AI chat outside business hours

Most conversations a shop has happen when nobody is there. That is the opportunity and the trap.

Evening and night traffic is where an assistant earns its cost: those visitors were going to leave without an answer. But it is also when a handoff cannot be honoured, and promising one is worse than admitting the shop is closed.

Say when, not whether

"Someone will reply when we open at 9" is a good answer. "Let me get someone for you" at 2am is a broken promise that arrives seven hours later.

Keep selling anyway

Closed does not mean the catalog is closed. Sizing, stock, shipping cost and the cart all work at 2am. The overnight conversation should still end in an order where it can.

Catch what you cannot answer

For the rest, take a name and an address so the morning starts with a list rather than a silence.

Set real hours, in your own timezone

This sounds obvious and is the most commonly skipped step. An assistant that does not know when you are open cannot know when to stop promising people. Half-days, weekends and holidays all matter — a Friday afternoon in Israel is not a Friday afternoon in Germany.

Say the same thing on every channel

If the website widget says "back at 9" and WhatsApp says "someone will be with you shortly", one of them is lying. The away message belongs in one place and should reach every surface the assistant answers on.

The morning list is the point

The measure of overnight chat is not how many conversations it had — it is what is waiting for you at 9am. A list of named people with specific questions is worth the subscription on its own.