Communication
Manage your store from WhatsApp
Owner and staff phones get Panel AI on the store WhatsApp number — orders, products, bookings, and more by text.
Overview
When you message your store’s WhatsApp Business number from an authorized personal phone, OrderInChat does not treat you as a customer. It opens operator mode: the same Panel AI tools used in the dashboard chat, delivered as WhatsApp text replies.
This is for store owners and seated staff who need to run the shop from their phone — check today’s orders, update tracking, adjust a product, or look up a booking — without opening the web panel.
Who is an operator?
You are recognized as an operator if your personal WhatsApp number matches either:
- Store Setup → Contact → Owner WhatsApp (your personal number — not the store's WhatsApp Business number), or
- A Team member with role owner, admin, or agent whose phone is saved in international format with country code (same digits as WhatsApp).
Customers and unknown numbers still get the normal store assistant.
First message
On your first operator turn in a thread, the reply starts with a short confirmation that you are in operator mode, plus how to switch modes and ask for a daily summary.
Customer mode (optional)
You can temporarily use the normal store assistant from the same phone:
- Say customer mode (or müşteri modu) → replies become the customer-facing assistant
- Say operator mode (or operatör modu) → return to Panel AI
This preference is saved on that WhatsApp thread until you switch again.
How to use it
- Connect Channels & integrations → WhatsApp Business so the store number can receive messages.
- Save Owner WhatsApp under Store Setup → Contact, and/or ensure staff phones are on Team.
- From that personal phone, open WhatsApp and message the store Business number (the one customers write to).
- Ask in plain language, for example:
- “Daily summary” / “bugün özet” / “how many orders today?”
- “Mark the Ankara package as shipped” (+ optional tracking link)
- “Mark order #1042 as shipped, tracking TR123”
- “Is product X in stock?”
- “List open bookings for tomorrow”
You can send a voice note; the system transcribes it and still replies in text.
You can send a photo of a shipping label or invoice; the system reads text (OCR) and can update order status / tracking when the details are clear.
Daily summary
Ask for a daily summary anytime. Panel AI checks your live store data and replies with today’s order counts by status, revenue, orders that still need shipping, and today’s bookings (store booking timezone).
Shipping by voice or photo
Examples that work in operator mode:
- “The package going to Ankara was shipped” → finds open orders with that destination and marks shipped when unique/clear
- Paste a tracking URL → saves carrier + tracking number on the order (not only the raw link)
- Or say “Aras 1234567890” / “UPS 1Z…” → carrier + number
If several orders match a city, the assistant lists them and asks which one.
Role permissions
| Role | WhatsApp Panel AI scope |
|---|---|
| owner | Full Panel AI tool set |
| admin | Almost full (cannot remove team members or regenerate MCP tokens) |
| agent | Ops-focused: read catalog/orders/customers/bookings + update order fulfillment, customers, tasks — no product create/archive, store settings, coupons, team, marketing blasts, or destructive catalog edits |
Dashboard permissions in the web panel are unchanged; this table applies to WhatsApp operator mode.
What you can do (owner/admin)
| Area | Examples |
|---|---|
| Orders | Daily summary, list / filter (including by city), detail, status, tracking, carrier |
| Customers & carts | Customer lookup, shareable checkout carts |
| Products | Search, create / update (owner/admin), categories, AI images |
| Bookings | Services, staff, availability, waitlist |
| Marketing & ops | Coupons, automations, media, theme (owner/admin) |
| Knowledge | Knowledge base, FAQs, shipping / return / payment summaries |
Destructive deletes and restores usually require an explicit confirm in the conversation.
What stays in the web panel only
Some actions are available only in the web panel (browser) for security and Meta constraints, for example:
- Meta / WhatsApp account reconnection and credentials
- Custom domain verification
- Platform billing charges
- Vacation mode toggles and similar account-risk settings
Use WhatsApp for day-to-day ops; use the dashboard for connection and billing changes.
Tips
- Owner WhatsApp ≠ WhatsApp Business number — see WhatsApp Business.
- Team phones must match WhatsApp digits (country code included).
- Replies are short WhatsApp-style text; open the named panel path in the dashboard when you need full screens.
- Vacation / away mode does not block operators — you can still manage the store from WhatsApp (unless you switched to customer mode).
- AI usage for operator turns counts against your store's AI credits like other Panel AI turns.
