Most support emails are versions of the same dozen questions. A macro is a saved reply you can drop in and personalise, so you answer those questions in seconds and say the same thing every time. This guide lists the macros a Shopify store should have and how to write them.
What a good macro contains
A macro is a starting point, not a finished email. It should hold the parts that never change and leave clear gaps for the parts that do.
- Fixed: Your policy wording, the steps the customer needs to take, your sign-off
- Variable: Customer name, order number, tracking link, dates, amounts
- One purpose: Each macro answers one question. Combine two if a customer asks two things
- Next step: Every macro ends by telling the customer what happens next and when
The core set
Start with the questions you already answer every week. For most stores that is the list below.
| Macro | When to use it |
|---|---|
| Order status | Customer asks where their order is and it is in transit |
| Not yet shipped | Order is still being prepared |
| Address change | Customer wants to correct the address before shipping |
| Cancel order | Request arrives before or after fulfilment, with a version for each |
| Return instructions | Customer wants to send something back |
| Exchange | Wrong size or colour |
| Out of stock or back order | Item is delayed at your end |
| Discount code not working | Code failed at checkout |
| Product question | Sizing, materials, care or compatibility |
Other guides cover some of these in depth, including where is my order emails and delivered but not received.
Write them in your own voice
Customers can tell when a reply is canned. A few habits keep macros from sounding like it.
- ✅ Open by answering the question, not by thanking them for reaching out
- ✅ Use short sentences and the words your customers use
- ✅ State facts from the order: the item, the date, the tracking status
- ❌ Long apologies before the answer
- ❌ Policy quoted in legal language
- ❌ Promising a delivery date you do not control
Always check before you send
The risk with macros is sending the right template to the wrong situation. Build a quick check into the habit.
- Read the whole message: Customers often ask a second question at the end
- Check the order: Confirm status, tracking and any earlier refund before you reply
- Fill every gap: Search for leftover placeholders before sending
- Adjust the tone: Add a sentence of your own if the customer is upset
Keep the set current
Macros go stale. A reply that quotes last year's return window or an old carrier creates new tickets.
- Review: Reread every macro when a policy, carrier or product line changes
- Add: When you type the same answer three times in a week, save it
- Retire: Delete macros nobody uses, so the list stays short enough to scan
Doing this at scale
Reclaim triages each support ticket by intent, sentiment and urgency, then drafts a reply grounded in the real order, tracking and refund history, and escalates out-of-policy refunds to a human. Today it builds its queue from recent orders and does not connect to a helpdesk or inbox. See Reclaim.