Integration · Ecommerce
Shopify and WhatsApp: import products and take orders in chat
How the Shopify connection works today: product import, orders created in Shopify from WhatsApp conversations, workflow actions, and honest limitations.
By Broadchat teamPublished 5 min read
You will need
- A Shopify store and permission to create a custom app for it (store owner or a staff account with app development rights).
- An Admin API access token from that custom app, with read access to products and write access to orders.
- The Ecommerce module enabled on your Broadchat plan (ask your provider if you do not see Ecommerce in the menu).
- A connected WhatsApp channel, if you want customers to browse products and order inside WhatsApp.
What this integration is for
Many Indian D2C brands run their store on Shopify and get a large share of questions and repeat orders on WhatsApp. The Shopify connection in Broadchat links the two in the direction that matters most for conversational selling: your Shopify catalogue comes into WhatsApp, and orders confirmed in WhatsApp go back into Shopify. Your team keeps fulfilling from Shopify as usual, and customers who prefer to order in chat do not have to be pushed back to the website.
It is a good fit if you sell a catalogue of a few hundred or a few thousand variants, take orders through chat, a Click-to-WhatsApp ad or an Instagram bio link, and want those orders in Shopify without retyping them. It is not yet a replacement for an app that sends automatic shipping messages for every website order; the limitations below explain why.
How the connection works
Broadchat talks to Shopify's Admin API with an access token from a custom app on your store. When you click Pull Products, Broadchat reads your products page by page and creates one Broadchat product per Shopify variant, keeping the variant id. Up to about 5,000 variants are imported per pull.
When a customer confirms a cart in a WhatsApp chatbot flow, the Send Order to Store step creates the order in Shopify using those variant ids, applies the inventory behaviour you chose, and stores the Shopify order number on the Broadchat order. From then on, your team sees it in Shopify like any other order, and the chatbot can look it up by that number when the customer asks.
A typical flow
- A customer taps a Click-to-WhatsApp ad and writes "show me cotton bedsheets".
- The chatbot searches your imported products and replies with matching items.
- The customer adds two items, picks cash on delivery and confirms.
- Send Order to Store creates the Shopify order; the chatbot replies with the order number.
- Your team packs and ships from Shopify. When the customer later asks "where is my order?", the bot looks it up by order number and answers, or hands over to an agent.
Security and access
Give the custom app only the permissions it needs: reading products and creating orders. Broadchat stores the token encrypted and uses it only for the actions above. If a staff member who had the token leaves, rotate it in Shopify and update it on the store card.
For the broader picture of selling on WhatsApp, see the ecommerce industry playbook and the order update templates you can pair with this integration.
Set it up
Create a custom app in Shopify
In Shopify, create a custom app for your store and give it Admin API access to read products and write orders. Shopify changed where custom apps are created in 2026, so follow Shopify's current custom app guide linked under Sources.
Copy the Admin API access token
Install the app on your store and copy its Admin API access token. Treat it like a password: anyone with it can read your products and create orders.
Connect the store in Broadchat
Open Ecommerce → Store Front, choose the Shopify Store tab and click Connect. Enter a store title, your store name or myshopify.com domain and the access token, then click Connect. Broadchat checks the token with Shopify before saving it, and stores it encrypted.
Pull your products
Open Ecommerce → Products and click Pull Products. Each Shopify variant becomes a product with its SKU, title, description, price, compare-at price, stock, images and tags. Pull again whenever your catalogue changes.
Choose how orders reach Shopify
Edit the store card to set the inventory behaviour Shopify should use for orders created from WhatsApp: bypass inventory, follow your inventory policy, or allow flexible overrides.
Add the Send Order to Store step
In the chatbot builder, add the Send Order to Store action after a customer confirms a cart. The order is created in Shopify with the real variant ids, and the Shopify order number is saved on the WhatsApp order.
What you can do
Sell your Shopify catalogue on WhatsApp
Imported products can be shown in chatbot flows and catalogue messages, so customers browse and build a cart without leaving the chat.
Create Shopify orders from conversations
Carts confirmed in WhatsApp become real Shopify orders, so fulfilment, invoices and stock stay in the system your team already uses.
Look up orders in chat
Chatbot ecommerce actions can find an order by the customer's WhatsApp number, email or Shopify order number and reply with its status.
Use Shopify in workflows
The Automations workflow builder includes Shopify actions, such as finding orders and customers, adding order notes and tags, creating discount codes and listing abandoned checkouts with their recovery links.
Limitations to know
- Product import is manual: click Pull Products after catalogue changes. There is no scheduled sync from Shopify yet.
- Orders placed on your Shopify website are not imported into Broadchat, and Shopify does not notify Broadchat of new orders, so automatic order-status messages for website orders need your own system or a webhook-based flow.
- Products edited in Broadchat are not pushed back to Shopify; Shopify stays the source of truth for the catalogue.
- Shopify actions in the workflow builder run when a workflow that was started by a webhook, a CRM event or a payment event reaches them; they do not start a workflow on their own, and workflows have no timer trigger.
- The connection uses a token you paste in, not a one-click Shopify App Store install.
Sources
- Custom apps — Shopify Help Center, checked 12 October 2026
- Template fundamentals — Meta for Developers, checked 12 October 2026
Broadchat team · Product and partner success team
The people who build and support Broadchat, the white-label WhatsApp Business API platform. We write from what we see while onboarding partners and their clients on the official WhatsApp Cloud API, and we check every article against Meta's current documentation.
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Frequently asked questions
Does Broadchat send automatic WhatsApp messages for every Shopify website order?
Not by itself today. Shopify does not notify Broadchat of website orders, so automatic confirmations for website orders need your own system to call the Broadchat API or a webhook into an automation. Orders created from WhatsApp chats can trigger chatbot steps directly.
How often are products synced?
Whenever you click Pull Products in Ecommerce → Products. Pull again after you add products or change prices or stock in Shopify.
Is my Shopify access token safe?
Broadchat checks the token with Shopify when you connect and stores it encrypted. Give the custom app only the permissions it needs, and rotate the token in Shopify if it may have been shared.