Before you go live: a checklist

Most checks are on screens for owners and admins. Check 8 is for every teammate, agents included. Work through them once setup is at the Test step, or right after you go live: none of them needs the chat to be off.

Step 1: Ivy knows your policies#

Open Knowledge. The list should show your Shopify policies (refund, shipping and the others you filled in), your published pages and Shipping zones and rates. If a fact shoppers ask about isn't anywhere, like delivery times, care instructions or sizing, add a page or a file. See what Ivy knows.

Step 2: Test the questions shoppers ask most#

Open Ivy,Playground and press Run all. It asks your suggested questions, the top questions Ivy couldn't answer yet, and a set of rule tests such as Can I talk to a real person? and Do you have a discount code?. Fix a wrong or missing answer with Teach Ivy or Correct this answer. Playground tests never count as conversations and never reach shoppers. One exception: when shoppers are already waiting on the same question, the teach dialog's Also send it to… box is ticked, and saving sends them your answer. See test Ivy in the Playground.

Step 3: Name, tone and languages#

In Ivy,Behavior, card Identity: her name, her tone (Friendly by default), her reply length (Balanced by default) and the languages she replies in (any language by default). See Ivy's behavior.

Step 4: Discounts and guardrails#

Still in Ivy,Behavior: Discounts is set to never offer a code by default. Guardrails keeps Ivy from comparing you with competitors and from health or skin claims unless you allow them, and lists topics she won't discuss.

Step 5: Handoff rules and order actions#

In Ivy,Behavior, Handoff rules has four rules on by default, each set to hand off to your team: the shopper asks for a person, sounds upset, wants a wholesale order, or Ivy can't help. Refund requests go to your team too. Orders has every action off: refunds, address changes, replacements and cancellations all go to your team. Change these only once you've watched Ivy for a while. See handoff rules and order actions.

Step 6: Business hours#

Open Settings,Business hours. Until you save them, your team counts as available at any time, so Ivy may promise a quick reply at 3 in the morning. Set your Weekly hours, any Date-specific hours for holidays, and what Ivy does outside them under Outside business hours, Ivy will: Keep answering (she takes the shopper's email when a person is needed) or Hand off anyway. See hours, holidays and availability.

Step 7: Who gets handoffs, and how fast#

Open Settings,Team, card Handoffs:

• When Ivy hands off: Leave it for anyone to take (the default: everyone gets the alert, the first to reply takes it) or Assign to whoever is available (in turn, skipping anyone away).
• Reply target: 5, 10, 15 or 30 minutes, or 1 hour; 10 minutes by default. Ivy promises it to shoppers when she hands off, and a shopper waiting longer shows as late.

Invite the teammates who will answer from the same page. Your plan sets how many seats you have: 2 on Starter, 5 on Growth, Unlimited on Scale, counting you and pending invites. See invite your team.

Step 8: Your notifications and availability#

Each teammate does this for themselves:

• In Settings,Notifications, card Tell me when, New handoff is on for email, iOS push and desktop by default. Desktop alerts need Allow once in each browser. iOS push starts once you log in to the iPhone app, which you download from the App Store.
• In Handoff alerts, set Alert me about to Every handoff (the default) or Mine and unassigned.
• In the account menu at the bottom of the sidebar, make sure you're Available. While you're Away, Assign to whoever is available skips you, and with Pause while I'm away on (the default) your iOS push and desktop alerts pause; email still arrives.

See choose your notifications.

Step 9: The chat looks like your store#

In Ivy,Widget: the accent color, the background, the launcher and its label, the greeting, up to three suggested questions, and whether the chat shows on phones. The preview shows each change before you save. See customize the chat.

Step 10: The chat is on and works#

Once you've pressed Go live, three signs say the chat is on:

1. The Ivy row of the sidebar has a green dot.
2. Ivy's pages say Live on your domain at the top.
3. Ivy,Widget, card Installation, says Enabled with Seen on your store and the time.

Then try it as a shopper: open your store (View storefront on Ivy's pages, or Ask Ivy a question on your store on Home), ask Ivy a question, and press Talk to the team once. During your business hours, with you set to Available, the conversation lands in Inbox,Needs you and reaches you on the channels you chose. A test on your live store counts as a conversation, like any shopper's. If the chat doesn't show, see put the chat on your store.

Your first days live#

• Each morning, open Home: Needs you lists who is waiting, and Ivy couldn't answer lists what she missed.
• Open Knowledge,Unanswered and answer the questions shoppers asked that Ivy couldn't. Once the same question has been asked 3 times, a notification appears in the bell. See unanswered questions.
• After a week, open Analytics to see the topics, the handoffs and their reasons, and the sales that followed a conversation. See the Analytics reports.