Handle customer messages
Add a contact form to your storefront and read, reply to, and keep track of customer messages in your Inbox.
Shoppers with a question who can't find a way to ask usually leave. A contact form gives them one, and the Inbox keeps every message in your dashboard instead of scattered across a personal email account.
Turn it on
Open Settings → Modules and enable Contact Form. This adds a contact form to your storefront and a Messages entry to your sidebar, with an unread count so you can see at a glance when something's waiting.
Read and reply
Open Messages to see everything that's come in, with the sender and their message. Replies go back to the customer by email.
If you've set up an email domain for your store, replies come from your own address rather than a generic one – see Email notifications & automation. It's a small thing that makes a big difference to how a reply lands.
Check that a reply was delivered
A message you've sent shows a Delivery status in the Inbox, so you know whether it reached the customer:
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Sent | The email left your store and is on its way |
| Delivered | The customer's mail provider accepted it |
| Delayed | Delivery is taking longer than usual; it will keep retrying |
| Bounced | The address doesn't exist or the mailbox refused it |
| Marked as spam | The customer reported the email as spam |
| Failed | The email couldn't be sent |
| Not sent, address blocked | The address is on a block list because of earlier bounces or complaints |
This works whether you send from your own email domain or the shared YNS domain. If a message bounced, check the address for typos and contact the customer another way. Subscribers whose newsletter emails bounce are paused automatically.
Tip: Reply fast, even if the answer is "let me check". A same-day holding reply keeps a sale alive; a three-day silence rarely does.
What people actually ask
Most contact-form messages fall into a handful of buckets: where's my order, do you ship to X, will this be back in stock, and can I return this. Each one has a page you can answer with – or pre-empt:
- Where's my order – Fulfill and ship an order
- Do you ship to X – Set up shipping methods
- Back in stock? – Restock notifications answers this automatically
- Can I return this – Issue refunds and handle returns
If the same question keeps arriving, put the answer on a page and link it – see Add pages and content.
FAQ
Where do contact form messages go?
Into your Inbox in the dashboard, and you're notified by email so you don't have to keep checking.
Is this the same as support?
No. The Inbox is for messages from your customers. To reach the YNS team about your store, see Get help and support.
Can I turn the contact form off?
Yes – disable the Contact Form module. Your existing messages stay where they are.
Can customers attach files?
The contact form is built for questions rather than file transfers. For anything involving photos – a damaged item, say – ask the customer to reply to your email.
What's next
- Answer the common questions once in Add pages and content.
- Send from your own address with Email notifications & automation.
- Look after buyers in Manage your customers.