Guide

How to add live chat to Shopify

Adding ZChat to a Shopify store is a script-snippet install - no app to approve, no extra platform in the middle. You paste one line into your theme, and the widget appears on your storefront while every conversation flows to your own self-hosted server. Here are the four steps.

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Step 1. Get your widget snippet

Sign in to the ZChat dashboard and open the widget builder. Set the colors, header text, and position, then copy the embed script - a single small script tag that points at your ZChat server. You'll paste this into Shopify in the next step.

Step 2. Open your Shopify theme code

In your Shopify admin, go to Online Store, then Themes. On your live theme, open the three-dot menu and choose Edit code. It's a good habit to duplicate the theme first so you have a backup before editing.

Step 3. Paste the script into theme.liquid

Under Layout, open theme.liquid. Scroll to the bottom and paste your widget script on its own line just before the closing </body> tag, then click Save. Because theme.liquid is the shared layout, the widget will now load across your storefront pages.

Step 4. Test on your storefront

Visit your store, open the chat launcher, and send a test message. Answer it from the ZChat console to confirm the round trip. That's it - shoppers can now reach you live, and the AI chatbot can answer first if you've enabled it.

Why the snippet approach

Your store, your chat data

A Shopify app would route your customer conversations through another vendor's cloud. The widget-script approach keeps the storefront simple and sends every chat to your own self-hosted ZChat server and SQL Server database - so customer conversations from your store stay on infrastructure you control.

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Do I need a Shopify app to add ZChat?

No. ZChat is added with a small widget script, so you paste it into your theme's theme.liquid file rather than installing an app from the Shopify App Store. That keeps the setup simple and avoids another third-party app on your store.

Will the chat widget show on every page of my store?

Yes. Because theme.liquid is the shared layout for your storefront, adding the script there makes the widget appear across your store's pages. Note that Shopify's hosted checkout is a separate, locked-down surface and is not part of the theme.

Does adding the script slow down my store?

The widget is a small, self-contained script (about 16 KB) that loads asynchronously, so it does not block your page. It renders in an isolated shadow DOM, so it will not conflict with your theme's styles.

Where do the chat conversations go?

Into your own self-hosted ZChat server and its SQL Server database - not a third-party cloud. Your Shopify store loads the widget, but the conversations and customer data live on infrastructure you control.

Owned customer support software

Deploy live chat on your own terms, not on someone else's pricing model.

ZChat gives you the installable server, web dashboard, website widget, and desktop agent tools in one self-hosted product you buy once and keep. Run it on infrastructure you trust and connect AI only if and how you want it.

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Deployment

Install on Windows or Linux, behind IIS or Nginx, in a VM, or in Docker if that fits your stack.

Commercial model

One-time purchase, perpetual license, and no monthly per-agent bill attached to growth.

AI Flexibility

Use Ollama locally or connect OpenAI and Anthropic with your own provider accounts.