WhatsApp Auto-Reply Examples: Welcome and After-Hours

Most businesses looking for WhatsApp auto-reply message examples have the same problem: a customer writes, nobody can look at that moment, and the silence loses the customer. A good automatic message fills that gap. Below are short texts for welcome, after-hours, order received and appointment confirmation that you can copy and adapt to your own business, by industry. Right after that we explain which of these texts need to be Meta-approved templates.

Where do you send automatic messages from: the app or the API?

In the WhatsApp Business app on your phone, a greeting message, an away (after-hours) message and quick replies come built in. For a business run by one person with low message traffic, this is usually enough.

As the business grows, things change. If you want to send automatic notifications from an order or appointment system, use the same number with several agents, or have a bot answer questions, you need the WhatsApp Business API. All the examples below work on both sides; the difference is in how they are triggered.

What should a good automatic message include?

It should be short. The customer is looking at a phone, not reading a brochure. A mistake we often see is cramming a campaign, a slogan and three paragraphs of company introduction into the welcome message. Instead, check these four things:

• Who you are: Put the business name in the first line.
• When you will reply: A concrete time instead of "as soon as possible".
• What the customer does now: Ask for one piece of information, such as an order number, an appointment day or a product name.
• A promise you can keep: Writing "we'll get right back to you" and then staying silent for three hours is worse than not writing at all.

Welcome message examples

Replace the parts in square brackets with your own details. Emoji are optional; if it fits your brand's voice, one is enough.

E-commerce store

"Hello, welcome to the [Store name] WhatsApp line. If it's about your order, just write your order number; if it's about a product, the product's name. We reply on weekdays between 9 am and 6 pm."

Restaurant or cafe

"Hello, this is [Restaurant name]. For a reservation, write the number of guests and the time, and we'll check availability right away."

Beauty salon or clinic

"Hello, thanks for writing. If you tell us which service and which day you have in mind for the appointment, we'll share the available times."

Service firm (agency, accounting, consulting)

"Hello, this is [Company name]. Write your request in a sentence or two and we'll route it to the right person. Our working hours are weekdays 9 am to 6 pm."

Welcome with a menu (if you use a bot)

"Hello, how can we help? 1) Order status 2) Returns and exchanges 3) Product question 4) I'd like to talk to an agent"

We recommend keeping the menu to four options. Always include the "talk to an agent" option; trapping a customer in a menu is the fastest way to a complaint.

After-hours message examples

The only job of an after-hours message is to manage expectations. When customers know when they will get a reply, they are willing to wait.

• General: "Hello, we're outside working hours right now. We got your message and we'll reply in order from 9 am tomorrow."
• E-commerce: "We're outside working hours, but you can keep ordering on our site. We answer shipping and return questions from 9 am tomorrow. If you write your order number now, it will speed things up."
• Restaurant: "We're closed right now and open tomorrow at 11 am. Leave your reservation request and we'll confirm it when we open."
• Clinic: "We're outside working hours. You can write your appointment request, and we'll reply on the first working day. In a medical emergency, please call 112."
• Holidays: "We're closed until [date] for the holiday. Orders that come in during this time are shipped in order when we return. Happy holidays."
• If you have an AI bot: "Our team is offline right now, but I can help with frequently asked questions. I'll pass anything I can't solve to one of our agents in the morning."

Order received message examples

Things change a little here. You, as the business, start the order notification without the customer writing to you. On the API side, this requires a Meta-approved template message. In templates, variable fields such as the customer name and order number are written in Meta's format as {{1}}, {{2}}.

• Order confirmation: "Hello {{1}}, we received your order number {{2}}. When it's ready, we'll send you the shipping tracking details here."
• Shipped: "Your order number {{1}} has been shipped. Your tracking number: {{2}}" (a "Track my parcel" link button can be added underneath)
• Food delivery: "Your order has reached the kitchen {{1}}, estimated delivery time {{2}} minutes. Enjoy your meal."

Appointment confirmation and reminder examples

In appointment messages, the date, time and service name must be clear. Show the way to change or cancel in the same message.

• Appointment confirmation: "Hello {{1}}, your {{4}} appointment has been booked for {{2}} at {{3}}. To make a change, you can reply to this message."
• Reminder the day before: "You have an appointment tomorrow at {{1}}. If you can't make it, let us know and we'll open the slot to someone else." (with "I'm coming" and "I want to reschedule" quick reply buttons)
• Car service: "A service appointment has been booked for your vehicle with plate {{1}} on {{2}} at {{3}}. For the address and directions, you can reply to this message."

Which automatic messages have to be templates, and which are charged?

The rule is simple. When a customer writes to you, a 24-hour customer service window opens, and within that time you can reply with free text. Welcome and after-hours messages fall inside this window because they are replies to the customer's message. Outside the window, or if you are the one starting the conversation, an approved template is required. Details are in our article on the WhatsApp 24-hour rule.

On the pricing side, there was a change on 1 October 2026. According to Meta's official pricing page, free-form replies inside the window (service messages) are now free for up to the first 1,000 messages per month for each number, and charged after that. Template messages are charged by category (marketing, informational, authentication); informational templates sent inside the window are included in this.

How do these messages work in Chatopya?

Let's summarize the part that matters directly. In the Bot Center you define working hours and the rule for handing over to an agent; so a different welcome goes out outside working hours. The AI answers frequently asked questions around the clock from your own business information, and passes what it can't solve to an agent together with the chat history. It doesn't make up an answer to a question that has no match in the knowledge base.

For order and appointment notifications, you create templates in the dashboard and submit them for Meta approval, and we prepare the texts in line with the rules together with you. On plans with Trendyol, Hepsiburada and Shopify integration, order and shipping notifications are triggered automatically. There are also quick reply templates for answers your agents write often. Details are on our WhatsApp customer service and AI chatbot page.

Common mistakes

1. Sending the same long welcome with every message. Saying "Welcome" again in the middle of a conversation sounds robotic.
2. Writing your working hours and not updating them for holidays.
3. Leaving no way out in the bot. If a customer can't reach an agent, they come back angrier through another channel.
4. Mixing an order notification with promotional text.

Frequently asked questions