Answers about Hibou
These short pages answer the questions store owners and customers ask about Hibou: what it is, when the paid order is synced, how payment and languages work, and how a person takes over the chat.
Each answer below is the same text as the page it links to, so a quote from this index and a quote from the page do not disagree.
What is Hibou?
Hibou is a WhatsApp commerce bot that takes a store's order inside the chat. The customer sends a design or picks a catalogue item, confirms size, quantity and address, and pays from a link in that same chat. The paid order is synced to the brand's own webstore only after payment is confirmed. That webstore can be WooCommerce, Shopify, or another D2C webstore.
What is a commerce bot?
A commerce bot takes an order inside the conversation. It collects the item, the details needed to fulfil it, and the payment, then writes the order into the store's system. Hibou is a commerce bot for WhatsApp stores. It syncs the paid order to the brand's webstore only after payment is confirmed. That webstore can be WooCommerce, Shopify, or another D2C webstore.
Can a customer order without opening the website?
Yes. With Hibou the customer can send a design or pick a catalogue item, confirm size, quantity and address, and pay from a link, all inside WhatsApp. The store website does not have to be opened for that order. The brand's webstore still receives the order after payment.
When is the order synced to the webstore?
Hibou syncs the paid order to the brand's own webstore only after payment is confirmed. The payment provider notifies Hibou, and the order is synced then. An unpaid conversation does not become an order. A repeated notification for the same payment does not create a second order. The webstore can be WooCommerce, Shopify, or another D2C webstore.
Which languages does Hibou reply in?
The live THREADLY deployment replies in English, Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, and Malayalam. Hibou matches the language of the message it is answering. If the customer switches language, the next reply follows the new message.
What happens when a customer asks for a person?
Hibou hands the chat to the store team and stays quiet. Messages from the customer are passed to the team. The bot does not keep selling over a person who has taken the thread. The team can hand the chat back to the bot later.
How does payment work in the chat?
Hibou sends a payment link in the WhatsApp thread after the order details are confirmed. The customer pays on that link. Hibou does not ask for a card number in the chat. The paid order is synced to the brand's webstore when the payment is confirmed.
Can Hibou invent a price?
No. Hibou does not invent an order total. When the store's pricing rules can price the order, that total is what the agent says. When they cannot, the agent may state a unit price and must not multiply it, add shipping, or announce a total.
Does one deployment run many stores?
No. One Hibou deployment serves one WhatsApp number and one store. The catalog, payment accounts, and team console belong to that store. A second store needs its own deployment. There is no shared signup on this website.
How is Hibou different from a click-to-chat button?
A click-to-chat button opens WhatsApp so a person can talk. Hibou is the agent in that chat. It replies, collects a design or a catalogue item, confirms size, quantity and address, and sends the payment link. The paid order is synced to the brand's webstore after payment.
What file does the customer send for a custom order?
The customer sends the design in the WhatsApp chat, as a photo or as a document. Hibou checks that the file is usable for the print size. If the file is too small or the wrong kind of file, the agent says so and waits. The order does not continue on a file that cannot be printed.
Can the store team take over a chat?
Yes. A reply from the store team pauses Hibou on that chat. The customer can also ask for a person, or ask to be called, and the bot steps aside. The team can return the chat to the bot. A customer can leave the pause by asking for the menu.