How to use the Shopify API to fetch order details for your order tracking chatbot

If you run an ecommerce store, you’re probably all too familiar with one question: "Where is my order?". Also known as WISMO, it's the most common ticket clogging up your support queue. It’s a repetitive task for your team and a source of frustration for customers who just want a quick update.

In today's world, giving customers a way to track their orders 24/7 isn't just a bonus, it’s what people expect. The good news? Shopify gives you all the tools you need to automate this process from start to finish.

This guide will walk you through exactly how to use the Shopify API to pull order details, compare the different ways to build an order tracking chatbot, and explain why a single, integrated AI platform is usually the smartest choice for growing businesses.

The Shopify Admin API

Before we get into the how-to, let's quickly touch on the "what." The Shopify Admin API is basically a secure backstage pass to your store's data. It lets other applications, like a chatbot, read and write information about your products, customers, and, most importantly for us, your orders.

When a customer asks about their order status, your chatbot needs a way to look that specific order up in your Shopify admin. The API is the bridge that makes this communication possible. By sending a request with something unique like an order number, the chatbot can get all the relevant details back from Shopify, like the fulfillment status, tracking number, and shipping carrier. This is the core piece of the puzzle for any automated order tracking on Shopify.

Can Shopify provide API to fetch order detail using order number for order tracking chatbot?

Yep, you bet it can. Shopify's Admin API is built for exactly this kind of thing. The trick is to use the correct API endpoint. As you’ll find mentioned in Shopify's own community forums, you can grab order data by making a "GET" request to an endpoint like /admin/api/2024-10/orders.json?name=#1001, where #1001 is the order number you're looking for.

But just knowing the API exists is only the beginning. You still need a system that can actually make that call and then translate the technical response into a friendly, helpful message for your customer. You’ve got a few different paths you can take here, each with its own pros and cons.

The manual approach: Custom integration

This is the roll-up-your-sleeves, do-it-yourself method. It means writing your own code to connect a chatbot directly to the Shopify API.

• How it works: Your developers would need to build a service that waits for order status questions from your chatbot. When a question comes in, this service would securely connect to Shopify, call the right API endpoint, dig through the code-heavy response to find the tracking info, and then format it into a plain-English message to send back to the customer.

• The catch:

  • It takes a lot of developer time: This isn't a quick weekend project. It requires someone who really knows their way around backend development and APIs, plus ongoing work to keep it running.

  • It’s slow to launch: Building, testing, and deploying a custom integration from scratch can easily take weeks, if not months.

  • It can be fragile: Shopify updates its API, new shipping scenarios pop up, and things can break. You have to account for every little exception, like what to do if a tracking number isn't available yet or if an order is split into multiple shipments.

The app approach: Using third-party tools

Another common route is to use dedicated Shopify apps or chatbot platforms that come with order tracking features baked in. These tools manage the API connection for you, but they often have their own limitations.

• How it works: You install a chatbot app from the Shopify App Store and go through its setup process. Platforms like ChatBot.com or Kore.ai offer templates for this, but you'll still need to map out attributes and connect different conversational blocks to get it working.

• The downsides:

  • You're boxed in: You’re often stuck with the app's pre-made conversational flow. Want to change the bot's tone, ask different follow-up questions, or handle more complex situations? You might find it difficult or even impossible.

  • They're often one-trick ponies: Many of these tools only track orders. They can't answer product questions, start a return, or hand off a conversation to a live agent. This means you might end up juggling multiple tools to cover all your support needs.

  • The setup can be surprisingly technical: They might be advertised as "no-code," but you often need a decent understanding of how APIs and attributes work to get them running smoothly. It's common to see users in forums stuck on configuration errors.

The integrated AI platform approach

This is the modern way to handle it. You use a single, unified AI platform that connects to all of your tools at once: Shopify, your helpdesk, your knowledge base, you name it.

• How it works: Instead of building a custom solution or fighting with a clunky app, you just connect your Shopify account with a click. An AI platform like eesel AI can then be set up with custom actions, which allows it to securely call the Shopify API in real time to fetch order details whenever a customer asks.

