Frequently Asked Questions

Respond Connect is a middleware integration platform that acts as a bridge between your e-commerce store (Salla or Zid) and your communication platform (Respond.io).

Every time an order is placed, shipped, or updated — or a cart is abandoned — Respond Connect automatically syncs that data to Respond.io and creates or updates the customer's contact record in real time. This allows you to trigger automated WhatsApp messages, follow-ups, and workflows without any manual work.

Currently supported e-commerce platforms:

• Salla — Full integration including auto widget injection via App Snippets
• Zid — Full integration with dynamic widget loading via custom code snippet

Communication platform: Respond.io (all plans supported).

Additional platform integrations may be added in the future based on demand.

Yes. Respond Connect sends customer and order data into Respond.io — so an active Respond.io account is required.

Any Respond.io plan works. For best results, you should have at least one WhatsApp channel connected in Respond.io to take advantage of automated messaging workflows.

No. Respond Connect acts solely as a technical relay. We process event data only to forward it to your configured Respond.io workspace. We do not sell, share, or analyze your customer data for any commercial purpose.

For full details, see our Privacy Policy.

Yes. Each store is treated as an independent merchant — each with its own Respond.io API token and configuration. You can connect multiple Salla stores, multiple Zid stores, or a mix of both, each pointing to the same or different Respond.io workspaces.

Contact us to discuss multi-store plans.

Getting started takes less than 15 minutes:

• Step 1 — Contact us via WhatsApp or email to provision your merchant account.
• Step 2 — You receive a secure config link. Enter your Respond.io API token and (optionally) a workflow webhook URL.
• Step 3 — Add the one-line chat widget snippet to your Zid or Salla store (we guide you through this).
• Step 4 — Create the required custom fields in Respond.io (full list provided in the config portal).
• Step 5 — Place a test order and verify the contact appears in Respond.io.

The API token is a key that allows Respond Connect to create and update contacts in your Respond.io workspace.

To get it: Respond.io → Settings → API Keys → Create Key. Copy the key (it starts with v2_) and paste it into your config portal.

Create these contact fields in Respond.io → Settings → Contact Fields. Copy each slug exactly — they are case-sensitive. Fields are grouped by tier.

— Base fields (required for all plans) —

🛒 Order

• latest_order_idTEXT
• latest_order_statusTEXT
• latest_order_platformTEXT
• latest_order_amountTEXT
• total_ordersNUMBER ⚠

🚚 Shipping

• shipping_companyTEXT
• tracking_numberTEXT
• tracking_urlTEXT

👤 Customer Profile

• cityTEXT
• countryNameTEXT
• genderTEXT

🛍️ Abandoned Cart

• is_abandoned_cartTEXT
• abandoned_cart_urlTEXT
• abandoned_cart_idTEXT
• abandoned_cart_amountTEXT
• abandoned_cart_itemsTEXT
• abandoned_cart_atTEXT
• abandoned_cart_items_countNUMBER ⚠

— V2 Add-ons (enable per feature in dashboard) —

⚡ UTM & Source Tracking

• utm_sourceTEXT
• utm_mediumTEXT
• utm_campaignTEXT
• utm_contentTEXT
• utm_termTEXT
• order_deviceTEXT
• order_source_typeTEXT

⚡ Coupon Tracking

• last_coupon_codeTEXT
• last_coupon_discountTEXT

⚡ Review Tracking

• last_review_ratingTEXT
• last_review_productTEXT
• last_review_atTEXT

⚡ Customer Intelligence

• customer_registered_atTEXT
• customer_last_login_atTEXT

⚡ Invoice Tracking

• last_invoice_idTEXT
• last_invoice_amountTEXT

Slugs are case-sensitive — enter them exactly as shown. Go to Respond.io → Settings → Contact Fields → Add Custom Field.

Salla — Once you install the app from Salla's App Store, the integration is mostly automatic. Webhook subscriptions are registered automatically, and the chat widget is injected via Salla's App Snippets system without any manual code pasting.

Zid — Requires pasting one snippet in your store's custom code section. Webhook events are sent automatically once the app is installed. Both integrations sync identical data to Respond.io.

