How do I set up WhatsApp for my Shopify store?

Mapping Shopify events to approved templates

WhatsApp will not let you send free-form promotional text to customers who haven't messaged you recently — outbound business-initiated messages have to use templates that Meta has reviewed and approved in advance. The practical work of a good Shopify setup is deciding which store events deserve a message and drafting a clean template for each. Order placed, order confirmed, payment received, shipped with tracking link, out for delivery, and delivered are the workhorse events. Each template is written once with variables (customer name, order number, tracking URL) that Shopify fills in at send time. Order-status notifications like these fall under WhatsApp's utility category, which is the lower-priced tier, because they are transactional rather than promotional. Keep the copy factual and specific to the order and approvals go smoothly.

• Order confirmation and payment received — utility category
• Shipment dispatched with a tappable tracking link — utility category
• Out-for-delivery and delivered updates — utility category
• Review request or restock/promo nudges — marketing category (needs marketing opt-in)

Turning on cart recovery and COD confirmation

Two automations pay for themselves faster than anything else on an Indian Shopify store: abandoned-cart recovery and cash-on-delivery confirmation. For cart recovery, you map Shopify's checkout-abandoned event to a gentle reminder template — ideally sent within an hour or two while intent is still warm — that links straight back to the customer's saved cart. Because the customer hasn't messaged you, this goes out as a template; if it carries a discount or promo it's marketing-category, if it's a plain 'you left something behind' nudge it can qualify as utility. COD confirmation is the other big win: before you dispatch a cash order, an automated WhatsApp asks the customer to confirm with a quick button tap, which slashes the fake-order and return-to-origin losses that eat into COD margins. A confirmed order also opens the free 24-hour service window, so any back-and-forth after the customer replies costs you nothing extra.

How the messages are actually billed

WhatsApp charges you per delivered message, and the price depends on the message's category — marketing, utility, or authentication —. This is the model Meta moved to on 1 July 2025, replacing the older per-conversation pricing, so it's worth being precise: an order-confirmation utility message and a promotional marketing message are billed separately, each at its own category rate. The 24-hour window that opens when a customer messages you is a free service window, not a billing unit — replies you send inside it aren't charged. For a typical Shopify flow that means your order updates sit in the cheaper utility tier and only your promotional blasts hit the marketing rate. InfiQ applies transparent ₹ pricing (ex-GST), and the InfiQ calculator shows the current per-message rates by category so you can forecast a month of order volume before you commit.

• Utility: order confirmations, shipping and delivery updates — the tier most Shopify messages fall into
• Marketing: promotions, offers, win-back campaigns — requires marketing opt-in
• Authentication: OTPs and login codes — relevant if you also verify customers
• Service window: customer-initiated 24-hour window is free for your replies, not a billing bucket

Testing with a live order before you launch

Never flip a Shopify store live on assumptions. Place one real test order end-to-end and watch each message arrive on an actual phone: confirmation on checkout, the shipped template with a working tracking link, and — if you sell COD — the confirm-your-order button. Check that variables render correctly (no blank {{name}} or broken URLs), that the display name and profile photo look right on the customer's screen, and that replies land in your shared inbox so your team can respond. Once that single order proves the full loop, you can enable automations across your catalogue with confidence. Because your WhatsApp Business Account and BSUID stay under your own Meta Business Manager with InfiQ, you keep full ownership of the number, templates, and message history from day one.