# AI Chatbot for WooCommerce: Answer From Your Own Catalog

> How to add an AI chatbot to a WooCommerce store without another heavy plugin: getting a product feed out of WordPress, the five setup steps, and what the assistant answers.

Published: 2026-09-11 | Author: Vendigit
Canonical: https://vendigit.com/journal/ai-chatbot-for-woocommerce

WooCommerce gives you full control of your store, and that includes the support chat. You can install almost any plugin, but most chat plugins either wait for a human to answer or run a scripted menu of buttons. An AI chatbot for WooCommerce that actually knows your catalog needs one thing from your store: a product feed it can read. Vendigit works exactly that way. It reads your feed and your policy pages, answers customers on your site and in Telegram, and hands the rest to you.

This guide covers how to get a feed out of WooCommerce, where the widget snippet goes in WordPress, the five setup steps, and what the assistant does and doesn't do.

## Why a feed-based AI chatbot for WooCommerce makes sense

WooCommerce stores tend to collect plugins. Each one adds settings, updates and occasionally a conflict. A chatbot that runs inside WordPress also runs on your hosting, and a busy chat can slow a cheap server down.

Vendigit sits outside WordPress. Your site loads one small script for the widget; everything else (search, answers, handover) runs on Vendigit's side. There's no Vendigit plugin to update, and nothing touches your database. The connection is the same feed you may already publish for Google Merchant Center, Rozetka or Prom.

The other reason is accuracy. A general AI chatbot trained on "your website" can paraphrase a price it once saw. Vendigit's assistant picks a product by id, and Vendigit fills in the name, price and link on the product card straight from your feed. If the feed says $49, the card shows $49. The assistant is instructed not to state a price or stock level it didn't find.

## How to get a product feed out of WooCommerce

WooCommerce has no built-in public product feed, so you have two practical routes.

### Option 1: a feed plugin that publishes an XML file on your domain

Many WooCommerce stores already run a feed plugin for Google Shopping, Facebook, Rozetka or Prom. If you have one, you probably already have a feed URL. If not, the [WordPress plugin directory](https://wordpress.org/plugins/search/product+feed/) lists many options, for example [Product XML Feeds for WooCommerce](https://wordpress.org/plugins/product-xml-feeds-for-woocommerce/). We don't recommend a specific plugin; pick one that:

- **publishes the file at a URL on your own domain.** Vendigit accepts a feed URL only from your shop's domain or its subdomains. A feed hosted on the plugin vendor's servers won't pass.
- **includes price, availability, category, brand, images, product link and attributes.** The more the feed carries, the better the assistant answers "do you have it in blue, size M?".
- **regenerates on a schedule.** Many plugins rebuild through WP-Cron, which only runs when someone visits the site. On a quiet store, a real server cron job keeps the feed fresh.

Vendigit accepts Google Merchant XML (with `g:` fields), YML with `<offer>` and `param` tags, generic XML, RSS and Atom, so most plugin output will work. Once the URL is in Vendigit, it re-syncs every 6 hours.

### Option 2: the built-in CSV export

WooCommerce can export products to CSV. According to the [WooCommerce documentation](https://woocommerce.com/document/product-csv-importer-exporter/):

1. Go to **Products → All Products**.
2. Click **Export** at the top of the page.
3. Choose columns, product types and categories, or keep the defaults to export everything.
4. Click **Generate CSV**. Your browser downloads the file.

Upload that CSV to Vendigit (up to 20 MB). Vendigit maps the columns automatically, by AI or by known column names. The catch: a one-off file is not re-synced, so you'd upload a new one every time prices or stock change. That's fine to try Vendigit out, but for a live store use Option 1.

New to feeds? Read [what a YML product feed is](/journal/what-is-yml-product-feed) and the list of [common product feed errors](/journal/product-feed-errors).

## The five setup steps

### 1. Add your shop

Enter your store's name and URL.

### 2. Verify your domain

Vendigit gives you a TXT record (`vendigit-verify=…`). Add it in the DNS settings at your registrar or DNS host (your hosting panel, Cloudflare, and so on) and press **Verify**. Vendigit checks several times over about a quarter of an hour. DNS can take up to an hour. Leave the record in place.

