ShopAssist ShopAssist nopCommerce install guide

Installing ShopAssist on nopCommerce

Upload the ShopAssist plugin in your nopCommerce admin and click Connect.

nopCommerce 4.00 · the default theme and themes based on it

What you get

ComponentDescription
Chat widgetA floating chat button on every page of your store. Shoppers ask about your products, and the assistant answers, recommends, and compares items.
Add to cartShoppers add products to their nopCommerce cart from the chat. They check out as usual.
Question pillsQuestions about the product on the product page. A shopper clicks one and the chat opens with the answer.
CompareA Compare button on the product image and on product cards in category and search results. The chat shows two products side by side.
Sales reportingThe orders that followed a conversation, with their revenue, in your ShopAssist dashboard.
The ShopAssist chat on a nopCommerce store, answering a request for a lightweight travel laptop with three product cards.
The assistant answers with products from your catalog.

Products with a required option the chat cannot fill, such as a text field, link to their own product page, where shoppers complete the form and add them to the cart.

Before you start

The chat button appears once ShopAssist activates your store. You can install and connect first. The button then appears on its own when your store goes live.

Plan the install outside busy hours. nopCommerce restarts twice during the install, and each restart takes your store offline for a minute or two.

1Install the plugin

  1. Download shopassist-nopcommerce.zip.
  2. In the nopCommerce admin, go to Configuration → Plugins → Local plugins and click Upload plugin or theme at the top right.
  3. Choose shopassist-nopcommerce.zip and upload it.
  4. Click Restart application. nopCommerce shows a new plugin only after a restart.
  5. Find ShopAssist in the list and click Install.
  6. Click Restart application again.
The nopCommerce Local plugins page with the Upload plugin or theme button, and ShopAssist listed as installed and enabled, with a Configure button.
Configuration → Plugins → Local plugins, with ShopAssist installed.

2Connect

  1. Click Configure on the ShopAssist row.
  2. Check Currency and Country, for example EUR and SI. The install fills them from your store.
  3. Click Connect to ShopAssist.
The ShopAssist settings page in the nopCommerce admin, with the status Not connected yet and the Connect to ShopAssist button.
The ShopAssist settings page before you connect.

The plugin sends ShopAssist a read-only key for your catalog and orders, with your store address, currency, country and languages. A green message confirms the connection, and the plugin fills in ShopAssist shop domain.

The ShopAssist settings page with a green Connected to ShopAssist message and the shop domain filled in.
Connected.

ShopAssist never receives customer names, email addresses or postal addresses. The order data it reads is the order total, the items and the status.

3Check it works

The top of the ShopAssist settings page shows where you are:

StatusNext step
Not connected yet.Click Connect to ShopAssist.
Connected. Waiting for ShopAssist to switch the assistant on.ShopAssist activates your store. The chat button then appears on its own.
Connected and live.The assistant is on your store.

When the status says Connected and live:

  1. Open your store in a new browser tab.
  2. Wait about five seconds.
  3. Look for a round chat button in the bottom corner.
  4. Click it and ask something, such as What do you sell?
A nopCommerce home page with the round ShopAssist chat button and its greeting at the bottom right.
The chat button at the bottom of your store.

You are done when the assistant answers with products from your catalog.

On a product page, a Compare button sits on the product image. Products with questions in your ShopAssist dashboard also show them under the add-to-cart button.

A nopCommerce product page with a Compare button on the image and four question pills under the Add to cart button.
Question pills and the Compare button on a product page.

On a category page, each product card has a Compare button. Click it on two products, and the chat shows them side by side.

A nopCommerce category page with a Compare button in the corner of each product card.
Compare buttons on a category page.
The ShopAssist chat comparing two laptops side by side, with price, availability and other rows.
Two products compared in the chat.

Settings

SettingWhat it does
Show the chat widgetShows or hides the whole assistant on your store, including the questions and the Compare buttons. On after the install.
Currency, CountryYour store’s currency and country. Click Connect again after a change.
Generate a new key on saveReplaces the key ShopAssist uses to read your catalog. Click Connect again afterwards.
API URL, Widget URLLeave these as they are unless ShopAssist support asks you to change them.

The chat uses the language of each page, so a store with several languages works with one install. Click Save after a change.

Pausing and removing

To pause: untick Show the chat widget and click Save. The chat button disappears at the next page load. Your account, settings and past conversations stay as they are.

To remove: in Configuration → Plugins → Local plugins, click Uninstall on the ShopAssist row, then Restart application. The plugin also deletes its key, so ShopAssist can no longer read your catalog.

Troubleshooting

What you seeWhat to do
ShopAssist is not in the plugin list after the uploadClick Restart application.
“ShopAssist could not read your catalog feed at …”Check that Configuration → Stores → Store URL is your public https:// address, and that the store restarted after the install. Then click Connect to ShopAssist again.
“ShopAssist could not reach your store at …”Make your store reachable over HTTPS, including the /shopassist/ addresses, then click Connect to ShopAssist again.
“Your bot protection blocked ShopAssist”Email us with the name of your firewall or bot protection service.
“ShopAssist is unreachable right now”Allow your server to make outgoing HTTPS requests to api.getshopassist.com.
The chat button is missingCheck the status at the top of the settings page, and that Show the chat widget is ticked. A status of Waiting means ShopAssist is activating your store.
A product page shows no questionsAdd questions for the product in your ShopAssist dashboard.

For help, email support@getshopassist.com with the step you reached, the message you saw, and the address of your store.