Yes. Respond Connect supports both Salla and Zid as e-commerce platforms. You can run multiple stores from either platform, each with its own Respond.io configuration.

The same set of contact fields and order data is synced regardless of which platform your store is on. V2 Intelligence Features (UTM tracking, coupon tracking, etc.) are available on both platforms as long as the underlying platform fires the relevant webhook events.

Once your merchant account has been provisioned, you receive a secure Config Portal link. Open it and:

• API Token — paste your Respond.io API key (find it under Respond.io → Settings → API Keys → Create Key). It starts with v2_.
• Widget cId (optional) — paste the Channel ID for the Web Chat widget if you want live chat on your storefront.
• Click Save. The connection is verified immediately and your account status changes to Configured.

That's all — webhooks from your store will now be processed and contacts upserted in Respond.io automatically.

V2 features are toggled per merchant by an administrator. There are two steps:

• Step 1 — Enable the flag: In the Config Portal (or by contacting us), enable the desired feature flags: source_tracking, coupon_tracking, review_tracking, customer_tracking, or invoice_tracking.
• Step 2 — Create the custom fields in Respond.io: Go to Respond.io → Settings → Contact Fields → Add Custom Field and create the corresponding fields for each feature you enabled. Field slugs must match exactly (case-sensitive). See the full list below under "What custom fields do I need to create?"

Once both steps are complete, the next qualifying event (order, review, coupon, etc.) will automatically push the V2 data to Respond.io.

When a customer places an order, the following happens automatically:

• Your store platform (Salla or Zid) sends a webhook to Respond Connect.
• Respond Connect extracts the customer details (name, phone, email) and order data (ID, status, amount, shipping).
• We search for an existing contact in your Respond.io workspace by phone number.
• If the contact exists — it is updated with the latest order information.
• If the contact does not exist — it is automatically created with all available fields populated.
• With V2 features enabled, additional data (UTM source, coupon code, etc.) is also synced in the same operation.

The entire process takes under 2 seconds from the moment the webhook is received.

No action is required from you. If no contact exists with the customer's phone number in your Respond.io workspace, Respond Connect will automatically create a new contact using all available data from the order payload.

The newly created contact will have:

• Full name, phone number, and email address
• Latest order details (ID, status, amount)
• Shipping info (carrier, tracking number, tracking URL)
• City, country, gender, and platform
• Any enabled V2 fields (UTM, coupon, etc.)

This means your Respond.io contacts are always populated with rich context from the very first interaction — ready to trigger automated workflows immediately.

Once a webhook is delivered from the platform, Respond Connect processes it in under 2 seconds.

The total delay you'll observe is mostly the platform's own webhook delivery time:

• Salla — typically 10–30 seconds after order placement
• Zid — typically 3–5 minutes after order placement

These delays are controlled entirely by Salla/Zid and cannot be reduced on our side.

The following data is synced for every order event:

• Customer name, phone number, email
• Order ID, status, and total amount
• Shipping carrier name, tracking number, and tracking URL
• City, country, and gender
• Platform (Salla or Zid)
• Total purchases by this customer (total_orders)

With V2 add-on features enabled, additional data is also synced:

• Source & UTM — where the order came from (UTM parameters, device type, source type)
• Coupon — coupon code and discount amount used on the order
• Review — star rating, product reviewed, and review date
• Customer — registration date and last login date
• Invoice — invoice ID and invoice amount

All data is stored as contact custom fields in Respond.io, usable in workflow conditions and message templates.

V2 features are optional add-ons that extend what data gets pushed to Respond.io beyond the standard order fields. Each feature is toggled per merchant account:

• Source & UTM Tracking — Syncs UTM parameters, device type, and traffic source from every Salla order. Useful for attributing WhatsApp follow-ups to specific campaigns.
• Coupon Tracking — Syncs the coupon code and discount value used on each order, enabling loyalty and discount-based workflows.
• Review Tracking — Syncs product review data when a customer submits a review. Lets you trigger workflows after positive or negative feedback.
• Customer Tracking — Syncs the customer's account registration date and last login date for lifecycle-based messaging.
• Invoice Tracking — Syncs invoice ID and invoice amount for billing-based workflows.

