WhatsApp Auto-Reply: 11 Examples That Save Small Businesses Hours

If you run a small business, your WhatsApp probably never stops buzzing. Most of those messages ask the same handful of things — “Are you open?”, “Where are you?”, “Do you deliver?”, “What’s the price?” Answering them by hand, one at a time, eats hours you don’t have.

Auto-replies fix that. Set them up once and the common questions answer themselves, day or night, so your team only steps in for conversations that genuinely need a person. Businesses that automate WhatsApp support typically report a 30–60% drop in support costs and resolve most repeat queries without anyone typing a reply (industry figures, not a guarantee — your numbers depend on how routine your messages are).

Below are 11 auto-reply examples you can adapt and use today. Steal the wording, swap in your details, done.

What is a WhatsApp auto-reply?

A WhatsApp auto-reply is a message that sends automatically in response to a customer — either to every first message (a greeting), when you’re closed (an away message), or when a message contains a specific word (a keyword reply). On the WhatsApp Business API with a tool like ChatMitra, you can set all three up without writing any code. Here’s how auto-reply works on ChatMitra.

There are three types worth knowing:

• Greeting / welcome message — fires on a customer’s first message.
• Away message — fires outside your working hours.
• Keyword reply — fires when a message contains a word like “price”, “menu” or “hours”.

Auto-reply, quick reply or message template — which one do you need?

Three different things get called “auto-reply”, and picking the wrong one is the usual reason a setup stalls halfway. Here is the plain version.

• Auto-reply — a message that sends itself when something happens: a customer’s first message, a message that arrives outside your hours, or a message containing a word you have chosen. Nobody has to be at the phone. This is what the rest of this page is about.
• Quick reply — a saved snippet you insert while you are typing, usually behind a shortcut like /hours. It saves keystrokes, but a person still has to be in the chat for anything to happen. In the free WhatsApp Business app these are the saved replies you pick from a list.
• Message template — a message whose wording Meta approves in advance, used to start a conversation after the free 24-hour window has closed, or to send an update the customer did not just ask for. It exists only on the WhatsApp Business API.

The short test: if you want the phone to answer for you, you want an auto-reply. If you want to type faster yourself, you want a quick reply. If you need to reach someone who has not messaged you recently, you need a template.

Everything below is the first kind.

Greeting message examples

A greeting sets the tone and tells the customer what to do next. Keep it short and give them options.

Hi! Thanks for messaging [Business Name] 👋 We usually reply within a few minutes during business hours (10am–8pm). Meanwhile, reply with: 1 for prices 2 to place an order 3 to talk to our team

Or a simpler one for a service business:

Hello and welcome to [Business Name]! Tell us what you’re looking for and we’ll get you sorted. For bookings, just send your preferred date and time.

If bookings are most of what you do, say so immediately:

Hi, thanks for messaging [Business Name] 🙂 To book, send us three things — the date, the time that suits you, and how many people. We’ll confirm or suggest the nearest free slot.

When a catalogue does the explaining better than you can:

Hey! Welcome to [Business Name] 🛍️ Here’s our full catalogue: [link]. Send us the item name or a screenshot and we’ll check stock and share the price.

If you have more than one branch, ask before answering — it saves a round trip:

Hi! Thanks for reaching [Business Name]. Which branch are you asking about — [Area 1] or [Area 2]? Reply with the name and we’ll share timings, directions and availability for that one.

And when the enquiry is worth a person’s time, set the expectation instead of stalling:

Thanks for getting in touch with [Business Name]. A member of the team will reply personally within [time] during working hours ([hours]). If it’s urgent, call us on [number]. To help us prepare, tell us briefly what you need.

Away and out-of-office message examples

Away messages — out-of-office messages, if that is what you call them — stop customers feeling ignored when you’re closed. Be honest about when you’ll reply.

Thanks for your message! We’re closed right now and will be back at 10am tomorrow. Drop your question here and we’ll reply first thing. For urgent orders, [link / instructions].

For a weekend:

We’re away for the weekend 🌿 We’ll be back Monday at 10am and will reply to your message then. Thanks for your patience!

For a holiday or festival closure, give the exact return date — “soon” is what makes people follow up twice:

Thanks for messaging! We’re closed for [festival / holiday] and will reopen on [date] at [time]. Orders placed here will be confirmed as soon as we’re back. Wishing you a lovely [occasion]! 🪔

For the mid-day gap a lot of small shops have:

We’re on our lunch break right now and will be back at [time]. Leave your question here — we’ll answer it the moment we’re back at the counter.

When you’re short-staffed for a stretch rather than shut:

Quick heads-up: we’re running with a smaller team until [date], so replies may take a little longer than usual. We are still taking orders — send yours and we’ll confirm within [time].

And an away message that still leaves a route open for the things that genuinely cannot wait:

Thanks for your message! We’re closed for the day and will reply after [time] tomorrow. If this is about an order already placed, reply with your order number and we’ll prioritise it first thing.

One operating detail worth settling once you have picked your wording: an away message is scheduled, not always-on. In ChatMitra you set the window you’re closed — say 19:00 to 10:00 — pick your timezone, and only the messages that arrive inside that window get the away reply. Anything that lands during business hours reaches your team as normal, and a window that crosses midnight is handled for you, so an evening-to-morning schedule needs no splitting in two.

Keyword auto-reply examples

These are the workhorses. A keyword reply answers a specific question the instant it’s asked.