After verification, Vendigit reads up to 20 policy pages from your site (shipping, payment, returns, warranty, contacts, FAQ, terms) and re-reads them every week. If your shipping page says "free shipping over $75", that's what the assistant will tell customers. You can also add or upload documents (PDF, DOCX, TXT, MD) in the Knowledge section.

### 3. Add the widget, Telegram, or both

**Widget.** In **Assistant → Widget**, set the position, accent colour, welcome message and UTM tags, then copy the snippet. It goes right before `</body>` on every page. In WordPress that usually means one of:

- a "header and footer code" plugin, pasting the snippet into the footer field;
- your child theme's `footer.php`, just above `wp_footer()` or `</body>`;
- a site-wide footer code field, if your theme or page builder has one.

The widget runs in its own isolated container (a shadow root), so your theme's CSS can't break it and it can't break your theme. It only works on your domain and its `www.` version.

**Telegram** is available from the Growth plan. Create the channel in **Assistant → Telegram**, open the `t.me` link once to activate it, then share it with customers. Vendigit runs the bot; you don't need a BotFather token. See our [Telegram bot for an online store](/journal/telegram-bot-for-online-store) guide.

### 4. Add your product feed

Paste the feed URL or upload the file. Watch the first sync, then check the field mapping screen: name, price, old price, availability, category, brand, link and images should all be matched. Anything unmapped becomes a product attribute the assistant can still use.

If a scheduled sync would suddenly cut a catalog of 100+ products by more than half (a classic sign of a broken export), Vendigit keeps your existing catalog and reports the failure instead.

### 5. Test in the simulator, then go live

Open **Assistant → Simulator** and ask real questions: "Do you have this in XL?", "Anything similar under $40?", "How long is shipping to Lviv?". The simulator runs the production assistant on your real data and doesn't count toward your plan. Then press **Go live**.

## What the AI chatbot answers, and what goes to you

| The assistant handles | It hands over to your team |
|---|---|
| Price and stock, from the feed | Requests to speak to a person |
| Finding products by description or need | Complaints, refund and warranty disputes |
| Alternatives, cheaper options, accessories | Wholesale, bulk or custom pricing |
| Comparisons of products already mentioned | Damaged or wrong deliveries |
| Brands and categories you carry | Questions about an order already placed |
| Shipping, payment, returns, from your pages | |

It replies in English, Ukrainian or Russian, in the customer's language.

On handover, the customer is told a manager will reply in the same chat. The team members you've chosen get an email, and the dialog appears under "Needs a manager". You can reply, or take over completely: the assistant goes silent until you return the dialog, then continues knowing what you said. More in [when an AI should hand over to a manager](/journal/when-ai-should-hand-over-to-manager).

What it doesn't do: it doesn't create WooCommerce orders, look up order status or take payments, and it never asks customers for personal data. Card and passport numbers a customer types are masked on arrival; phones and emails are hidden from the AI.

## Choosing a plan

| Plan | Price | Shops | Dialogs / month | Channels |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | $20 / month | 1 | 300 | Website widget |
| Growth | $65 / month | 3 | 2,000 | Widget and Telegram |
| Business | $99 / month | Unlimited | 4,000 | Widget and Telegram |

A dialog is one customer conversation, counted once per 8 customer messages; your own simulator tests don't count. Starter includes a 14-day free trial. Details on the [pricing section](/pricing).

## FAQ

### Is there a Vendigit WordPress plugin?

No. Vendigit connects through your product feed and a script snippet. There's nothing to install or update inside WordPress.

### Will the widget slow down my WooCommerce site?

The widget is a single script loaded on the page; search and answers run on Vendigit's servers, not on your hosting.

### Can I use the feed I already send to Google Merchant Center?

Usually yes, if the feed URL is on your own domain. Vendigit reads Google Merchant XML, including `g:` fields.

### How often does it see new prices?

A feed URL is re-synced every 6 hours. You can press **Sync** in the dashboard after a big update.

### Does it work with variable products?

It works with whatever your feed exports. If your plugin exports each variation as its own item with size or colour attributes, the assistant can answer about each one.

Your WooCommerce store already has the answers in its catalog. [Start the 14-day free trial](https://app.vendigit.com/register). No card required.