A WhatsApp auto reply tells customers they've been heard, even when nobody is at the desk. ReploChat has two kinds for each WhatsApp number. A welcome message goes to a first-time customer. An away message goes to anyone who writes outside your business hours. This guide shows how to set both up, how business hours and time zones work, and gives sample messages you can copy.
Welcome and away messages are part of Automation, included on every plan. Team members need the Automation permission to change them.
Welcome vs away: when each one is sent
| Welcome message | Away message | |
|---|---|---|
| Sent when | A new customer writes to this number for the first time | Anyone writes while you are closed, according to your business hours |
| How often | Once per new chat | At most once every 12 hours per chat |
| Approval needed | No. It's a normal reply inside the customer's 24-hour window | No, for the same reason |
| Length | Up to 1,000 characters | Up to 1,000 characters |
Both can go out together. A first-time customer who writes at midnight gets the welcome and then the away message.
Set up your welcome message
- Open Automation in the sidebar. The first tab is Welcome & Away.
- If you have more than one WhatsApp number, pick the number at the top. Each number has its own messages and hours.
- Turn on the switch next to Welcome message ("Sent once, the first time a new customer writes to you").
- Write the message. You can use
{name},{first_name}and{phone}. If the name is unknown, the placeholder disappears neatly, so "Hi {first_name}!" becomes "Hi!". - Click Save.
Welcome message samples
- Online store: "Hi {first_name}! Thanks for messaging Glow Store. Reply MENU to see our categories, or send a product photo and we'll check stock for you."
- Clinic: "Assalam-o-Alaikum {first_name}, welcome to City Dental Clinic. For an appointment, please share your name and preferred day. For emergencies call 0300 1234567."
- Agency or services: "Hi! Thanks for reaching out. Tell us a little about your project and a member of our team will reply shortly."
Set your business hours
The away message depends on your business hours, so set those first. They're in the Business hours card on the same page.
- Choose your time zone from the list: Asia/Karachi, Asia/Dubai, Asia/Riyadh, Asia/Kolkata, Europe/London, America/New_York or UTC.
- Tick each day you're open and set a from and to time. Unticked days show Closed.
- Use Copy Monday to Tue–Sat to save typing when the weekdays match.
- Check the line under the heading: "With these hours you are open/closed right now". It updates as you edit, before you save.
- Click Save.
- Each day has one opening period. Hours can run past midnight: 18:00 to 02:00 counts as open on both sides of midnight. That suits restaurants and late-night delivery.
- The same time zone is used for date reminders on this number and for reports.
- The AI assistant uses the timezone in the business profile to answer "are you open now?". Keep the two the same.
Set up your away message
- On the same page, turn on Away message.
- Write what customers should know while you're closed: when you're back, and what they can do meanwhile.
- Click Save.
Away message samples
- General: "Thanks for your message, {first_name}! We're closed right now. Our hours are Mon–Sat, 10 AM to 8 PM, and we'll reply first thing when we open."
- With the AI on: "We're closed at the moment, but our assistant can answer questions about prices, delivery and hours right now. For anything else, the team will reply when we open at 10 AM."
- Eid or a holiday: "Eid Mubarak! Our team is off until Monday. Orders placed on the website will be dispatched after the holidays."
For a one-off holiday, change the text and hours, then change them back afterwards.
How auto replies work with the chatbot and the AI
Welcome and away messages are sent first, as soon as the customer's message arrives. Then ReploChat decides who answers the message itself, in this order: a team member who has taken over the chat, a chatbot, a WhatsApp Flow trigger word, then the AI assistant. The away message doesn't switch these off. As the page says, "The AI and chatbots still answer if they're on." So write your away message so it makes sense next to an automatic answer.
Frequently asked
Why didn't a customer get the welcome message? It only goes to a new chat: the first time that phone number writes to this WhatsApp number. A customer you messaged first, for example through a campaign, may already have a chat, so they won't get it.
Why did the away message go out only once? It's sent at most once every 12 hours per chat, so a customer sending five messages at night isn't answered five times.
Do these messages cost anything? They're normal replies inside the customer service window. Meta bills your own WhatsApp Business Account per message by category and country, and ReploChat adds no markup.
Can I send a welcome to customers who haven't written to me? No. Starting a conversation needs an approved template. Use a campaign or a follow-up sequence for that.