A chatbot on a WooCommerce store is only worth having if it answers with what the shop actually sells: the price today, whether it is in stock, which sizes exist. This guide sets one up in four steps and explains what each step is for, so you can tell which one to look at when something does not work.
Before you start
You need a TalkTill workspace and a widget ID from it. You also need admin access to the WordPress site, because the plugin is installed from the WordPress admin. The plugin is free.
You do not need WooCommerce API keys to get a working assistant. Keys are only needed for one feature, order status, covered at the end.
Step 1: install the plugin and paste your widget ID
Install the TalkTill plugin from your WordPress admin and paste the widget ID into its settings. The widget then appears on every page of the store without editing your theme. If your theme changes later, the chat does not go with it.
Step 2: tell the console where your store is
In the console, open Settings and find Store connection. Enter your store’s address. This is the address the assistant reads live prices and stock from when a shopper asks, so use the address your customers see, not a staging address.
Step 3: sync the catalogue
Run the sync from the console. Every product becomes a passage in the assistant’s knowledge, carrying its real price, stock, image and link. The plugin pushes the catalogue again every day, and you can push it on demand after a big change such as a price update.
Price, stock and availability are not answered from that snapshot when a store is connected. They are read from your store’s public Store API at the moment of the question, so a product that sold out this morning is out of stock in the answer. The sync is what lets the assistant find the right product. The live read is what keeps what it says about that product correct.
Step 4: allow your domain
Add your store’s address to the origin allowlist in the console. If both the www and the non-www
forms of your domain resolve, add both. Without this the widget will not load from a site you have
not approved, which is the point of the list.
Check that it works
The Install page in the console has a connection check. Then open your store in a private window and ask about a product you know is in stock and one you know is not. The first answer should carry a live price. If the sold-out product is offered as available, the store connection in Step 2 is the place to look.
If the sync finds no products
This is rarely a WooCommerce fault. The two causes that come up most:
- Your host password-protects staging sites. Cloudways, WP Engine and Kinsta all do by default, which answers every request with a 401 before WordPress runs. The sync cannot read a store it is not allowed to open. Sync from the live site, or lift the protection while you test.
- Permalinks are set to Plain. That leaves the Store API at a 404. Choose any other permalink structure in Settings, Permalinks, in WordPress.
The sync reports which of these it hit rather than guessing, so read its message first.
If you test on a staging site
Keep every setting on the same site. Product links and image URLs are copied into the assistant’s knowledge at sync time and are never rewritten. A catalogue synced from staging keeps staging URLs, which means every product photo and every product link a customer taps goes to a site they cannot buy from. After any domain move, sync again.
Order status, which does need API keys
If you want shoppers to ask “where is my order?”, add your WooCommerce API keys in the console. The assistant asks for the order number and the email or phone number on the order before it answers, and it replies with the status and the items, never the address.
What the assistant can do once it is connected
With a store connected, the assistant shows product cards with live price and stock, handles products with sizes or colours, adds to a cart, and hands the cart to your own checkout, so your payment gateways, shipping rules and order emails stay as they are. The WooCommerce integration page has the full list.
Found something here that is out of date, or wrong? Tell us, a guide with a review date on it is a promise to keep it current.