Sellium for RetailSellium for Retail:store-level stock and holds on WhatsApp
A customer asks whether the black jacket in size L is still at the downtown store, and the store manager is busy on the floor. Sellium checks each store's stock in real time, offers the nearest store that has it, and holds the item with a pickup code or sells it for in-store pickup or delivery, all in the same conversation.
How can a store chain answer on WhatsApp whether each location has an item in stock?
By connecting an AI sales agent for WhatsApp to the chain's OMS, POS or ERP. The agent understands the question the way the customer types it ("do you have the straight-leg jeans in a 32 at the downtown store?"), identifies the product and variant (size, color, model), checks that store's stock at that moment and answers in seconds. If it's out, it offers the nearest store with units, another variant or shipping from elsewhere in the network; if it's there, it holds the item with a pickup code or takes payment in the chat with a payment link.
In multi-store retail, the problem is rarely a lack of stock: it's that nobody reports it in time. Each store answers WhatsApp when it can, between customers on the floor, and an inquiry that waits half an hour goes cold or ends up at the chain next door. Sellium, the sales agent in the Vantegrate Suite, answers around the clock with stock from the whole network and hands the store team whatever needs a person, with the full conversation.
The full picture of the sector (all five agents applied to supermarkets, fashion, electronics, pharmacies and home improvement) is on the Retail page. And if you want to win back dormant loyalty members after the sale, that's what Revio does.
Where stock inquiries break down in a chain
They come up in every conversation with fashion, electronics, pharmacy and home improvement chains: the question is simple, but answering it well depends on who's free at the store.
Every store answers when it can
The inquiry lands on the store's phone and the manager answers between customers, with delays from several minutes to half an hour. After hours or on a busy peak-season Saturday, nobody answers at all.
Stock reported from memory
The associate replies "yes, I think we have it" without checking the system, the customer makes the trip and the item isn't there. A wrong answer costs the sale and, on top of that, trust in that store.
One WhatsApp per store, no oversight
Each location has its own number or uses someone's personal phone. Conversations never reach the CRM, the chain doesn't know how many inquiries come in per store or how many end in a sale, and the history leaves with the person.
Inquiries that never convert
Even when the stock is there, the sale slips away if the customer has to call, come in to check or wait for someone to set the item aside. Without holds or payment in the chat, purchase intent cools off before the customer reaches the store.
How Sellium solves it for a store chain
Every capability runs on your OMS, your POS and your business rules, not on canned answers or on the stock someone remembers.
Store stock
Real stock at every store
Checks availability by store and by variant (size, color, model) against the OMS or POS, such as Shopify POS, Oracle Retail Xstore, Lightspeed or LS Retail, at the moment of the inquiry, not against yesterday's spreadsheet.
Out at that store
The alternative that is in stock
If that store is out, it offers the nearest one with units, another available variant or shipping from elsewhere in the network, so the inquiry doesn't end with "we don't have it".
Holds
Holds with a pickup code
Sets the item aside at the store the customer picks, for as long as the chain decides (4 hours, 24 hours or whatever each format uses), and sends the pickup code. The store has it set aside when the customer arrives.
Payment in the chat
Sales for in-store pickup or delivery
Collects a deposit or the full amount with a Mercado Pago or Stripe link, or the payment gateway you already use, at the channel and loyalty member price, and leaves the sale ready for pickup or shipping. Details in taking payments on WhatsApp.
Store handoff
What needs a person goes to the store team
An exchange, a fit question or a customer who wants their usual associate: it routes the conversation to the right store with the full history, so the customer never has to repeat anything.
History
Every inquiry logged in the CRM
Product, store, whether it was in stock and whether it ended in a hold or a sale all go into the customer's CRM record. The chain stops depending on each store's phone to know what people ask for and what sells.
The jacket that wasn't at the downtown store
The full flow for a fashion chain's most common inquiry: the customer who wants to know whether their size is at their store before leaving home.
Saturday 10:52 AM
The inquiry reaches the chain's number
A customer writes: "do you have the black jacket from the window display in size L at the downtown store?". The downtown store is packed and the associate is covering the fitting rooms.
