How to automatically confirm stock to a customer
A customer asking if a product is available deserves a fast and accurate response — not a 'let us check and get back to you' that takes hours.
The question "do you have this product available?" seems simple, but answering it correctly requires checking the actual stock at the exact moment of the inquiry — not relying on memory, which may already be outdated. In a small store, this often means interrupting another task to go manually check the system.
This guide shows how to set up this automated response using the E-Commerce Hub from WhatSMS.
Step 1 — Connect the store to WhatSMS
Configure the integration with your WooCommerce or Shopify store in the E-Commerce Hub module. It is this connection that allows the agent to query the store's actual stock, instead of relying on a static list loaded manually.
Step 2 — Activate the AI agent over the catalog
Connect the artificial intelligence agent to the synchronized catalog so that it checks availability, price, and variants (size, color, model) before answering any questions about stock.
Step 3 — Configure the response for out-of-stock products
Define the agent's behavior when a product is out of stock: inform the customer directly, suggest alternatives from the catalog, or ask if the customer wants to be notified when the product is back in stock. This configuration prevents a negative response from simply ending the conversation.
Step 4 — Test with real customer questions
Before enabling it for all customers, test the flow with typical questions — "do you have this product in blue?", "is the size M still in stock?" — and confirm that the response always reflects the store's current status.
Why this avoids checkout frustration
An automated response that incorrectly confirms availability causes more problems than it solves — a customer who buys something out of stock gets frustrated when they discover the error later. Real-time verification, performed before each response, avoids this scenario.
Less time spent manually checking stock for every question, and a faster response for the customer — which reduces the chance of them giving up and looking in another store while waiting. You can create a free account and test this integration by connecting your store's real catalog.
Frequently asked questions
Does the stock response come from a periodically updated list or in real-time?
In real-time. The agent checks the store's stock directly at the moment of the inquiry, not a periodically synchronized copy — which avoids confirming the availability of a product that sold out minutes earlier.
Does it work with products that have variants, such as size or color?
Yes. When the catalog has that information, the response can confirm availability specifically for the requested variant, rather than just answering whether the generic product exists in the catalog.
What happens if the product is out of stock?
The agent informs the customer directly and, when configured, can suggest alternatives from the catalog or ask if the customer wants to be notified when the stock is replenished.
Do I need to manually update the agent whenever the stock changes?
No. The integration connects directly to your WooCommerce or Shopify store, so any stock change made there is automatically reflected in the responses, without duplicating that management on a second platform.
Does this require technical knowledge to configure?
No. The connection is made through the E-Commerce Hub integration already available in WhatSMS, with no programming required.