ShopMate
Autonomous AI E-Commerce Operations Employee (Digital FTE) for Shopify Stores
Free & Open Architecture Alternative To:
💰 Value & Cost Savings Comparison
Traditional Industry Solution
Gorgias / Intercom Shopify Helpdesk
$300 - $900 / month
This Project (By Owais Abdullah)
Free for Personal Use (Self-Hosted Architecture)
Eliminate recurring customer support per-ticket fees
🎯 Pain Points Solved
Why this project was built and the operational friction it eliminates:
The Problem
Up to 60% of e-commerce customer inquiries are repetitive 'Where is my order?' (WISMO) questions that burn support staff hours.
The Solution
ShopMate securely connects to the Shopify Admin API to fetch live fulfillment and tracking links in seconds, resolving WISMO tickets automatically.
The Problem
Online shoppers abandon carts when their specific sizing, material, or compatibility questions go unanswered during off-hours.
The Solution
Equipped with comprehensive store catalog embeddings to provide instant, precise product recommendations and sizing advice.
The Problem
Hiring offshore 24/7 support teams is costly and often leads to inconsistent responses and delayed replies.
The Solution
Operates 24 hours a day with sub-second response times, consistent brand tone, and automated escalation to human managers when necessary.
⚡ Core Capabilities & Architecture
Built with Python and FastAPI. Communicates with Shopify stores via official REST and GraphQL APIs. When a customer sends a message through the store chat widget, ShopMate's intent classifier detects whether the query requires order tracking, product lookup, or general FAQs. Live database queries retrieve order states, and streaming responses are delivered to the storefront.
- ✔Live Shopify Order Tracking: Resolves shipping status and tracking numbers directly via customer order number or email
- ✔Product Catalog RAG: Answers detailed questions regarding specifications, inventory levels, and variants
- ✔Abandoned Cart Recovery: Engages indecisive shoppers with helpful answers and personalized discount recommendations
- ✔Human Escalation: Seamlessly tags support tickets for human review when sentiment analysis detects customer frustration
- ✔Secure Webhook Architecture: Listens to fulfillment and checkout events in real time
🛠️ How to Setup & Run Locally
Quick-start guide to clone, configure, and execute this project in your own environment:
Prerequisites
- Python 3.12+
- Shopify Partner account or Custom App Access Token
- PostgreSQL database
Key Environment Variables
| Variable | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
| SHOPIFY_SHOP_NAME | Your Shopify store subdomain | my-store.myshopify.com |
| SHOPIFY_ACCESS_TOKEN | Custom app access token with read_orders and read_products scope | shpat_... |
| OPENAI_API_KEY | LLM key for conversational reasoning | sk-proj-... |
Execution Steps
1.Clone repository
git clone https://github.com/MrOwaisAbdullah/Shopmate-fte.git
cd Shopmate-fte2.Install dependencies
uv sync3.Configure environment
cp .env.example .env4.Run application server
uv run uvicorn main:app --reload --port 8000🗺️ Project Roadmap & Planned Improvements
Current release progress and planned future enhancements:
WhatsApp Direct Order Lookup
Allow customers to text order tracking requests directly via WhatsApp Business API.
Multi-Store Centralized Helpdesk
Unified admin portal managing customer conversations across multiple Shopify brands.
License, Fair Use & Attribution Terms
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 (CC BY-NC 4.0)
Free for personal, learning, and non-commercial testing with mandatory credit to Owais Abdullah. Commercial store deployment requires licensing.