Use case
Order status in the chat“Where is my order?” without the queue.
askVela answers “Where is my order?” right away in the chat: status, ship date and tracking link straight from your store, around the clock and in your customers' language. Your team only handles the cases that really need them.
Why order questions belong in the chat
Questions about an order are part of every online store's daily routine: has it shipped, when will it arrive, where's the tracking link? The answer is almost always already in the store, and yet every one of these questions costs your team time.
askVela looks it up for your customers. When the AI recognizes an order question, it checks the status through your store connection and answers in seconds, in the customer's language. If something needs changing, it hands over to your team with the history and a note.
What it looks like · Example with made-up data
Hi, where's my order #1048?
Happy to check. Which email address did you order with?
anna@example.com
Thanks. Your order #1048 shipped on Tuesday with DHL. You can track it here: dhl.de/…From the store's order data
How the lookup works
The AI recognizes the order question
When a customer asks about delivery, shipping or an order number, the AI calls the order lookup. If no lookup is set up, it says so openly and only collects the order number and email for the handover to your team.
A lookup for exactly one email address
askVela always asks your store for the orders of a single email address. With WooCommerce, JTL and custom endpoints with a secret, the request is signed (HMAC-SHA256), and your store checks the signature before answering. On Shopify it runs through the Shopify API with the app's permissions.
A second factor if you want it
With the setting “Require order number + e-mail”, the AI only answers once both match. For logged-in customers with a signed identity, the email address is enough. We recommend turning the setting on.
Handover instead of guessing
If the lookup finds no matching order or the customer wants to change something, the AI hands over to your team. Cancellations and address changes only run through custom actions that you connect to your own system.
What works on each store system
| Store system | Connection | What the AI sees |
|---|---|---|
| Shopify | Shopify app | The last ten orders with payment and fulfillment status, ship date, carrier, tracking number and link, and line items |
| WooCommerce | WordPress plugin, signed endpoint | Up to 20 orders with status and total; tracking numbers when Shipment Tracking, Advanced Shipment Tracking or Germanized provide them |
| JTL-Shop | JTL plugin to download | Order number, status, total and date |
| Shopware | Shopware app | Logged-in customers with name, email and customer number; no order data out of the box, connectable through your own endpoint |
| Any other system | Your own endpoint with a secret | Whatever your endpoint returns, such as status, payment, shipping, tracking link and line items |
askVela doesn't query the carrier directly; it uses what your store has saved.
Setup in three steps
01
Connect your store
Install the Shopify app, connect the WordPress plugin or upload the JTL plugin. For other systems you build a small endpoint that returns the orders for an email address as JSON.
02
Enter the lookup
With Shopify and the WordPress plugin this happens when you connect. Otherwise enter the lookup URL and the secret under Settings → Installation & tech → Advanced integrations and check it with “Test connection”.
03
Secure it and try it
Turn on “Require order number + e-mail” and ask a test question about one of your own orders in the store chat.
Good to know
- askVela uses the shipping data your store has saved and shows the matching tracking link.
- The AI handles cancellations and address changes through custom actions you connect to your system via webhook.
- The Shopware app brings the chat and customer context but no order lookup out of the box; if you need it, connect it through your own endpoint.
Frequently asked questions
01What data does the chatbot share with the customer?
Only what your connection returns and what fits the question, such as status, ship date, carrier and tracking link. The lookup always covers exactly one email address; if you like, the AI also asks for the order number.
02How do I build my own endpoint?
askVela calls your URL via GET with ?email=…, and with &order=… when the order number is known. The X-Vela-Tenant header names your workspace; if a secret is set, X-Vela-Signature contains an HMAC-SHA256 signature of the email address. Your endpoint answers within eight seconds with JSON: orders as a list with fields such as id, status, total, date, shippingStatus, carrier, trackingNumber and trackingUrl.
03Does an order lookup count as an AI answer?
Every answer the AI sends to the customer counts as one AI answer, including answers that contain an order status. The lookup in your store doesn't count on top.
04What does order lookup cost?
It's included in every plan. askVela costs €39, €99, or €249 per month with 1,000, 4,000, or 12,000 AI answers per month; there's no surcharge for the order lookup.
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