WhatsApp Integration for Shopify Auction: Features

WhatsApp integration for the Product Auction App on Shopify offers a seamless way to keep your customers informed and engaged throughout the bidding process.

With real-time notifications, bid confirmations, and auction updates sent directly through WhatsApp, you can provide a more engaging and responsive experience for your users.

This seamless communication helps boost bidder participation and significantly improves the overall efficiency of your auction process.

This WhatsApp integration for Shopify auctions bridges the gap between your store and your customers by leveraging one of the world’s most widely used messaging platforms.

To use WhatsApp integration for auctions on your store, you’ll first need to enable the ‘WhatsApp Notification Integration’ feature within the Product Auction app.

Once activated, you’ll be prompted to approve a monthly charge of $15 USD to use this feature.

After enabling the feature app, if you want to send WhatsApp notifications to customers, you’ll also need to activate the ‘Send WhatsApp Notification to Customer’ configuration.

If you want to send WhatsApp notifications to the admin regarding their auction products and related updates, please ensure that the ‘Send WhatsApp Notification to Admin’ configuration is enabled.

Note: When you enable the ‘Send WhatsApp Notification to Admin’ configuration, you must enter the admin’s WhatsApp number in the correct format.

The number should include the country code without the “+” sign, and there must be a hyphen (“-”) between the country code and the phone number.

To do this, navigate to Product Auction App → Configuration → Auction Config, and enable the corresponding option.

To use this feature, please add your WhatsApp credentials by navigating to the Product Auction App >> Configuration.

Click on the three dots in the right corner and select ‘WhatsApp Credential’ from the dropdown menu.

Now, as the store admin, you’ll need to fill in the following fields within the app to start using the WhatsApp Notification feature.

• WHATSAPP BUSINESS ACCOUNT ID
• PHONE NUMBER ID
• PHONE NUMBER
• ACCESS TOKEN

To get all these details, you need to go to developers.facebook.com and create an account.

Once done, you need to create an App; you can name it as per your store Name.

Go to the My Apps section on the Facebook Developer page.

After redirecting to the page, actively create an app. For that, click on the create app button.

Here are the following steps for creating the app.

Step 1: After redirecting to the app creation page, actively enter the details, including the app name and email.

After that, in the next step, you need to enter the use case for the app that you are creating.

Step 2: In this step, you have to select” OTHER ” for creating the app.

After actively selecting ‘Other,’ you will be redirected to the page where you must actively select the app type.

Step 3: Select an app type as “Business ” and then enter the details and click on Create App.

Once you click on create app you need to select the products for your app.

Here you need to select WhatsApp as a product app and click on the Set Up. Then you will be actively redirected to the WhatsApp Business Platform API page.

To set up the API on this page, actively select a Business portfolio. If a Business portfolio doesn’t exist, actively create a new one and then click “Continue.”

Note: If you don’t have a portfolio, you may leave this field blank and click ‘Continue’. However, if you already have a portfolio, simply select it and then proceed by clicking ‘Continue’.

After successfully completing the steps, you will be redirected to the API setup page. Once there, you need to set up the API to obtain the necessary details.

For that, click on ” Start Using API ”.

After this, you will lend on the API Setup page where you will get the test Phone number, Phone number ID, and WhatsApp Business Account ID.

Note: Test phone numbers allow you to send free WhatsApp messages for a period of 90 days.

Once done, you need to add your Business WhatsApp Number to get started

Note: If you are using already existed WhatsApp messenger number then it will not work.

Either you use new number or delete already existing WhatsApp messenger account then use it here in WhatsApp API.

After deleting the existing WhatsApp messenger account same number can be used after 15 min of deletion.

Once the Phone number is added, we need to copy the Phone number ID and WhatsApp Business Account ID and paste them in your WhatsApp credentials.

We need to get a permanent access token to use in the WhatsApp Integration configuration

You can find your temporary access token that expires in 24 hours and your testing phone number in the WhatsApp product settings.

But in order to use the WhatsApp API, we need a permanent access token.

To generate a permanent token, go to Business Manager Settings and navigate to Users > System Users.

Click on your username, then select “Generate Token”. Choose your app from the list and enable the necessary permissions, such as whatsapp_business_management and whatsapp_business_messaging.

Finally, click on ‘Generate Token’; doing so will provide you with your WhatsApp Access Token.

First, copy the generated access token, and then paste it into the Access Token field under the WhatsApp Credentials section.

Please note: Since this token is displayed only once, be sure to copy and save it immediately. After you leave the page, you won’t be able to retrieve it again.

In order to send messages, you’ll first need to configure your Callback URL and then subscribe to the ‘message’ webhook.

You can locate the Callback URL and Verify Token fields in your Meta Dashboard under the WhatsApp section > Configuration. After verification, make sure to save your changes.

We have provided default WhatsApp templates to help you get started quickly.

To set them up, simply open the Product Auction App, navigate to the WhatsApp Create Templates section, and follow the steps to configure your notification templates.

Then, navigate to the Configuration section, click on the three-dot menu (⋮), and select ‘WhatsApp Create Templates’ from the dropdown options.

