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Messages inbox ​

Messages (/messages) is one inbox for your conversations with customers: texts, calls, and emails, grouped by customer with the newest first. Reply to a text from your store's own number, start a new text or email, or have Retailer OS ring your phone and connect you to a customer.

Where to find it ​

Marketing → Messages in the sidebar.

Who can use it ​

RoleWhat they can do
Owners, Admins, Managers, CashiersRead conversations, send texts and emails, and call customers.
ViewersRead conversations only.

Before you start ​

  • Texting and calling need your store's own verified text number (see Your text number) and a Messaging plan.
  • Write with AI needs an AI plan.
  • Email doesn't need a text number.

Read your conversations ​

  • The left side lists your conversations, newest first, with a preview of the last message. Filter by All, Texts, Calls, or Email, or search by name or phone number.
  • Click a conversation to open it. Messages you sent are on the right, the customer's on the left, and calls show as a single line with their direction and length.
  • The list refreshes on its own, and so does an open conversation.

Reply to a text ​

  1. Open the conversation.
  2. Type in Type a reply… and press Enter, or click the send button.

The reply goes out as a text from your store's number.

NOTE

Replies in a conversation are always sent as texts. To answer an email, click New message and choose Email.

Start a new message ​

  1. Click New message.
  2. In To, search by name, phone, or email and pick a customer. To text someone who isn't a customer yet, type their phone number and choose the Text option shown below the box.
  3. Under Reach them by, choose Text, Call, or Email.
  4. Write your message:
    • Start from a template under Start from a template: Order ready for pickup, Payment reminder, Back in stock, or Thanks for shopping. Templates fill in the customer's first name.
    • Or use Write with AI: describe what you want and click Write. If you've already written something, click Improve what I wrote.
    • For an email, add a Subject.
  5. Click Send text or Send email.

When you pick a customer, you'll see their phone number, whether they've opted in to texts (or whether they have an email on file), and any balance they owe. For texts, a counter shows the length and how many SMS segments the message uses. Long messages are split into several segments, and each one is billed.

TIP

Use Messages for one-to-one service messages, like order updates. To send a promotion to many customers, use Campaign Studio, which only texts customers who agreed to receive marketing texts.

Call a customer ​

  1. Click New message, pick the customer, and choose Call.
  2. Enter your own phone number. Retailer OS remembers it on this device.
  3. Click Call now. Retailer OS rings your phone from the store's number, and when you pick up, it connects you to the customer.

Calling needs an Active text number and a Credits balance above $0.00 (shown at the top of Campaign Studio). Calls also count against your plan's monthly calling minutes: 500 on Starter, 2,000 on Growth, and 5,000 on Pro. When you use them up, calls pause until your next billing cycle.

Common questions ​

Q. I see "Your SMS number is not active yet." A. Your number hasn't finished carrier verification. Check its status under Setup → SMS. See Your text number.

Q. I see "Overage limit reached." A. This month's usage beyond your plan has reached your limit, so texts and calls beyond your plan's allowance are paused until your next invoice. See Messaging plans.

Q. I see "Out of Credits — top up to make calls." A. Your Credits balance is $0.00. Calls can't be placed until it's above zero.

Q. Where's WhatsApp? A. WhatsApp isn't available yet.

Q. Can a Viewer send messages? A. No. Viewers can read conversations only. To change that, edit the person's role under Setup → Team.