V2 features require creating the corresponding custom fields in Respond.io beforehand. Contact us to activate specific V2 features for your account.

total_orders is a cumulative count of all unique orders placed by a specific customer (identified by phone number) across your store.

The first time a customer places an order, total_orders = 1. Their second order sets it to 2, and so on.

This is useful for building loyalty workflows — for example, sending a special thank-you message when a customer makes their 5th purchase, or offering a returning-customer discount on their 2nd order.

Each order ID is tracked to avoid double-counting status updates on the same order.

Yes. When a customer abandons their cart, the following data is synced to Respond.io:

• Cart recovery URL (direct checkout link)
• Cart items list and total amount
• Number of items in the cart
• Timestamp of abandonment
• is_abandoned_cart = Yes flag

You can use these fields in a Respond.io workflow to trigger an automated WhatsApp message with the cart recovery link.

Respond.io requires a phone number to create or update a contact. If no valid phone number is found in the order payload, the event is ignored gracefully — no contact is created and no error is raised.

The event is still logged in your dashboard with status Ignored so you can see it was received but not processed.

Yes. Your merchant account can be paused from our admin dashboard. While paused, all incoming webhooks are received and logged but not forwarded to Respond.io. No data is lost — events are recorded with an Ignored status.

Reactivating the merchant resumes processing immediately for all new events.

V2 Intelligence Features are 16 additional data fields organized into 5 feature groups, each controlled by a separate feature flag. They extend what Respond Connect pushes to your Respond.io workspace beyond the standard order fields.

• source_tracking — 7 fields for UTM parameters and traffic source
• coupon_tracking — 2 fields for coupon code and discount amount
• review_tracking — 3 fields for product reviews
• customer_tracking — 2 fields for customer account lifecycle
• invoice_tracking — 2 fields for invoice data

Each group can be enabled or disabled independently. You only need to create the custom fields in Respond.io for the groups you activate.

Feature flag: source_tracking

Triggered by: Every order event — Respond Connect automatically reads the source_details object from Salla's order payload.

The following 7 fields are pushed to Respond.io with every qualifying order:

• utm_source
• utm_medium
• utm_campaign
• utm_content
• utm_term
• order_device
• order_source_type

Field descriptions:

• utm_source — where the traffic came from (e.g. instagram, google, tiktok, snapchat)
• utm_medium — channel type (e.g. social, cpc, email, organic)
• utm_campaign — campaign name as set in the UTM parameters
• utm_content — ad variant or creative identifier for A/B testing
• utm_term — keyword used (mainly relevant for paid search campaigns)
• order_device — whether the customer ordered from mobile or desktop
• order_source_type — classified traffic type: direct, social, or search

Use these fields in Respond.io workflow conditions to personalize messages based on where customers came from — e.g. send a different upsell to Instagram buyers vs. Google Ads buyers.

Feature flag: coupon_tracking

Triggered by: The coupon.applied event fired when a customer uses a coupon code at checkout.

The following 2 fields are pushed to the customer's contact in Respond.io:

• last_coupon_code
• last_coupon_discount

Field descriptions:

• last_coupon_code — the coupon code string the customer entered (e.g. SUMMER20, VIP10)
• last_coupon_discount — the discount value applied in SAR (e.g. 30.00)

Use these fields to identify repeat coupon users, track promotion effectiveness at the contact level, and build re-engagement workflows for customers who respond to discounts.

Feature flag: review_tracking

Triggered by: The review.added event fired when a customer submits a product review.

The following 3 fields are pushed to the customer's contact in Respond.io:

• last_review_rating
• last_review_product
• last_review_at

Field descriptions:

• last_review_rating — star rating from 1 to 5
• last_review_product — name of the product that was reviewed
• last_review_at — ISO timestamp of when the review was submitted

Use these to trigger automated workflows — for example, send a thank-you message for 5-star reviews, or a recovery message asking unhappy customers (1–2 stars) if you can help.

