Basic configuration
Once ShopGuide's installed, a handful of configuration steps make the chat actually match your brand and work well for your customers.
Two places, two jobs
The Appearance page in the admin app handles colors, the chat header, profile image, container sizing, shadows, borders, and other store-wide visual details. The Settings page handles AI behavior, support channel, launch messages, bubble and proactive-message behavior, voice input, and general options. A few of these — heading, primary color, product context, custom launch message — can also be overridden per page from the theme editor's ShopGuide Chat block.
Getting the appearance right
On the Appearance page: set the Chat Heading (defaults to "ShopGuide" — try your store name, or "Ask [Store Name]"), pick bot and user background/text colors and a container background, add an optional shadow or border, and add a logo or avatar as the profile image with its own size and visibility. A few preset style templates are available too, though some are gated to paid plans. Full reference: Chat appearance.
Picking a support channel
In Settings → Essentials, choose how the AI hands off a customer it can't fully help: Email (asks for their address, sends a summary to your inbox), Slack (same flow, posted to a webhook with an optional custom template), or WhatsApp (a pre-filled click-to-chat button, no email required).
Launch message and bubble behavior
Also in Settings, under Essentials and Bubble: a Global Custom Launch Message replaces the AI-generated opening across all pages, or per page via the theme editor. Bubble position, icon, and size control where and how the bubble appears. A proactive message shows briefly near the bubble after a configurable delay, written per store language. And an optional AI notification bar surfaces the latest AI message when the chat itself isn't visible.
Store language
Set your store language in Settings so the AI defaults to responding in the right one. The widget currently ships translated UI strings for English, German, and Dutch — other languages still get an AI that detects and responds in the customer's own language, just without translated buttons and labels.
Making sure it actually works
Check the visual match on the Appearance page, send and receive a test message and confirm the support handoff works, and check that it holds up on mobile. If the chat isn't visible, confirm the ShopGuide Chat section is added and saved in the theme editor, and that "Display Bubble" is on in Settings → Bubble. If colors look wrong, double-check the Appearance page values — remember, a per-page override in the theme editor beats the global setting. If the support handoff doesn't fire, confirm a support email or Slack webhook is actually configured for whichever channel you picked, or that the WhatsApp number is valid.