The short version: create an agent in TAB, connect Shopify from the agent's Integrations page, then connect your WhatsApp number from its Channels page. From then on the agent answers on WhatsApp using your live catalog and orders. You don't write any code.
With Shopify connected, the agent can search your catalog, show variants and prices, add items to a customer's cart and send them to checkout from the chat. When someone wants to return or cancel an order, it takes the request and passes it to you.
WhatsApp is just where those conversations happen. Every chat is saved under Customers, and you can jump into any of them yourself.
You'll need a Shopify store (any plan) and a Facebook account that manages your Meta Business, or can create one. You'll also need a phone number for the agent. That can be a fresh number that isn't on WhatsApp yet, or the number you already use in the WhatsApp Business app.
Do this from a computer with popups allowed. Channels can't be connected from a phone.
Create an agent and add the things customers ask about that aren't in your catalog: shipping times, return policy, payment options. Then try it in the Playground. Ask it what a customer would ask. If an answer is off, fix the source content and ask again.
Open the agent's Integrations page, click Connect on the Shopify card and enter your store domain (yourstore.myshopify.com). Shopify opens a popup asking you to approve TAB's access. Approve it, then switch the Shopify toggle to Connected.
Back in the Playground, ask "What products do you have?" You should see your own products come back. The full walkthrough is in Connecting to Shopify.
Go to the agent's Channels page and click Setup on the WhatsApp card. A Meta popup takes you through the rest: log in, pick your Meta Business and WhatsApp Business account, add the number, and set the name customers will see.
If you use the number you already have in the WhatsApp Business app, you can keep using the app. When you reply to someone from your phone, the agent steps back from that conversation so you don't talk over each other. More on that in Connecting to WhatsApp.
Grab a different phone and message your business number the way a customer would, something like "Do you have this in a larger size?" The agent should reply within seconds with products from your store. Then open Customers in TAB and you'll see the conversation there.
Do I need a developer for this? No. Shopify and WhatsApp both connect through popups inside TAB.
Can I keep using the WhatsApp Business app on my phone? Yes. Connect the number you already use, and the app and the agent share it. Your replies from the app pause the agent for that chat.
Can customers actually order inside WhatsApp? Yes. The agent adds items to their cart and sends them a checkout link right in the chat.
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