Feature flag: customer_tracking

Triggered by: Two events — customer.created (when an account is first registered) and customer.login (each time the customer logs in).

The following 2 fields are pushed to the customer's contact in Respond.io:

• customer_registered_at
• customer_last_login_at

Field descriptions:

• customer_registered_at — ISO timestamp of when the customer first created their account
• customer_last_login_at — ISO timestamp of the customer's most recent login

Use registration date to build welcome sequences for new accounts, or use last login date to identify inactive customers for re-engagement campaigns (e.g. "We miss you — it's been 30 days since your last visit").

Feature flag: invoice_tracking

Triggered by: Two events — invoice.created and invoice.updated.

The following 2 fields are pushed to the customer's contact in Respond.io:

• last_invoice_id
• last_invoice_amount

Field descriptions:

• last_invoice_id — the invoice document ID from the platform
• last_invoice_amount — the invoice total in SAR (e.g. 249.00)

Use these for billing-related workflows — for example, notifying customers when a new invoice is ready, or reminding them of pending payment amounts.

V2 features depend on the webhook events each platform fires:

• Salla — all 5 feature groups are supported. UTM/source data is read from Salla's native source_details object on every order.
• Zid — order-level features (UTM, coupon) are supported where Zid includes source data in the payload. Review, customer, and invoice tracking depend on Zid firing those specific event types.

Contact us if you are unsure which V2 features are applicable to your specific platform and store configuration.

The chat widget is the live chat bubble that appears on your storefront, powered by Respond.io's Web Chat channel. It allows your customers to start a conversation directly from your website.

It is optional — the order/webhook sync works completely independently of the widget. However, combining both means customers can reach you via live chat, and their conversations are automatically linked to their contact profile in Respond.io (which already has their order history).

The Widget cId (Channel ID) is a unique identifier for your Respond.io Web Chat channel. It tells the widget loader which workspace and channel to connect visitors to.

To find it: Respond.io → Channels → Web Chat Widget → Installation tab.

You will see a script tag like:
…widget.js?cId=2df77b3a4c1e…

Copy the alphanumeric value after cId= in the script URL. Paste it into your Config Portal (or provide it to us) and we will configure it so the chat widget loads automatically on your storefront.

Note: the cId is different from your API token. The API token is for syncing contact data; the cId is only for the live chat widget.

Pricing is based on order volume — you pay a small fee per order processed. This model means you only pay when your store is actively generating revenue.

Payment is handled directly through Salla's subscription system. You choose a plan from the Salla App Store and your balance is managed there. Contact us for details on available plans and order volume limits.

When your purchased order balance is exhausted, the service stops processing new events automatically. Incoming webhooks will be received but not forwarded to Respond.io — they will be logged with an Ignored status in your dashboard.

To resume service, purchase a new plan directly from the Salla App Store → Respond Connect → Plans. The service reactivates immediately once your subscription is renewed.

Yes. We offer a setup and testing period so you can verify that everything works correctly for your store before committing to a subscription. Reach out to get started.

Respond Connect is a relay service — if any third-party platform experiences downtime, that part of the pipeline is temporarily affected.

• If Salla/Zid is down — webhooks are not delivered to us. Events are lost on their side (not ours). We cannot recover them retroactively.
• If Respond.io is down — our API calls will fail. The failure is logged in your dashboard as an error. No retry is currently performed automatically.

We are not liable for downtime or failures caused by third-party platforms. See our Privacy Policy — Section 6 for full liability details.

We offer direct support through:

• 📱 WhatsApp: +966 559 172 959
• 📧 rnd@web-illumination.sa
• 🌐 web-illumination.sa

Response time is typically within a few hours during business days (KSA timezone, GMT+3).

Respond Connect is built and operated by Web Illumination Est., a Saudi-based company. We aim to operate in compliance with:

• Saudi Personal Data Protection Law (PDPL)
• E-Commerce Law
• Anti-Cybercrime Law

Merchants remain responsible for their own compliance obligations related to customer communication and marketing. See our full Privacy Policy for details.