An integrated AI platform allows for the creation of custom actions to fetch Shopify order details in just a few clicks.

• The advantages:

  • Get started in minutes, not months: eesel AI is completely self-serve. You can connect Shopify and have an order tracking action working without writing code or sitting through a long sales demo.

  • Complete control over the experience: You get to define the AI's exact persona, its tone of voice, and the specific steps it follows. You’re not stuck with a generic, robotic template.

  • A single source of truth: The AI can do more than just track orders. It can answer a question about an order's status, then seamlessly pivot to explaining your return policy by pulling information from your help center.

A comparison of the different approaches

So, what does this all look like when you put them side-by-side? Let's break it down.

Feature	Custom Build (DIY)	Standalone Apps	Integrated AI Platform (eesel AI)
Setup Time	Weeks to Months	Hours to Days	Minutes
Technical Skill	High (Requires developers)	Medium (Configuration can be tricky)	Low (Truly self-serve and no-code)
Customization	High (but costly)	Low to Medium	High (Full control over prompts & actions)
Scope	Single-purpose	Usually single-purpose	Holistic (Order status, FAQs, triage, etc.)
Maintenance	High (Ongoing developer cost)	Low	Low (Managed by the platform)
Testing	Difficult to test at scale	Limited or no testing	Powerful simulation mode over past tickets

Why an integrated AI agent is the smarter approach

Having a simple chatbot that can fetch an order status is a great first step. But the real magic happens when you weave that capability into your entire customer support system. This is where a platform like eesel AI really makes a difference. It’s not about just building another chatbot; it’s about deploying an AI agent that works right inside the tools your team already uses.

Go beyond simple lookups

Answering "Where is my order?" is a simple lookup. But what happens when a customer asks, "Can you change the shipping address on my order?" or "Why was my delivery marked as 'failed'?" These questions require action, not just information.

With eesel AI's workflow engine, you can create custom API actions that let the AI do more than just read data from Shopify. You could allow it to write data or trigger workflows in other systems. You have full control to define what the AI can and can't do, so you can start with simple, safe automations and gradually give it more responsibility as you get more comfortable.

Test with confidence

How do you know if your new automation will actually work before you turn it on for live customers? With most tools, you just have to cross your fingers and hope for the best.

The simulation mode in eesel AI tests how the AI would have responded to past tickets, validating its effectiveness before launch.

eesel AI’s powerful simulation mode is a different story. You can test your entire setup on thousands of your past support tickets. It shows you exactly how the AI would have responded to real customer questions, what actions it would have taken, and gives you a clear forecast of your potential automation rate. This lets you fine-tune everything in a risk-free environment until it's perfect, so you can launch with confidence.

Unify knowledge sources for better answers

A customer's problem rarely fits into a neat little box, so your AI shouldn't either. The same AI that checks an order in Shopify should also be able to pull your return policy from your help center, find details about shipping exceptions from your internal Confluence pages, and learn your brand’s unique voice from past support tickets in Zendesk or Gorgias.

An integrated AI platform unifies knowledge from multiple sources like Shopify, helpdesks, and internal wikis to provide comprehensive answers.

eesel AI connects to all your company knowledge instantly. This creates a single, intelligent agent that can handle a huge range of customer issues, not just the easy ones. This means fewer escalations for your team, freeing them up for the most complex and important conversations.

Automate WISMO with Shopify's API

Look, the "Where is my order?" question isn't going away. Customers want instant answers, and your support team has better things to do than copy and paste tracking numbers all day. While Shopify provides the API you need to fetch order details, building it yourself is expensive and time-consuming, while standalone apps are often too rigid.

An integrated AI platform gives you the power of a custom solution with the simplicity of a no-code tool. By deploying an AI agent that can securely access your Shopify data, you can provide instant, 24/7 order status updates, slash your support volume, and give your customers a much better experience. The best part is you can start small, test everything thoroughly, and scale up your automation when you're ready.

Ready to see how fast you can put your Shopify order tracking on autopilot? With a platform built for a self-serve setup and powerful, customizable actions, you can have a solution running in minutes.

Start your free trial with eesel AI today and automate your first WISMO ticket before you finish your coffee.