Answer shipping, returns and order questions from your policies
Written by the Allinaa team · Updated
"Order status chatbot" usually means a bot plugged into a store's order system that reads tracking numbers back to customers. Allinaa's website assistant doesn't do that, and this page explains what it does instead. It answers shipping, returns and exchange questions straight from your published policies, and it sends "where is my order?" to your tracking page or to a person.
Policy questions vs. order-specific questions
| Policy question (the assistant answers) | Order-specific question (the assistant redirects) |
|---|---|
| "How long does shipping to Texas take?" | "Where is order 4471?" |
| "Can I return sale items?" | "Has my refund gone through?" |
| "Do you ship to Canada?" | "Can you change my delivery address?" |
| "How do exchanges work?" | "Why was I charged twice?" |
The assistant has no access to your order system, payments or customer accounts. It can't look up an order, and it is instructed not to pretend it can.
Shipping times, costs and regions from your shipping page
Put your shipping policy into the knowledge as it is published: carriers, processing time, delivery estimates by region, costs or free-shipping thresholds, and where you don't ship. The assistant is instructed never to invent or guess delivery times or prices, and to keep figures exactly as written. If your policy says "usually 3 to 5 business days", that is what customers hear. Watch out for vague source text such as "fast shipping": the assistant can only be as specific as your policy.
Returns and exchanges: quoting your policy exactly
Return questions are where small wording differences cause disputes. Give the assistant the whole policy and spell out the edge cases:
- the return window and when it starts (delivery date or order date);
- final-sale, custom and opened items;
- who pays return shipping;
- refund method and timing;
- how to start a return: a portal link, an email address or a form.
The assistant explains the policy. It doesn't approve returns, promise refunds or make exceptions. Those decisions stay with your team.
"Where is my order?": a tracking link or a follow-up request
Pick the route that matches how your store works, and write it in the knowledge:
- Tracking page. If your store has an order-tracking page, put its link in the knowledge: "Customers can track orders at [your tracking link] with their order number and email." The assistant shares only links that appear in your approved information.
- Follow-up request. If tracking needs a person, the assistant offers the request form. The customer gives a contact method, consents, and writes the order number in the message. Your team gets an email and an inbox record.
- Live takeover on Premium. A team member can step into the chat and answer directly.
For privacy, the widget skips pages whose address has a segment such as checkout, cart, order or account, and query strings are removed from page addresses, so order details in a URL are never sent to it.
Damaged items: photos on Premium
"It arrived broken" goes much faster with a picture. On Premium, customers can send photos of the item and the box in the chat. Files are checked for malware, stored privately and flagged to your team, and they can be attached to the request. On Standard, customers describe the damage in the form and you ask for photos by email.
Keeping policies in sync
When a policy changes, update the knowledge the same day. Holiday cut-off dates are the usual trap: a date that was right in December is wrong in January. On Standard, the Allinaa team makes up to 2 hours a month of knowledge updates for you. You can also run the website scan again from the setup wizard (up to 3 times a day) to draft knowledge from your updated pages, then review the draft before using it.
Illustrative example, not a real customer conversation.
Visitor: can i return a sweater i bought on sale
Assistant: Sale items can be returned within 14 days of delivery for store credit only, as long as they're unworn with tags attached. Items marked Final Sale can't be returned.
Visitor: ok. also where is my order, it's been a week
Assistant: I can't see orders myself, but you can check the status on our order-tracking page with your order number and email: [tracking link]. If it shows no update, I can send your question to the team.
Stores with large catalogs will find more ideas in AI chatbot for online stores. Shippers and brokers face different questions; see AI chatbot for logistics and freight. To add the assistant to a store, follow Install on Shopify.
Questions and answers
Can the assistant look up a tracking number?
No. It has no connection to your order system. It shares your tracking page link or collects a follow-up request for your team.
Can it approve a return or issue a refund?
No. It explains your written policy and how to start a return. Approvals, refunds and exceptions are decided by your team.
Should customers type order numbers in the chat?
Ask them to put the order number in the request form message, so it reaches your team with their consent and contact details. Avoid asking for payment details.
What if my policy changes for the holidays?
Update the knowledge before the change takes effect, and remove the holiday dates afterwards. The assistant repeats what is written.