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Companion has a free app for Shopify stores, called Companion: WhatsApp Chat. It adds a WhatsApp chat button to your storefront. You do not need a Companion plan to use it.
The app is installed from the Shopify App Store. If you cannot find it there, email support@msgcompanion.com and we will tell you where it stands.

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What it does

  • A shopper clicks the button on your store and a small chat opens with your welcome message.
  • They type their question. Sending it opens WhatsApp on your number, with their message ready to send.
  • The conversation then happens in WhatsApp.
The button needs only a mobile number. Your own mobile works, and you do not need a WhatsApp Business account. The app is free, with no locked settings. It adds nothing to your theme’s code, and it does not read your products, customers or orders.
This app is the button only. To send products in chats and see customers’ orders, connect your shop on the Integrations page instead. See Connect Shopify.

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Install it

1

Add the app

Install Companion: WhatsApp Chat from the Shopify App Store. It opens on the WhatsApp chat button page in your Shopify admin.
2

Add your number

Under WhatsApp setup, enter your number in international format, with the country code, such as +44 7700 900123. Choose Save.
3

Turn it on in your theme

In Add it to your theme, choose Turn on in theme editor. Your theme editor opens with Companion chat already switched on. Choose Save there.
4

Check your store

Open your storefront. The button appears in the bottom right corner unless you have moved it.
Until you add a number, the chat tells shoppers that the shop is still setting up WhatsApp chat.

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Change how it looks

All of this is on the app’s page in your Shopify admin. The Live preview shows the button and the opened chat as you go. Choose Save when you are done. Your storefront updates within a few minutes.
  • Header: the name, colour and image at the top of the chat.
  • Button: the icon (the WhatsApp logo or your own), its background shape and colour, size, position and the text beside it.
  • Show it on: desktop and mobile, mobile only or desktop only.
  • Chat background: the doodle wallpaper or a plain colour.
  • Welcome message and Greeting bubble.
Last 7 days shows how many shoppers clicked the button and how many chats went on to WhatsApp. The app’s Support page sends a question to the Companion team. When a store’s button is linked to a Companion workspace, it shows in two places:
  • On Integrations, as a Shopify chat button card with your store’s address. It is not one of your plan’s integrations.
  • Under Website chat, as a widget. Button settings on the card takes you there.
There is no button for linking in the Shopify app or in Companion. It is done with a personal link for your store. If you open that link while signed in to your workspace, Companion asks you to confirm, then brings the store’s button into that workspace. To ask about linking your store, email support@msgcompanion.com. A linked button does not start your free trial. Connecting a WhatsApp number does.

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Remove it

Uninstall the app in your Shopify admin. The button leaves your storefront with it.
  • Your settings are kept for 48 hours. Reinstalling in that time brings them back.
  • After that, the store’s settings and figures are erased.
You cannot remove a Shopify store’s button from Website chat in Companion. It goes when the app is uninstalled.