How to create an online shop bot in Telegram

For a small shop, café or home business, there's no need to build a separate website or a complex app — you can start with a bot that shows your products and takes orders from customers right inside Telegram. This guide shows how to launch the Shop bot from the Ready-made bots catalog without writing code.

Why a shop bot is convenient

When a customer messages the bot, they see a product list (with photo, name and price), add what they want to the cart and confirm the order — all inside Telegram, without visiting any website. As soon as an order comes in, you (the shop owner) get a message right away: who ordered what, and where to deliver it. This is especially handy for businesses that sell on Instagram or other social networks but don't have the time or budget for a separate website.

Steps

1. Get a token from @BotFather

Open @BotFather in Telegram, create a new bot with the /newbot command, and give it a name and username that match your shop. Save the token you're given — never share it. More: Getting a token.

2. Pick the Shop bot from the catalog

Go to the Shop bot page and click "Launch" (or "Launch for free" if it's available on the free plan). Enter your token.

3. Fill in your shop details

The settings form usually has fields such as your shop name, your admin ID for contact (who receives order notifications) and an initial welcome text. Review the full list of settings and the explanation for each on the bot page beforehand.

4. Add products

In many ready-made shop bots, you add products from an admin panel (inside Telegram, via /admin or a similar command) — with a name, price, photo and optional description. Once the bot is running, the "Commands" table on the bot page shows exactly which command is for adding products.

5. Describe delivery or pickup terms

Enter what customers need to know before ordering (delivery price/area, opening hours, payment methods) in the settings or the welcome text.

6. Test it

Message the bot as a customer, pick a product and place a test order. Check that you as the admin (or the admin ID you set) receive the order notification.

7. Share your shop link with customers

Once the bot is ready, put its @username in your Instagram bio, on your business card, or send it directly to customers — anyone who opens the bot in Telegram sees your shop right away.

Which plan to choose

If the bot is available on the Free plan, you can start there for testing or for a shop with few orders — no card required. As orders grow and you need the bot to run continuously (without sleeping) with more resources, switching to a paid plan is recommended: a free-plan bot may be put to sleep when resources are needed and wakes within a few seconds on a new message, which may be noticeable during busy sales hours.

If you need changes later

You can download the shop bot's source code as a ZIP from the bot page at any time, have an AI assistant add the extra feature you need (e.g. integration with a payment system), and deploy it on a paid plan as your own bot. More: How ready-made bots work.

Why selling inside Telegram is convenient

For small businesses active on Instagram or other social networks, building a separate website, connecting a domain and keeping it updated takes a lot of time and money. With a Telegram bot, the customer orders in a few taps inside an app they already use, without installing anything. On top of that, every order and every conversation with customers through the bot is kept in one place — Telegram — so your customer communication doesn't get scattered across other apps.

Working with multiple admins

If someone else on your team also takes orders, you can add their Telegram ID to the admin list too (usually comma-separated) — then order notifications reach everyone at once, and it's easy to see who replied first. The settings form on the bot page explains this field clearly.

FAQ

Can the shop bot accept payments?

The standard template is designed to take the order and notify the admin; payment is usually collected in cash, by card transfer or on delivery. For deeper integration with a payment system, the bot's code would need to be changed.

Can I run several shops with one bot?

A separate bot (separate token) for each shop is recommended — that way customers don't get mixed up, and each shop has its own statistics.

Does it work with a large product list?

Yes, but a very large catalog (hundreds of products, complex search, filters) may call for a custom-built bot — in that case you can extend the existing code with an AI assistant.