By the IGNIPOST Chat team
Saturday, 22:15. A customer in Lyon writes to a caftan shop: "Bonsoir, vous livrez en Belgique ?" The owner is at a family wedding. On Monday morning the customer has already bought from a shop that answered in two minutes. Nobody was rude. Nobody was there.
WhatsApp auto reply messages fix this. A good auto reply answers at once, tells the customer what happens next, and often answers the question outright. Below are examples you can copy in French, English, Arabic and Darija, the keyword setup we use, and the mistakes that make auto replies feel cold.
Two kinds of WhatsApp auto reply
The free WhatsApp Business app has two automatic messages. A greeting message goes to people who write for the first time, or after 14 days without contact. An away message goes out when someone writes outside the hours you set. The app also has quick replies, saved answers you insert yourself with a shortcut. For a one-person shop, this is a fine start.
The limit is that these messages do not read what the customer wrote. The greeting says hello whether the person asked about price, delivery or a refund. Keyword auto replies, run from an automation tool or the official API, read the message and answer the actual question. Most growing shops end up using both.
When an auto reply helps
| Situation | What the reply should do |
|---|---|
| First message from a new contact | Greet, answer if possible, ask one question |
| Outside opening hours | Say when you will reply, give the most useful answer now |
| Price, delivery or payment question | Answer it directly, with numbers |
| Order status request | Ask for the order number or phone number |
| Holidays and Ramadan hours | Give the new hours and any delivery delay |
| Opt-out request | Confirm it, and stop all campaigns |
Auto reply examples you can copy
Change the shop name, prices and cities. Keep the structure: answer first, next step second, one question last.
Greeting message
Bonjour et bienvenue chez Dar Caftan 🌙 Je peux vous aider pour les prix, la livraison ou une commande. Que cherchez-vous aujourd'hui ?
Hi, thanks for messaging Atlas Home! Tell us what you are looking for and we will send photos and prices.
Away message
Merci pour votre message. Nous répondons dès 9h. En attendant : livraison en 24 à 48h à Casablanca et Rabat, 2 à 4 jours ailleurs, paiement à la livraison.
Salam, chokran 3la message dyalk. Ghadi njawbouk men 9 dsba7. Kayn tawsil l ga3 lmdon w lkhlas 3nd tawsil.
Price question
Le coffret soin est à 249 DH au lieu de 299 DH cette semaine. Livraison offerte dès 300 DH. Je vous le réserve ?
Delivery question
التوصيل متوفر لجميع المدن المغربية خلال 2 إلى 4 أيام، والدفع عند الاستلام. ما هي مدينتك؟
Order status
Pour suivre votre commande, envoyez votre numéro de commande (exemple : 10482) ou le téléphone utilisé. Un membre de l'équipe vous répond sous 2 heures.
Cash on delivery confirmation
Merci Karim ! Votre commande de 2 t-shirts (198 DH) est confirmée. Le livreur vous appellera avant de passer.
Confirmation is a whole topic for COD shops. Our guide to WhatsApp order confirmation for cash on delivery covers timing and what to do with a "no".
Ramadan hours
Ramadan Mubarak 🌙 Pendant le Ramadan, nous répondons de 10h à 16h et de 21h à minuit. Les commandes passées après 16h partent le lendemain.
Opt-out confirmation
C'est noté, vous ne recevrez plus nos offres. Vous pouvez toujours nous écrire pour une commande.
How to set up keyword auto replies
- List the top questions from your last 100 to 200 chats.
- For each one, write the words people use, in every language and spelling.
- Pick the match type: exact for menu choices, "contains a keyword" for one strong word, "contains any keyword" for a list of variants.
- Write the reply: under 60 words, the answer first, one question at the end.
- Write a fallback that offers choices and a way to reach a person.
- Test every rule from a second phone, typos included.
