Calling hours, consent and opt-outs: the defaults ACR ships with
Why the defaults are strict
Calling and texting people about a purchase is regulated, and the rules differ by country and, in the United States, by state. A campaign that reaches the wrong person at the wrong time costs more than the order it was after. So ACR starts every campaign with the conservative setting on, and loosening one is a decision you make on purpose.
This post describes the product. It is not legal advice, and your store remains responsible for the consent it collects and what its campaigns say.
Hours are the shopper's, not yours
The recommended schedule allows contact from 8 am to 9 pm in the shopper’s local time. On top of that, ACR applies stricter state and country rules, public holidays and per-state daily limits on calls. A store in New York reaching a shopper in California works to California’s clock.
The check happens twice: when the step is scheduled, and again just before it runs. A step that lands outside the allowed hours waits for the next allowed time.
Consent before contact
With the consent check on, which is the default, ACR contacts a shopper on a channel only when the store has a record of consent for that channel: the text-message box at Shopify checkout, the customer’s marketing status, a consent field sent through the API, a column in an imported file, or a note recorded by someone on your team. Email has its own setting, and starts by requiring recorded email consent too.
Each consent record keeps where it came from and when, so you can answer the question “why did this person get a call?”
STOP is read first
When a text comes in, ACR checks it for STOP, HELP and START before the agent reads it. STOP adds the shopper to your store’s suppression list for every channel, calls and email included, and ends the run. HELP gets a reply naming your store and how to opt out. START lifts that opt-out and records consent to texts.
On a call, a shopper who asks not to be contacted again is added to the list the same way. You can add numbers and addresses to the list yourself, and no campaign can contact anyone on it.
The agent says what it is
By default the agent introduces itself by name and your store's name, and a campaign setting adds that it is an AI assistant. Whatever you choose there, it answers truthfully when a shopper asks whether it is a person. That second part has no switch.
If you record calls, the agent says so in states that require everyone on the call to agree, or on every call if you choose. New campaigns allow calls and texts to the United States and Canada only, and each other country is a separate decision.
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