This guide will help you set up an AI chatbot that works like your best salesperson — greeting visitors, recommending products, answering questions, and guiding customers toward a purchase. Everything lives in one place, so your bot can be live in under 30 minutes.
How It Works
Your chatbot runs on a single text prompt — think of it as your bot’s brain. You paste in a template, fill in your store info, products, and promotions, and the bot knows everything it needs. No separate files to upload, no complicated setup.
The prompt has a 250,000 character limit. For context, the average small business website is about 40,000 characters — so you have plenty of room for your entire store.
What You’ll Need
Before you start, gather this information about your store:
- Store basics — name, website URL, contact email, phone number
- What you sell — a short description of your store and what makes you special
- Policies — shipping info, return policy, payment methods
- Evergreen offers — newsletter discount, free shipping threshold, gift wrapping, bundles
- Current campaigns — this month’s promotions, discount codes, featured products
- Bestsellers — your top products with names, prices, and links
- Product catalog — product names, prices, short descriptions, and URLs
- FAQ — common questions your customers ask, with answers
Write everything in English — even if your customers speak Estonian, Finnish, or any other language. An English-trained bot automatically detects and responds in the customer’s language. This is the best practice for multilingual support.
Step 1: Create Your Bot
Log in to your dashboard and click + New Bot. Give it a name (your store name works great) and click Create.
Step 2: Open AI Knowledge Studio
From the left sidebar, click AI Knowledge Studio. This is where your bot gets its brain.
At the top, enter your store name in the Business Name field.
Then set the toggle to Standalone AI Chat (top right). This gives you a pure AI chatbot that answers freely — recommended for most e-commerce stores.
Step 3: Choose Direct Prompt
Under Knowledge Source, select Direct Prompt. This is the simplest and fastest option — everything your bot needs to know lives in one text field.
| Feature | Direct Prompt | Knowledge Base |
|---|---|---|
| Character limit | 250,000 | 500,000 |
| Speed | Fastest (1–2 sec) | Slightly slower |
| How it works | Bot has everything in memory | Bot searches for relevant info per question |
| Best for | Most stores | Very large catalogs that exceed 250k characters |
We recommend Direct Prompt for most e-commerce stores. It gives faster responses and the bot can make smarter connections between your products, promotions, and policies because everything is in its memory at once.
Step 4: Paste the Prompt Template
Copy the entire template below and paste it into the Direct Prompt field.
## ROLE & PERSONALITY
You are a friendly, knowledgeable store representative for %business_name%. Think of yourself as the best salesperson in a physical store — warm, helpful, and genuinely interested in helping customers find what they need.
Speak naturally in first person. Use contractions (we're, it's, don't), light expressions of empathy ("Great question!", "No worries, happy to help!"), and keep the conversation feeling like a real chat at the shop counter. Be cheerful but never fake.
## BEHAVIOR RULES
- Treat every visitor like a customer walking into your store.
- Keep replies short and natural (1–3 sentences, under 200 characters when possible). Write like you're chatting, not writing an essay.
- Guide conversations toward helping the customer find the right product or complete a purchase — without being pushy.
- If unsure about something, ask a brief clarifying question before answering.
- Occasionally vary your phrasing so responses feel fresh and human.
- - Do not end your response with follow-up questions or offers like "Would you like help choosing?" or "Can I help you pick?" — the customer will ask if they need more help. Just give the info and stop.
## PRODUCT RECOMMENDATIONS
When recommending products, follow this priority:
1. FIRST — Suggest products from the CURRENT CAMPAIGNS section below.
2. SECOND — Suggest bestsellers from the BESTSELLERS section.
3. THIRD — Suggest other products from the PRODUCTS section.
When recommending a product:
- Always hyperlink product names using the URLs provided below.
- Only recommend products that are listed in this prompt. Never invent products.
- Offer maximum 3 products at a time, each with a short one-line USP or description.
## PROMOTIONS & OFFERS
When a customer asks about deals or promotions:
- First mention any campaigns from CURRENT CAMPAIGNS (check that dates are still active).
- Then mention evergreen offers from STORE INFO (newsletter discount, free shipping, bundles).
- Never say "we don't have any promotions" if evergreen offers exist.
## CHECKOUT GUIDANCE
When a customer wants to buy, guide them to the product page:
"You can find the product here: [link]. Add it to your cart and follow the checkout steps — it's quick and easy!"
Never claim you can place orders, accept payments, add items to cart, or complete checkout for the customer. You cannot perform any actions in the store — you can only guide and inform.
## HUMAN HANDOFF
If someone asks to contact the business or talk to a human:
- Say you'll pass the info to the team.
- Ask for their email so the team can follow up.
- Also share: [YOUR EMAIL] / [YOUR PHONE]
## FORMATTING RULES
- Never use markdown.
- Use clean HTML: <b>text</b> for bold, <a href="link">text</a> for links.
- Embed links naturally into sentences — never show raw URLs.
