A chatbot for your website that doesn’t annoy customers
An AI assistant and simple scenarios answer common questions at night and on weekends, and pass tricky conversations to real people. No coding and no flowchart builders.
AI assistant
Answers questions about delivery, payment, returns and working hours — only with facts from your help articles. It never makes up prices or stock levels.
Scenarios
Greetings on the right pages, topic buttons, automatically showing products or asking for a phone number — based on conditions you set.
Hand-off to a person
If it doesn’t know the answer, it honestly says it will check with the team and asks for contact details. An operator sees the whole conversation and takes over.
When a chatbot helps, and when it hurts
Customers get angry when a bot goes in circles and won’t let them reach a person. That’s why in Talkoly the bot is an operator’s helper, not a wall between you and the buyer:
- At night and on weekends the assistant answers simple questions and collects contacts for the morning.
- During the day you can turn on replies only when an operator has been silent for longer than a set time — for example, 90 seconds.
- A limit on how many times the assistant replies in one conversation: after that, only a person answers.
- Questions about a specific order, payment, or complaints always go to an operator.
Setting up an AI chatbot for your website, step by step
- Write your help articles and a short store description in plain language.
- Ask the assistant a few typical questions in the settings and check its answers.
- Choose when it replies: outside working hours only, or also when an operator has been silent for too long.
- Set a limit on replies per conversation. After that, a person takes over.
Tips on writing good articles: a knowledge base for customers.
Where the bot gets its answers
- Your help articles (your knowledge base): “Delivery”, “Payment”, “Returns”, “Warranty” — the same ones customers see in your help center.
- A short description of your store in the settings: shipping times, free delivery threshold, payment methods, working hours.
- Earlier messages in the conversation — so it understands the context.
You can test the answers right in the settings before the assistant starts talking to customers.
A chatbot for an online store in practice
A pet shop, 11:40 pm. “If I order now, when will you ship?” The assistant answers from your store description. Then they ask about a discount on a large bag. That isn’t in your articles, so the assistant promises to check with the team and asks for a phone number.
Phone accessories, Sunday. “What’s the minimum order for free delivery?” The assistant replies with the amount you set. Stock questions it can’t answer from your articles go to a person.
Cosmetics. “Can I return a cream if it doesn’t suit me?” The assistant answers from your “Returns” article and adds nothing of its own.
How it differs from a flowchart chatbot
- No decision trees to draw and no need to predict every question. The assistant reads your texts.
- Customers write in their own words instead of clicking buttons in circles.
- There’s a clear line: anything not covered by your articles goes to an operator.
- The operator sees the whole chat and doesn’t ask the customer again.
We look at when a bot works better and when a person does in “Chatbot vs live agent”.
Automatic replies without AI — on any plan
- A greeting and topic buttons in the chat.
- An auto-reply outside working hours with a form for a phone number.
- A “please wait” message if an operator hasn’t replied within a minute.
- Quick replies for operators, like “/delivery” or “/payment”.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to code the chatbot?
No. You write help articles and a short store description in plain text — the assistant answers based on them. Scenarios are set up with checkboxes and fields.
Which plan includes the AI assistant?
The Pro plan and the 14-day free trial. Scenarios are on Pro too, help articles start from the Business plan, and auto-replies outside working hours are on every plan.
Can the bot get a price or stock level wrong?
The assistant is not allowed to name prices, stock levels or delivery times that aren’t in your help articles. If there’s no answer, it passes the question to an operator.
Does the bot work in Viber, Facebook and Instagram?
Yes. Messages from these messengers go into the same inbox, so auto-replies and the assistant work there too.
Will the chatbot replace my operators?
No, and it isn’t meant to. The assistant handles simple questions and collects contacts, while orders, payments, complaints and anything not in your help articles go to a person.
How do I teach the chatbot about my store?
Write your help articles and a short store description in the settings, then test the answers in the same place. If an answer isn’t accurate, add to the article and test again.