Let Shoppers Send a Photo in Chat and Ask Your AI About It

Shoppers can attach a photo to their message in the Rep AI chat widget and ask a question about it. The AI looks at the image, understands what is in it, and answers with that in mind — so "do you have this in blue?", "is this the item I ordered?", or "what's wrong with this?" gets a reply that reflects the actual photo.

It is on by default for every store, with nothing to set up. If you prefer shoppers not to attach photos, you can turn it off in your Console at any time.

1. A paperclip icon sits in the chat input, next to where shoppers type. It is there throughout the conversation — before the first message and at any point after.

2. Tapping it opens the device's file picker. On desktop, shoppers can also drag an image straight onto the chat window; a "Drop your image here" area appears while they drag.

3. Once a photo is attached, a small card appears above the input showing a thumbnail, the file name, and the file size, with an ✕ to remove it and choose a different one.

4. The input prompt changes to "Ask about this image…", because a message is required alongside the photo. Send stays inactive until the shopper types their question.

5. On send, the photo and the question appear together in the shopper's message, and the AI begins replying.

The paperclip is keyboard accessible — shoppers can Tab to it and activate it with Enter or Space.

Answers questions about the item in the image. Colour, material, shape, condition, what the item appears to be, whether two things match — the AI describes what it observes and answers on that basis.

Finds matching products from your catalogue. When a shopper sends a photo of a product and asks whether you carry it, the AI describes the item in its own words and searches your catalogue on that description. Matches appear in the same product carousel shoppers already see, with Learn more and Add to cart.

Feeds your support skills. A photo shared during a damaged-order conversation goes to the AI handling that report, so the shopper is not asked to describe damage the AI can already see. The AI can also invite a shopper to attach a photo when having one would help it answer.

Reads text inside an image. Screenshots of order confirmations, emails, and error messages are legible to the AI, so a shopper can send one instead of retyping a long reference number.

Photos work best when the item fills most of the frame, the lighting is even, and only one item is in shot.

Turn photo upload off or back on

1. In your Rep AI Console, go to Settings › Chat widget and open the Chat experience tab.

2. Find the Shopper image upload card. A small preview of the shopper's message box sits next to it, so you can see the paperclip appear and disappear as you switch.

3. Switch it off (or back on).

4. Click Save and preview.

What shoppers see when it is off. The paperclip is removed from the chat input and dragging an image onto the chat window does nothing, on desktop and mobile. Everything else in the chat works as usual.

When it takes effect. Shoppers who open your site after you save see the change straight away. Shoppers who already have a page open see it within about a minute.

What keeps working. When your AI needs a photo to handle a request — for example a damaged-order report, a handoff to your team, or Virtual Try-On — it still shows its own photo form so the shopper can add one.

Where it applies. This setting controls the Rep AI chat widget on your website only. Photos customers send on Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp, or by email are not affected.

A shopper who wants to send a second photo removes the first, or sends it in a following message.

Product matching runs on the AI's written description of the photo searched against your catalogue text — it is not a reverse image lookup. Products with rich, descriptive titles, descriptions, and attributes match far more reliably than products with sparse ones, which makes this another reason to keep catalogue text detailed.

Each case is explained inline, right above the input, and clears on its own after a few seconds:

• A file that is not a JPG or PNG: "Only JPG or PNG files are supported."

• A file over the size limit: "Image must be 5 MB or smaller."

• More than one file at once: "Please attach one image at a time."

• A photo that fails to reach us: "Couldn't send your image. Tap to retry." Tapping retries the same photo, and the conversation carries on normally either way.

Do I need to enable this in my Console?
No. It is on for every store by default, on every plan. You only need the Console if you want to turn it off — see "Turn photo upload off or back on" above.

If I turn photo upload off, can my AI still collect photos for damaged orders?
Yes. Turning it off removes the paperclip and drag-and-drop from the chat input. When your AI asks for a photo as part of a support flow, such as a damaged-order report, it still shows its own photo form.

Can shoppers send PDFs, videos, or HEIC photos?
Not through the chat widget's paperclip — it accepts JPG and PNG images only. A shopper sending anything else sees the format message and can convert or screenshot the file instead.

Should shoppers ask their question in the same message as the photo?
Yes, and it is required. Asking in the same message also gives the AI the clearest picture of what the shopper wants to know about the image.

Are the photos stored anywhere?
Each uploaded photo is held for 24 hours and then deleted automatically. Photos are stored on Rep AI's existing image storage, and no new personal data fields are collected with them.

Does this affect my AI's instructions or training?
No changes are needed. If your instructions currently tell the AI to avoid asking shoppers for photos or screenshots, you can remove that line — the AI can now receive them.

Does the AI still recommend products normally?
Yes. A photo adds context to a conversation; it does not replace the AI's usual product search, support skills, or order lookups. Conversations without a photo behave exactly as they do today.

If a photo is not reaching your AI, or a shopper reports something unexpected, contact Rep AI support with the store name and roughly when the conversation happened, and our team can trace the specific message.