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Scenario: UrbanGear sells sneakers on WhatsApp and Instagram Direct. Peak season brings 200+ messages a day about sizing, delivery, and returns. Plan: Started Starter (unlimited contacts); upgraded to Growth before their first label broadcast.

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The challenge

  • Customers message on two channels — agents missed DMs on personal phones
  • Same questions repeat: “Where is my order?”, “Can I exchange size 42?”
  • Managers can’t see backlog or who owns VIP buyers
  • Outbound shipping updates need approved templates outside the 24-hour reply window

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Week one — UrbanGear’s setup

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How UrbanGear uses Vendschat

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One inbox, two channels

All WhatsApp and Instagram DMs land in Chat (/chat). Agents filter by channel type or label instead of switching apps. Tip: Instagram card titles may show @username from connection metadata; WhatsApp shows phone number ID on the channel card — open Manage for full status.

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Labels + keyword routing

Configure keywords on each label in Settings → Workspace → Labels. When a customer sends matching text, the thread can be auto-tagged (inbound only — images without captions won’t match). Assignment: In Chat, open the recipient panel → Assigned to → pick a teammate, team (from Settings → Groups), or an AI Agent.

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AI Agent for tier-1 (nights & weekends)

Handover: In agent instructions, UrbanGear writes: “If the customer asks for a manager, lawyer, or chargeback, say a human will follow up and do not promise refunds.” The bot’s handover system also watches the bot’s own reply for escalation keywords — train instructions for customer phrases like “manager” rather than relying on a hidden keyword list alone. Day shift: Humans handle complex fits and angry threads.
Night shift: AI Agent assigned to unassigned threads answers tracking FAQs from knowledge.

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Templates for outbound updates

Approved WhatsApp templates in Templates (/template):
  • order_shipped — tracking link button
  • delivery_tomorrow — address confirm
Used when the 24-hour session window closed or for proactive carrier updates from Chat → Templates in the composer.

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Broadcast after a drop (Growth plan)

New Jordan colorway launch:
  1. During chats, tag interested buyers with Drop-Mar
  2. Open Chat → open any thread on the WhatsApp channel → Templates in composer
  3. Switch to Broadcast tab → select label Drop-Mar → pick drop_announcement template
  4. Optional: Schedule at (UTC) for Sunday 10:00
  5. Send — replies land in Chat; filter Drop-Mar + unread
Note: Broadcasts target labels (threads that already have those labels on the selected channel). There is no CSV upload of cold numbers — compliance-friendly, but you must label during normal conversations first. Smart delivery (pause on low read rate) is described in marketing materials but not in the dashboard send flow yet — UrbanGear schedules off-peak and watches Analytics instead.

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Analytics weekly review

Ops lead opens Analytics → WhatsApp channel card:
  • Failed spike? Check template quality or bad numbers in Message logs
  • Read rate drop? Test shorter template copy; wait 24h after sends before judging
  • Export CSV for leadership — Messenger/Instagram cards exist but full charts are WhatsApp-only today

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Co-Admin for the ops lead

Before standup: “What’s our WhatsApp delivery rate this week?” or “How many open threads?” — Co-Admin uses live workspace data (not a dashboard page).

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Results teams like this care about

  • First response time drops when AI covers nights and weekends
  • Fewer missed Instagram DMs — everything in Chat
  • Managers filter VIP + unassigned instead of asking “how backed up are we?” in Slack
  • Repeat WISMO answers deflected to AI + templates

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Copy-paste playbook

  1. Settings → Workspace → Channels — connect WhatsApp + Instagram
  2. Labels: WISMO, Return, VIP, Sizing + keywords
  3. Groups: Logistics, Returns — assign queues in Chat
  4. AI Agent (Support template) + FAQ knowledge — pause during business hours
  5. Templates: 2–3 shipping/return templates — wait for Approved
  6. Team Members: agents as Member (Chat-only)
  7. Growth plan before first label broadcast
  8. Analytics every Monday — WhatsApp channel