Once there, you’ll see a list of events that can trigger WhatsApp notifications for bidders—such as Auction win, Purchase reminder, Cancel winner, etc.

For each event, you can click on the ‘Create Default Template’ button to generate the corresponding notification template.

After a template is successfully created, its status will update to Created. Events that haven’t been configured yet will continue to display the status as Pending.

In addition to bidder notifications, you can also create default templates for admin-related events.

These templates ensure that admins receive relevant WhatsApp notifications about activities related to auctions on their products.

This setup helps ensure both bidders and admins stay informed throughout the auction process, enhancing transparency and engagement.

Note: When you create a WhatsApp notification template using the ‘Create Default Template’ button, there’s no need to map the template manually—it will be automatically mapped for you.

OR

You can create your own WhatsApp template on Meta by logging in to developer.facebook.com.

Once on the Meta Dashboard, navigate to the WhatsApp section and click on Configuration to begin creating your template.

Next, within the App Dashboard, proceed by clicking on Manage Phone Number in order to access your WhatsApp templates.

Clicking on ‘Manage Phone Number’ redirects you to the WhatsApp Manager page. From there, navigate to the ‘Manage Templates’ section in order to create your message template.

To begin, click on Create Template, then select Utility under the ‘Set up template’ section. After that, click Next to proceed.

After this, you need to create a template by specifying the message content you wish to send via WhatsApp.

Start by entering the template name in the provided field. After that, select the desired language for your template.

Now, add the header, body, and footer content to your template in the Content section. In the Type of Variable section, select Number.

For Sample Media File, choose None. Then, set the Header Type to TEXT and enter the header content for your message.

In the Body section, enter the main message text you want to send. Make sure to include one or more placeholders for dynamic content you can use up to eight variables.

You will use these placeholders to personalize the message, and the text you enter will serve as the sample body content for the template.

To view the WhatsApp notification templates for Shopify Auctions, please click here.

You need to specify the purpose of each variable you’ve declared in the body content. For each variable used, such as {{1}}, {{2}}, etc., you must clearly mention what actual data will replace it.

For example, if {{1}} represents the customer’s first name or {{2}} represents the customer’s last name, you should define it accordingly.

This step ensures that the system maps the dynamic content correctly when it sends the message.

After adding the body content, proceed to add the footer based on your requirements. Once you’ve completed all the sections, header, body, and footer, submit the template for review.

After approving the template, actively input all corresponding details such as the template name, header, body, footer, and button text into the WhatsApp Admin Panel.

This ensures seamless integration and enables full functionality of your WhatsApp messaging setup.

Once you create a template in the WhatsApp Manager, you’ll need to import it into the Product Auction App.

To do this, navigate to the WhatsApp Import Template section and click on ‘Import your WhatsApp Templates’ to complete the import process.

Once you actively import the WhatsApp template into the Product Auction App, you’ll need to map the template within the app to ensure it functions correctly.

After importing the WhatsApp template into the Product Auction App, you need to map it within the app.

To do this, navigate to the Configuration section, click on the three dots (⋮), and select WhatsApp Import Templates.

You will see the imported template listed there.

Click on the three-dot menu under the Action column next to the template, then select the ‘Map Template’ option.

From there, choose the appropriate Default Event to map the template to. Once selected, click Save to complete the process.

Once you map the template with the default event, you’ll also need to verify your Callback URL and Verify Token to ensure the integration works correctly.

Once you enable the ‘Send WhatsApp Notification’ configuration and a bidder places a bid, the system promptly displays a pop-up as soon as the bidder clicks the ‘Place My Bid’ button.

At this point, the pop-up will ask, ‘Do you want to receive WhatsApp notifications?’

Once the bidder actively clicks “Yes,” a new pop-up will immediately appear, prompting them to actively enter their country code and WhatsApp contact number.

Once they have entered the details, they must then click ‘Yes’ again in order to start receiving notifications on WhatsApp.

You can check the WhatsApp notification history in the WhatsApp Notification Logs section.

From there, you’ll be able to view the notifications triggered for bidders or admins, along with detailed information about each event.

The log displays key details such as Notification ID, Auction ID, Customer Name, Event Name, Contact Number, Status, and the Sent Date.

Additionally, when you click on the Status (e.g., Sent or Failed), you can view more detailed insights.

If the status shows Sent, you can view whether the recipient has read the message or not, along with the delivery time and read time, including the exact date and time.

If the status shows Failed, clicking on the info (i) button displays the reason for the failure, helping you identify and resolve the issue.

In the WhatsApp Notification Logs, any WhatsApp notification sent or triggered to the admin will also appear in the notification history.

However, in the case of admin notifications, the Auction ID will not be displayed in the log.

Warning: Template Edited

When you make any changes to a template on the Meta side, a warning labeled “Template Edited” will appear in the WhatsApp Import Template section.

The system displays this warning specifically for the template that you have edited. Clicking on the warning will open a pop-up with two options: Ignore Warning or Map Template.

If you choose Map Template, please ensure that you verify and update the mappings to align correctly with the modified content and the appropriate event.

The system removes the warning once it successfully maps the template.

Alternatively, if you click on Ignore Warning, the system will dismiss the warning without applying any changes to the updated content.

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