Your catalogue, explained one question at a time
Joomla shops are often specialist: tea and coffee merchants, outdoor equipment, spare parts, regional produce. Their customers ask precise questions — "a green tea low in caffeine for the evening", "a replacement filter for this model" — that a category page answers badly. AI SmartTalk reads your catalogue and answers those questions in a conversation.
The AI SmartTalk system plugin detects HikaShop and sends your public products with their variants, prices, promotions, stock, images, custom fields and category tree. The agent filters on those real values rather than on guesses, and shows its suggestions as product cards that link to your product pages. VirtueMart is also detected, with a simpler catalogue described in the limits below.
What the agent does
Searches by what the shopper means
A request in everyday words becomes a search over your catalogue that keeps every criterion: type of product, budget, brand, attribute values such as size, flavour or material, and whether it is in stock.
Reads variants and promotions
Each HikaShop variant is synced with its own price, stock, SKU and image, and discounted products carry their original price and the discount. The agent can therefore say that the 250 g tin is in stock while the 1 kg bag is not, or that a price is reduced.
Shows prices the way your shop does
In the plugin you choose whether prices are sent with tax, without tax, or as your shop displays them, so the agent quotes the same figures as your product pages.
Adds to cart for signed-in customers
Product cards carry an Add to cart button when the customer is logged in to your Joomla site. The item lands in their HikaShop cart, and the widget offers a link to the checkout.
Uses your custom fields
HikaShop custom fields — origin, compatibility, care instructions, dimensions and weight — are exported by default, and you can choose which ones the agent receives.
Set it up
- 1
Install and enable the plugin
Download the ZIP from the Joomla page of your AI SmartTalk dashboard, upload it in System → Install → Extensions, then enable the AI SmartTalk plugin in System → Manage → Plugins.
- 2
Connect and pick the agent
Click Connect with AI SmartTalk in the plugin, sign in and authorise the site. The plugin detects HikaShop (or VirtueMart) automatically.
- 3
Set the catalogue rules
Tick products, choose whether out-of-stock items are included, select the custom fields to export and how prices are shown. Switch Enable Auto Sync on so HikaShop product saves and deletions reach the agent, then run the first sync.
- 4
Turn the widget on and test
Switch Enable Chatbot on, add buying guides or brewing advice to the knowledge base, and try a few typical requests to check the suggestions before your customers see them.
Honest limits
What it does not do
The full catalogue is available with HikaShop. With VirtueMart, products are sent without images, child products appear as separate items rather than variants, custom fields and promotions are not exported, and changes only reach the agent through the manual sync button. Only one shop extension is read: if both are installed, HikaShop is used. Only public products are synced, prices use your main currency and default tax zone, and the Add to cart button needs a signed-in customer. AI SmartTalk does not read orders on Joomla, change prices or create discount codes.
Frequently asked questions
Which shop extensions are supported?
HikaShop is fully supported, including variants, promotions and custom fields. VirtueMart is supported in a simpler form, without images or variants.
Are out-of-stock products recommended?
Not by default. Out-of-stock products are left out unless you switch on the option to include them, for instance if you take back-orders.
How do new products reach the agent?
With Auto Sync switched on, creating, updating or deleting a HikaShop product updates the agent immediately. Otherwise, run a sync from the plugin.
Can guests add products to their cart from the chat?
No. The Add to cart button appears for customers who are logged in to your Joomla site; guests get product cards that link to the product page.
Which plan do I need?
Any AI SmartTalk plan, from €9.90 per month with a 30-day free trial. A large catalogue may need a plan that allows more documents.
Sources
More solutions
Other use cases on this platform
- Customer support
Customer support on Joomla
One plugin connects your Joomla site to an AI agent that answers from your own articles, recognises signed-in members and passes the conversation to a person when a question needs one.
- Lead generation
Lead generation on Joomla
The agent answers technical questions from your articles, then collects what your sales team needs — company, need, quantity, deadline — and alerts them the moment a lead comes in.
- Appointment booking
Appointment booking on Joomla
Visitors ask for a time in their own words; the agent offers the nearest free slots from your SmartCalendar, books the one they choose and sends the confirmation by email.
- FAQ automation
FAQ automation on Joomla
The agent learns your articles, your FAQ spreadsheets and your PDF guides, answers each question with the relevant passage, and says plainly when the answer is not in your content.
Product recommendations on other platforms
- Product recommendations
Product recommendations on Shopify
Shoppers describe what they need in their own words; the agent searches your Shopify catalog, checks options and stock, and answers with products they can open in one tap.
- Product recommendations
Product recommendations on WooCommerce
Customers describe their need — a skin type, an ingredient to avoid, a budget — and the agent picks matching products and variations from your store, then explains the choice.
- Product recommendations
Product recommendations on PrestaShop
Shoppers describe what they need; the agent searches your PrestaShop products down to the combination, checks price and stock, and answers with product cards.
- Product recommendations
Product recommendations on WhatsApp
Customers describe what they need in a message or a voice note; the agent searches your synced catalog and replies with the products that fit, with a link to each.
- Product recommendations
Product recommendations on Messenger
People ask your Page for a product; the agent searches your synced catalog and answers with a carousel of cards — photo, price and a button to the product page.
- Product recommendations
Product recommendations on Instagram
Followers ask for a product, a price or a size by DM; the agent searches your synced catalog and replies with up to three product cards that open your store.
- Product recommendations
Product recommendations on Telegram
Customers describe what they want to your bot; the agent searches your synced shop catalog and replies with suitable products and a link to each.