10:52 AM
Stock checked store by store
Sellium identifies the model from the description, checks the OMS and answers in seconds: downtown is out of size L, Midtown has two and the Westside store has one.
10:54 AM
A hold at the store that suits her
She picks Midtown so she can stop by in the afternoon. The agent holds the item until 6 PM, sends the pickup code and offers to take payment in the chat so she can skip the checkout line.
10:55 AM
Payment in the chat, item set aside
She pays with the payment link. The sale is recorded under her loyalty membership and the Midtown store has the jacket set aside with its code.
4:40 PM
Pickup at the store
She shows the code, picks up the jacket and, once in the store, adds a belt. The full conversation stays in her CRM record.
An inquiry that used to wait until someone at the store was free ended in a paid sale in three minutes, at another store and without anyone on the downtown team leaving the floor. Multiply that by every stock inquiry that comes in on a peak-season Saturday.
Why stock inquiries on WhatsApp drive sales, by the numbers
Public benchmarks on how customers buy when they ask before heading to the store.
68%
Of online shoppers checked online whether a product was available at a nearby store in the previous six months
85%
Of surveyed shoppers made additional purchases when they went to the store to pick up an online order
7x
More likely to qualify a lead when contacting it within the first hour than one hour later
Public benchmarks, not our own results. The Digital Commerce 360 (1,069 online shoppers) and Doddle (more than 2,000 shoppers) surveys were run in the US; the Harvard Business Review figure measures web leads contacted by phone or email and is used as a benchmark for response speed. Every Sellium implementation is measured against a baseline agreed with the chain (inquiries answered, holds and sales paid in the chat).
Secure AI agents that work with your data
Sellium works with stock across the whole network, loyalty member data and your customers' payments. That's why it runs 100% on Salesforce and Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, with those platforms' SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001 certifications, and payments go through PCI DSS certified gateways. We don't claim anyone else's certifications: Vantegrate enables, the customer operates and certifies.
Frequently asked questions about Sellium for Retail
Can Sellium check each store's stock in real time?
Can Sellium check each store's stock in real time?
Yes, against the system where the chain's stock lives: the OMS, the POS or the ERP. It answers by store and by variant at the moment of the inquiry, so it's as accurate as the stock your system records. If store stock isn't reliable in some format, you can set the agent to confirm with the store before holding the last unit.
How do holds for in-store pickup work?
How do holds for in-store pickup work?
The agent sets the item aside at the store the customer chooses, for as long as the chain decides, and sends a pickup code. The store has the hold so it can set the item aside, and if the customer doesn't come by in time, the unit goes back into available stock. A hold can come with a deposit, full payment or no payment, depending on each format's rule.
Can customers pay for the purchase on WhatsApp?
Can customers pay for the purchase on WhatsApp?
Yes. Sellium sends a payment link from Mercado Pago, Stripe or the payment gateway you already use, with whatever installment options that gateway offers, and the sale is recorded for in-store pickup or delivery. How payment works inside the chat is covered in taking payments on WhatsApp.
Should a chain use one WhatsApp number or one per store?
Should a chain use one WhatsApp number or one per store?
The usual setup is one number for the whole network: the agent asks or infers which store works for the customer and checks that store's stock. If the chain prefers to keep separate numbers per store, that works too. Either way, anything that needs a person is routed to the right store team with the full conversation.
Does Sellium replace store associates?
Does Sellium replace store associates?
No: it takes the repetitive stock, size and price questions off their plate while they're serving the floor, and captures the ones that come in at night or on weekends. Associates stay focused on what they do best, selling face to face, and get the conversations that need a person from the agent.
How much does Sellium cost for a store chain?
How much does Sellium cost for a store chain?
Sellium is priced in two parts: an initial implementation quoted for each company and a monthly subscription with expandable AI credits, with no lock-in. You pay for WhatsApp messages directly to Meta, on your own account and with no markup from us. For your chain's number, request a quote with your store count and the system where your stock lives.
Your next stock inquiry can end in a sale
Tell us how many stores you have, where your stock lives and how inquiries reach you on WhatsApp. We'll show you, with your catalog and your stores, how Sellium would answer them and what it would cost for your chain.
More solutions for Retail and Store Chains and with Sellium
The industry