“Price” / “rate”

Here’s our current pricing: [link or short list]. Prices include GST. Want a custom quote? Reply with what you need and we’ll send one over.

“Hours” / “open” / “timing”

We’re open Monday–Saturday, 10am–8pm, and closed on Sundays. You can message us any time and we’ll reply during business hours.

“Location” / “address”

You’ll find us here 📍 [Google Maps link]. There’s parking right outside. See you soon!

“Delivery”

Yes, we deliver! We cover [areas] with delivery in [time]. Share your pin location and we’ll confirm the charge.

“Menu” / “catalogue” / “list”

Here’s the full menu 📋 [link]. Everything on it is available today unless marked otherwise. Send us the item names and quantity and we’ll total it up for you.

“Book” / “appointment” / “slot”

Happy to book you in! Send your preferred date and time and we’ll confirm within [time]. Our slots run [hours], [days]. If your first choice is taken we’ll offer the nearest one.

“Status” / “where is my order” / order number

Send your order number (it looks like #[format]) and we’ll check where it is right now. If you ordered in the last [time], it’s most likely still being packed.

“Return” / “exchange” / “refund”

Sorry it wasn’t right! Returns and exchanges are accepted within [number] days with the bill. Reply with your order number and a photo of the item and we’ll start it for you.

“Payment” / “pay” / “UPI”

You can pay by UPI, card or cash on delivery. Reply “link” and we’ll send you a payment link for your order, or ask us for our UPI ID.

Order and booking auto-replies

For shops and service businesses, automate the moments around a purchase.

Order received

Appointment reminder

Payment follow-up

Out for delivery

Booking confirmed

Ready for pickup

After the order — asking for feedback

Which of these works best?

If you only ever set up one, make it the greeting. It is the only reply on this page that touches every single conversation, because it fires on a first message no matter what that message says — and it is the one that stops a new customer sitting in silence wondering whether anyone is there.

After that, the order that tends to matter for a small business is:

1. Greeting — every first message, no exceptions.
2. Away message — silence costs most when you are closed, because the customer cannot tell the difference between “shut” and “ignoring me”.
3. Keyword replies for your own top three questions — open your chat history, find the three things people actually ask you, and write those three first. Not the three that happen to come first in this article.
4. Order and booking replies — these earn their keep once you are re-typing the same status update several times a day.

Two things worth saying plainly. A “best” message is the one that matches how your customers write, so treat the wording above as a starting point rather than a finished script — read it aloud in your own voice and cut whatever sounds borrowed. And none of it works if the reply is a dead end: every example here either answers the question outright or offers a way through to a person.

Quick replies you can save and reuse

Not every answer has to fire on its own. Some are simply the ones you type ten times a day, and those are worth saving as quick replies — short snippets a person drops into a live chat instead of retyping them. It is a different job from an auto-reply, and the wording is different too: shorter, blunter, written to be sent mid-conversation by someone who is already there.

Here is a set worth saving, with the shortcut each one tends to get.

/hours

We’re open [days], [time]–[time], and closed on [day]. Message any time — we’ll reply as soon as we’re back at the counter.

/where

Here’s our location 📍 [Google Maps link]. Nearest landmark is [landmark]. Can’t spot us? Call [number] and we’ll wave you in.

/eta

Your order is on its way and should reach you by [time] today. If it’s any later than that, reply here and we’ll chase it for you.

/quote

Happy to quote. Send us three things — what you need, how many, and when you need it by — and we’ll come back with a price within [time].

/gst

Yes, we issue a proper GST invoice. Share your GSTIN and billing name and we’ll put them on the bill.

/warranty

[Product] carries a [duration] warranty from the date of purchase. Keep the bill — reply with a photo of it and what’s wrong, and we’ll take it from there.

/sorry

That’s not the experience we wanted you to have, [Name]. Tell us what went wrong and we’ll fix it — reply here and a person will pick it up.

/thanks

Thank you for shopping with [Business Name] 🙏 If anything isn’t right, reply here — a person reads every message on this number.

Quick replies sit in the chat window rather than in your automation rules, so they are the right tool when someone is already in the conversation and just needs the wording fast. For where they live and how a whole team shares one set, set them up once and type / to send.

How to keep auto-replies from feeling robotic

A few rules of thumb so your automation still sounds like a human:

• Write like you talk. Read it aloud. If you wouldn’t say it, don’t send it.
• Always offer a way to reach a person. Automation handles the routine; people handle the rest.
• Don’t over-send. One helpful reply beats three automated nudges that get you muted.
• Get opt-in before marketing. Auto-replies to people who message you are fine. Promotional broadcasts need consent — keep them relevant and infrequent.

What it costs

Auto-replies on the WhatsApp Business API are part of ChatMitra’s automation. On the Starter plan you pay ₹0.20 per conversation with free subscription, and a customer-started chat keeps a free 24-hour window open in which your replies don’t add extra WhatsApp charges — which covers most back-and-forth. When you want the full automation suite (auto-replies, keyword rules, chatbots), Pro is ₹999/month. You can estimate your own bill on the pricing page.

Start with three

Don’t try to automate everything on day one. Set up a greeting, an away message, and keyword replies for your three most-asked questions. That alone takes real load off your phone within a day.

If you run a specific kind of business, our industry guides show exactly which auto-replies matter most — for example, WhatsApp for restaurants walks through bookings, order tracking and FAQ replies for a food business. And when you’re ready to build them, here’s how auto-reply works on ChatMitra.