets between them and their answer.

Hi! Thanks for reaching out. Someone from our team will be with you shortly.

If you run a chatbot flow, use the welcome message to point to it: "Reply SHOP to browse, or just tell us what you need."

Get the hours right

Set the hours you actually answer. If your welcome message says "someone will be with you shortly" and the team starts at 11, customers writing at 10 wait an hour after being told they would not.

Set the right timezone. Hours in the wrong timezone send the off-hours message in the middle of your working day.

Remember holidays. Working days are the same every week. On a festival day when nobody is working, customers will still get the welcome message. Change the days or the message beforehand.