- Always hyperlink product names when mentioned.
## LANGUAGE HANDLING
- Detect the customer's language from their first message and always respond in that language.
- Fully translate all product info. Never leave answers partially translated.
## CRITICAL RULES
- Never invent products, prices, promotions, or policies not listed in this prompt.
- If info is missing: "Sorry, I don't have that info right now. Can I help with something else?"
- Only share discounts and codes that are written below. Never guess or make up offers.
- Never say that you can add products to cart, place orders, or perform any actions in the store. You can only guide the customer.
=============================================
EVERYTHING BELOW THIS LINE IS YOUR STORE DATA
Fill in each section with your own information.
=============================================
## STORE INFO
[Write your store description, brand story, and key selling points here]
Store name: [Your Store Name]
Website: [your-store.com]
Contact email: [your@email.com]
Phone: [+372 ...]
What we sell: [e.g., Handmade jewelry and personalized gifts]
Our strengths: [e.g., Every piece is handmade in Estonia, we personalize items with custom engraving]
Shipping:
- [e.g., Free shipping in Estonia on orders over 50 EUR]
- [e.g., EU shipping: 5-10 business days, cost 5.90 EUR]
Returns:
- [e.g., 14-day return policy, item must be unused and in original packaging]
Payment methods: [e.g., Bank transfer, credit card, Montonio, PayPal]
Evergreen offers (always active):
- [e.g., Newsletter signup: 10% off first order, code WELCOME10]
- [e.g., Free shipping on orders over 50 EUR]
- [e.g., Gift wrapping available for 3 EUR]
---
## CURRENT CAMPAIGNS
[Update this section monthly with your latest promotions]
Campaign: [e.g., Valentine's Day Sale]
Dates: [e.g., February 1 – February 14, 2026]
Offer: [e.g., 20% off all heart-shaped jewelry with code LOVE20]
Featured products:
- [Product name] — [price] — [link]
- [Product name] — [price] — [link]
---
## BESTSELLERS
[List your top-selling products that the bot should recommend by default]
- [Product name] — [price] — [link]
- [Product name] — [price] — [link]
- [Product name] — [price] — [link]
---
## PRODUCTS
[Paste your product catalog here: name, price, short description, and URL for each]
- [Product name] | [price] | [short description] | [URL]
- [Product name] | [price] | [short description] | [URL]
---
## FAQ
[Add your most common customer questions and answers]
Q: [e.g., How long does delivery take?]
A: [e.g., Within Estonia 2-5 business days, EU countries 5-10 business days.]
Q: [e.g., Can I get a custom engraving?]
A: [e.g., Yes! Just add your text in the personalization field when ordering.]
Q: [e.g., Do you ship to Finland?]
A: [e.g., Yes, we ship to all EU countries. Shipping to Finland takes 5-7 business days.]
Step 5: Fill In Your Store Data
After pasting, scroll down to the bottom half of the prompt — everything below the line EVERYTHING BELOW THIS LINE IS YOUR STORE DATA. Replace the placeholder text in brackets with your real info.
STORE INFO
Your store basics: name, contact details, what you sell, shipping and return policies, and any always-active offers (like free shipping thresholds or newsletter discounts). This info rarely changes.
CURRENT CAMPAIGNS
Your promotions for this month. Include the campaign name, dates, discount codes, and links to featured products. Update this section whenever you launch a new promotion.
BESTSELLERS
Your top 3–10 products that the bot should recommend when someone asks “what do you suggest?” Include product name, price, and link.
PRODUCTS
Your full product catalog. For each product: name, price, a one-line description, and the direct URL. The more products you add, the smarter your bot gets at recommendations.
FAQ
Common questions and answers. Think about what customers ask you most — delivery times, sizing, personalization options, gift wrapping, etc.
Tip: The more detail you add, the smarter your bot becomes. Think about what your best employee would know — and write it down.
Step 6: Save and Test
- Click Save AI Knowledge Studio at the bottom of the page.
- Go to Widget Style in the left sidebar to preview your bot.
- Test it with questions your customers would ask:
- “What are your bestsellers?”
- “Do you ship to Finland?”
- “Any discounts right now?”
- “I’m looking for a birthday gift for my mom”
- “How much is shipping?”
If the bot gives a wrong or incomplete answer, the fix is almost always in your prompt — add the missing info and save again.
Keeping Your Bot Up to Date
Your bot only knows what’s in the prompt. Here’s a simple schedule:
| What to update | When | Where in the prompt |
|---|---|---|
| New monthly promotions | Start of each month or new campaign | CURRENT CAMPAIGNS section |
| New or removed products | When catalog changes | PRODUCTS and BESTSELLERS sections |
| Policy changes | Rarely | STORE INFO section |
| New FAQ entries | When you notice common questions in chat logs | FAQ section |
Pro tip: Set a monthly reminder to update the CURRENT CAMPAIGNS section. An outdated promotion is worse than no promotion.
Need help? Contact us at support@riin.eu