How to train your chatbot on your product catalog
Your WooShop chatbot works best when it understands exactly what you sell. By connecting it directly to your product catalog, the bot can answer specific questions about pricing, stock levels, and features. This helps customers make decisions faster and reduces the number of support emails you have to answer manually.
Steps to sync your catalog
- Open your Chatbot Settings: From your WooShop dashboard, go to the Chatbot menu and select Data Sources.
- Select WooCommerce Sync: Look for the option labeled Import Products. This tells the bot to look at your existing WooCommerce items rather than just generic website text.
- Choose your categories: You can sync your entire store or just specific categories. For example, if you run a restaurant, you might only want to sync your "Lunch Menu" category.
- Start the training: Click the Train Bot or Sync Now button. The system will read your product titles, descriptions, prices, and attributes (like size or color).
- Test the results: Once the progress bar finishes, go to the Preview tab. Ask a specific question like, "What is your cheapest coffee bean?" or "Do you have any waterproof hiking boots?" to see how it responds.
Practical scenarios
- Stock checks: A customer asks, "Is the blue velvet sofa in stock?" The bot checks your real-time inventory and confirms availability.
- Price comparisons: A visitor asks, "What’s the difference between the Basic and Pro kits?" The bot pulls details from both product descriptions to explain the value.
- Gift finding: A user says, "I need a gift under $30." The bot scans your prices and suggests three matching items with links to buy them.
Troubleshooting common issues
- Wrong prices: If you recently changed a price in WooCommerce and the bot is still showing the old one, you need to trigger a manual sync. The bot does not always update instantly when you hit "Update" on a product page.
- "I don’t know" answers: This usually happens if your product descriptions are too short. If the bot can’t find the answer in your WordPress product data, it won’t guess. Try adding more detail to your "Short Description" field in WooCommerce.
- Missing products: Ensure your products are set to Published and Catalog visibility: Visible. The bot will generally ignore drafts and hidden items to avoid showing customers products they can’t actually buy.
Quick Recap
Training your bot is a "set it and mostly forget it" task. As long as your WooCommerce product descriptions are accurate and you sync your data after making major inventory changes, your bot will stay helpful and informed.
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