A starter set for a Moroccan shop that sells to France and Belgium too:
| Rule | Match type | Keywords |
|---|---|---|
| Menu | Exact | menu, 0 |
| Price | Contains any | prix, combien, chhal, ch7al, taman, سعر, بشحال, price |
| Delivery | Contains any | livraison, livrer, tawsil, التوصيل, delivery, shipping |
| Payment | Contains any | paiement, cash, khlas, الدفع, payment |
| Talk to a person | Contains any | conseiller, humain, agent, bghit nhder, help |
Keep opt-out words such as STOP, "arrêter" and "وقف" in your tool's opt-out list rather than in a normal rule, so they also remove the person from campaigns. For menus, AI answers and human handoff, read how to build a WhatsApp chatbot for your business.
Let AI answer what keywords miss, carefully
Good keyword rules usually cover most first messages. The rest are odd questions: "Le caftan bleu existe en 52 ?" or "Can I pick up in Marrakech?". An AI reply can handle these if you limit it:
- It answers only from an instruction and knowledge you wrote and approved.
- It sends a fixed reply when the AI is unavailable, such as "Merci, un conseiller vous répond dans la journée."
- It has a limit on replies per contact, so it cannot loop with another bot.
- It skips numbers on an exclusion list: couriers, suppliers, family, staff.
- It runs only when no keyword rule matched, so one message never gets two answers.
Mistakes that make auto replies feel robotic
- Two or three replies to one message. Greeting, keyword reply and AI all firing at once. Set one order of priority.
- Walls of text. People read the first two lines on the lock screen. Put the answer there.
- Pretending to be a person. Customers forgive a bot. They do not forgive a bot that says "c'est Sara" and then cannot understand them.
- No way out. Every auto reply chain needs a path to a human.
- Stale messages. A Ramadan away message still running a month after Eid looks careless.
Auto replies buy you time, they do not replace service. For response times, tone and team habits, see WhatsApp customer service best practices.
Auto replies and the safety of your number
Replies to inbound messages are the safest automated messages you can send, because the customer wrote first. The risk sits in outbound sending: campaigns to people who never asked. If your tool uses the WhatsApp Web protocol, it is unofficial, and WhatsApp can restrict or ban numbers that send spam or unwanted messages. No tool can promise a number will never be banned.
If you also send campaigns, send only to people who opted in, start small on new numbers, add delays and personalise. Our guide to WhatsApp bulk messaging without getting banned goes step by step. Under GDPR, UK GDPR and Morocco's law 09-08 (CNDP), keep only the contact data you need.
IGNIPOST Chat handles this on a QR-connected number: keyword chatbot rules with exact, contains and fallback matching, an AI Smart Reply that runs after them, opt-out keywords and an exclusion list. Common setup questions are answered on our FAQ page.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a greeting message and an away message?
In the WhatsApp Business app, a greeting message goes to people who write to you for the first time, or after 14 days without contact. An away message goes to anyone who writes outside the hours you set. Neither reads the content of the message. For replies that answer the actual question, such as price or delivery, you need keyword auto replies.
How long should a WhatsApp auto reply be?
Aim for under 60 words. Most customers see the first two lines in the notification, so put the answer first: the price, the delivery time or the next step. End with one easy question, such as the customer's city, so the conversation keeps moving. Longer details, like a full returns policy, belong in a follow-up message.
Can I set different auto replies for French, Arabic and Darija?
Yes. Create one keyword rule per language, or one rule whose keyword list covers every spelling, and reply in the language the customer used. Darija needs extra care because customers write it in Latin letters, with numbers like 3 and 7, or in Arabic script. Add the variants you see in your real chats and test each one before going live.
Should an auto reply say it is automatic?
Yes. It is the honest choice and customers accept it. A short note like "réponse automatique" or "our team replies from 9 am" sets expectations. Customers get annoyed when a bot pretends to be a person and then cannot understand them. Being clear about automation, and offering a quick way to reach a human, builds more trust than a fake personal tone.
Can auto replies get my number banned?
Replies to people who wrote first carry the lowest risk, but no tool can guarantee a number will never be restricted. Unofficial tools work through the WhatsApp Web protocol, and WhatsApp acts on spam and unwanted messages. Avoid loops and duplicate replies, set an exclusion list, honour opt-out requests at once, and keep any campaigns to people who opted in.
More in WhatsApp Automation, or browse all guides.
