Shopify FAQ: Which Questions to Answer and Where
A Shopify FAQ works best when you write each answer once and publish it in three places: an FAQ page under Online Store > Pages, instant answers in Shopify Inbox chat, and the store content the Inbox agent reads. Start from the questions your customers already ask in email and chat, and keep every answer identical to your policies under Settings > Policies.
The 20 questions to start with
This is a starting list built from the categories that FAQ apps and Shopify’s own instant answer suggestions cover; replace each row with the wording from your own inbox. The last column says where the answer should live, so there is one source to edit.
| Category | Question | Where the answer lives |
|---|---|---|
| Shipping | How much is shipping, and is there a free-shipping threshold? | Shipping rates and the shipping policy |
| Shipping | How long does delivery take? | Shipping policy |
| Shipping | Do you ship to my country? | Markets and shipping zones |
| Shipping | Can I change the address after ordering? | Contact page; say how long you allow |
| Orders | Where is my order? | Order status page and the Track my order option |
| Orders | Can I cancel or edit my order? | Policy page |
| Orders | Why was my payment declined? | Payment methods list |
| Orders | Do you offer pickup? | Pickup settings and shipping policy |
| Returns | What is your return policy? | Settings > Policies |
| Returns | How do I start a return? | Your online store, if you turn on self-serve returns and cancellations |
| Returns | When will I get my refund? | Refund policy |
| Returns | Can I exchange for another size? | Return policy |
| Products | What is it made of? | Product page |
| Products | What size should I order? | Size guide on the product page |
| Products | How do I care for it? | Product page, care guide |
| Products | Is it back in stock? | Product page; a back-in-stock alert needs an app |
| Account | How do I reset my password or sign in? | Customer account settings |
| Account | How do I use a discount code? | FAQ page: say that codes go in the discount field at checkout, and which codes cannot be combined |
| Contact | How do I reach a person, and when are you available? | Contact page, Inbox availability hours |
| Contact | Is my data safe? | Privacy policy |
Publish once, use in three places
1. An FAQ page. Go to Online Store > Pages, click Add page (creating pages), and group the questions by category with the table above as the outline. Shopify’s customer service guidance suggests an FAQ section built with the built-in pages or an app. Link it from the footer menu and from the cart.
Write each answer so it can be copied anywhere without editing. Three examples:
- How long does delivery take? “Orders placed before 2 p.m. on a weekday ship the same day. Delivery in the US takes 3 to 5 business days after shipping; you get a tracking link by email.”
- What is your return policy? “You can return unworn items within 30 days of delivery. Start the return from the order in your account; we email a label and refund to your original payment method once the parcel arrives.”
- Can I change my address? “Write to us within 2 hours of ordering and we will update it. After the order ships, we can no longer change it.”
The numbers are placeholders for your own; keep one number and one action in every answer.
2. Inbox instant answers. Following Shopify’s instant answers page, go to Sales channels > Inbox > Chat settings > Instant answers, click Create instant answer, then type the question and the answer. You can create as many as you like and show up to 100 to customers. You can reorder them by dragging, and hide one with Turn off without deleting it. Shopify can also suggest instant answers from your store policies, in English only; edit what it proposes, because you are responsible for the accuracy of anything you publish. Instant answers are the suggestions shoppers see when the Inbox agent is not active. The Track my order option, which asks for an order number and email, is available whether or not the agent is active; to review an existing order, the customer has to sign in. That makes “Where is my order?” the one question you do not need to write an instant answer for.
3. The Inbox agent. According to the Inbox agent persona page, the agent answers from your product catalog, store policies, Knowledge Base facts and files, and published storefront content such as pages and blog posts. That means the FAQ page you just wrote is already a source for it. Shopify advises putting facts in the store source they belong to, or in a Knowledge Base FAQ if there is none, and not only in the persona, since facts added only to the persona are not treated as source information and might not be used consistently. How to train and review it is in training the Inbox agent, and the broader picture in chatbots for Shopify customer service.
Keep answers true
Answers drift. The return window changes in the policy, and the FAQ page, the instant answer and a product page still say the old number, while the Inbox agent reads all of them. When you change a shipping or return rule, check four places for the old figure on the same day:
- Settings > Policies, the source.
- Online Store > Pages, the FAQ page and any shipping or returns page.
- Inbox > Chat settings > Instant answers.
- The Shopify Knowledge Base app, if you added FAQs there.
Search the storefront for the old number too, since product descriptions and blog posts are sources for the agent. Support automation covers what else to automate once the answers are consistent. More store-running guides are in the running a store hub.
Frequently asked questions
How do I add an FAQ page on Shopify? Go to Online Store > Pages, click Add page, add a title and the questions and answers, then link the page from a menu.
What are Shopify Inbox instant answers? Instant answers are predefined questions that appear in your store chat, each with a fixed answer that shows when the customer clicks it. You write them in Chat settings, and when the Inbox agent is active it provides the conversation starters instead.
Do I need an FAQ app? A page and instant answers cover publishing questions and answers. Look at an app only if you need something the page and instant answers cannot do, such as an FAQ with hundreds of questions grouped by product.