How to connect Shopify to the WhatsApp Business API

Step 2 — Connect your Shopify store to InfiQ

With the WhatsApp side ready, link the store. In the InfiQ dashboard open Integrations, choose Shopify, and authorise the connection through Shopify's standard OAuth screen — you log in as a store admin and approve the requested scopes (orders, customers, checkouts). There are no API keys to copy by hand and nothing to paste into code. Once authorised, InfiQ registers the webhooks on your store automatically, so Shopify starts pushing events the moment they happen. If you run multiple Shopify stores, connect each one separately and give it a clear label so your flows and reports don't get tangled.

• Dashboard → Integrations → Shopify → Connect.
• Approve the OAuth permission screen as a Shopify store admin.
• InfiQ installs the order, fulfilment and checkout webhooks for you.
• Label each store if you operate more than one storefront.

Step 3 — Create and get your message templates approved

WhatsApp only lets you message customers proactively with pre-approved templates, and getting the category right is what keeps messages cheap and delivered. Order confirmations, shipping updates and delivery alerts are Utility templates — the lowest-cost category and the right fit for transactional Shopify events. Promotions, sale announcements and abandoned-cart recovery offers are Marketing templates and are priced higher. Draft each template with a clear body and variables like {{order_number}} and {{tracking_link}}, then submit for Meta approval from inside InfiQ. Picking Marketing when the message is genuinely transactional invites rejection and needless cost; picking Utility for a discount blast risks a policy strike.

• Order placed / paid / fulfilled / out-for-delivery → Utility category.
• Sale offers and cart-recovery discounts → Marketing category.
• Use variables ({{name}}, {{order_number}}, {{tracking_link}}) rather than hardcoding values.
• Submit for approval early — most templates clear in minutes to a few hours.

Step 4 — Map Shopify events to your templates

This is where the automation actually takes shape. In InfiQ's flow builder, connect each Shopify trigger to the template it should send. A typical starter setup maps 'Order created' to your confirmation template, 'Order fulfilled' to a shipping template carrying the tracking link, and 'Checkout abandoned' to a Marketing recovery template sent after a short delay. Shopify passes the order data with every event, so InfiQ fills your template variables automatically — the customer's name, order number and tracking URL land in the right slots with no manual work. For abandoned carts, remember that recovery messages need the shopper to have opted in to marketing on WhatsApp; only message people who agreed.

• Order created → confirmation (Utility).
• Order fulfilled / shipped → tracking update (Utility).
• Order cancelled or refunded → status notice (Utility).
• Checkout abandoned → recovery nudge after a delay (Marketing, opt-in only).

Step 5 — Test end-to-end with your own number

Never let real customers be your first test. Place a genuine test order in your Shopify store using your own WhatsApp number as the customer, then walk it through the lifecycle — mark it paid, fulfil it, add tracking — and confirm each message arrives with the variables filled correctly and the tracking link clickable. Check that the abandoned-cart flow fires only after your chosen delay and not on completed checkouts. Watch the delivery and read status in the InfiQ dashboard so you know the message is landing, not just sending. Fixing a wrong variable or a mistimed trigger now costs nothing; fixing it after a launch to thousands of shoppers costs your quality rating.

Step 6 — Go live and monitor quality

Once your test order behaves perfectly, switch the flows on for real traffic. If your sending number is new, ramp volume gradually rather than blasting your whole customer list on day one — a sudden spike from a cold number can trip Meta's spam signals and drag your quality rating down. After launch, keep an eye on the health signals in your dashboard: delivery rate, read rate, quality rating and any 'blocked' or 'reported' feedback. Because InfiQ bills per delivered message, healthy delivery also keeps spend predictable — you pay for messages that actually reach shoppers, by category, with transparent ₹ pricing (ex-GST).

• Warm up new numbers — grow send volume over days, not all at once.
• Track quality rating, delivery rate and read rate after launch.
• Keep opt-out handling clean to protect long-term deliverability.
• Review which templates drive replies and orders, and iterate.