Group Inbox is a pooled, cross-shop conversation view for locations that share ownership. If your currently active location belongs to a shop group — the setup SalesThumb uses for locations under common ownership — Group Inbox at /app/group-inbox pulls every conversation from every shop in that group into one list, tags each thread with the location it came from, and lets you reply, or start a new text, without leaving the page. Each message goes out from the location the customer belongs to automatically — normally as a text from that location's own number — so you never have to pick a number or switch your active shop to reach a customer at a different location.
Getting to Group Inbox
Group Inbox isn't in the main sidebar. It shows up as an extra entry in the location switcher (the same menu you use to jump between your shops), labeled with your group's name and "Combined Inbox." That entry only appears once your currently active location belongs to a shop group with more than one location in it, you hold an Owner or Admin role on your active location, and your org has the HQ add-on active. Click it to land on the combined view.
If your active location isn't part of a shop group at all, or you don't have the Owner/Admin role or the HQ add-on, going to the page directly shows a short explanation and a link back to your regular Inbox instead. If your location is grouped but that group only has one shop in it so far, the switcher entry stays hidden — but opening the page directly still works, it just won't have any other location's conversations to pool in yet.
Reading pooled conversations
The thread list works like the regular Inbox, with one addition: every row carries a small location badge showing which shop that conversation belongs to. Threads flagged urgent by SalesThumb's AI float to the top; everything else sorts by most recent activity. Unread messages show a count badge, and you can search across customer name, phone number, or location name to narrow the list down.
The list has two tabs. Conversations holds threads with a customer on file. Leads holds web chat, Messenger, Instagram, and WhatsApp visitors who haven't given contact details yet, from every location in the group. Leads are read-only here: the button on a lead opens that location's own Inbox on the thread (switching your active location to it first if it's a different one), where you can answer on the channel the visitor used and save their contact details.
Above the thread list is a collapsible summary strip showing the group's combined revenue and appointments booked for the day, plus any active alerts. Expand it to see the same numbers broken out location by location.
Replying to a conversation
Click a thread to open its full message history in the panel on the right, along with the name of the location it belongs to. Type a reply in the message box and press Enter (Shift+Enter for a line break) or click the send button. The message goes out automatically from that specific location, not from your active shop. Normally that's a text from the location's own number, so the customer sees a reply that looks exactly like it came from wherever they've been talking to. The exception is a customer who has been chatting with you on website chat, Messenger, Instagram, or WhatsApp: their reply can go back on that chat instead (see "Things to know" below), and the note under the message box says so. Nothing in this view goes out as an email.
If a conversation has an unread customer message waiting, a "Mark read" button appears at the top of the panel so you can clear it without leaving the thread.
A box appears above the message field — "This customer asked us to text them." — only for what is really a first text to an open lead: the customer has an open lead at that location, there's no texting permission on their record yet, and the customer and that location have never texted each other in either direction (an email, or a message imported from another system, doesn't count). Tick it only once they actually asked to be texted. Send stays off until you do, and SalesThumb notes it on their record. The box starts unticked for every customer you open, so a tick never carries over from one conversation to the next.
If that location doesn't have its own approved texting number yet, a notice above the message box says so and Send stays off. Every location texts from its own number — there's no shared SalesThumb number to fall back on — so switch to that location and set it up in its own Settings → Texting. If SalesThumb has paused or locked the location, or it's closed, the notice says that instead. In every one of these cases the AI reply button goes grey too, so a draft isn't written (and that location's AI allowance isn't spent) for a message that can't go out.
Starting a new conversation
To text a customer who isn't in the list yet, click New message at the top of the thread list. Type at least two characters of a name, phone number, or email and Group Inbox searches the customers of every location in the group. Each result shows the customer's location badge and a masked phone number and email: a phone shows only its last four digits, and an email shows its first letter and its domain (like j•••@example.com). If your role isn't allowed to see customers' contact details, those show as "Restricted" instead, and the search only matches names, so typing a phone number or an email won't find anyone. When the group has more than one location, the location buttons under the search box narrow the results to one location. Pick a customer to open their conversation. If you've never texted them, it opens empty, ready for your first message.
A message always goes out from the location the customer belongs to — normally as a text on that location's own number. Customers belong to a single location, so you can't text a customer "as" a different location, and the same person at two locations shows up twice, once per location. The search only finds customers who already exist at one of your locations; to text someone new, add them as a customer in that location first.
A result is greyed out, with the reason shown, when you can't text it from here: its location has no approved texting number yet, SalesThumb has paused or locked it, or it's closed (or SalesThumb couldn't check its account status just then); the customer replied STOP to stop texts; or there's no phone number on their record. The first text still needs the "This customer asked us to text them" box when it appears, exactly like a reply.
AI reply drafts
Next to the message box is an AI reply button. Tap it and SalesThumb reads the conversation and drafts two or three short replies to choose from. Picking one only fills the message box. You edit it and press send yourself, and nothing is ever sent for you.
Drafts follow the location the conversation belongs to, not the one you're signed in to. That location needs the Growth plan or higher, the drafts use that location's own AI allowance, and they draw on that location's own AI Assistant settings and knowledge base (entries it has switched off there are ignored). If it's on a lower plan, the button tells you so and names the location, and you can still write the reply yourself. If that location has turned off Auto-suggest replies in its Settings → AI Assistant, the button is greyed out, and it's greyed out too while that location can't send a text.
Things to know
- Requires Owner or Admin on your active shop. This is checked against the location you currently have active, not any org-wide role — a manager or staff account, or an Owner/Admin who's currently working from a different location, won't see or reach Group Inbox.
- A single-shop group won't show the switcher entry. A shop that's technically assigned to a group but has no sibling shop in it yet won't show the Combined Inbox entry in the location switcher. Opening the page directly still works in that case — it's just a combined view of one location, with no other location's conversations to add in.
- Requires the HQ add-on to be active on your org. Group Inbox is part of SalesThumb's paid HQ tier; without that add-on enabled, the feature isn't available even if your shops are grouped correctly.
- Shop groups are part of your account setup, not something you configure yourself here. This page reads a group that's already been established for co-owned locations — it doesn't include a way to create or edit a group.
- Each location needs its own approved texting number. Texting is set up per location in Settings → Texting. A location without one can't send from Group Inbox, even if the location you're signed in to can.
- Replies are text-only from this view. There's no photo/MMS attachment or email option in the Group Inbox message box, and what you type goes out as plain text — as a text message, or on a chat channel (next point). Use that location's own Inbox if you need to send a photo or an email.
- Customers who talk to you on a chat channel get your reply there. If a customer has no text or email history with a location (imported message history doesn't count) and the newest message in their conversation is on website chat, Messenger, or Instagram, a reply from Group Inbox goes back on that chat, not as a text. WhatsApp is the same with one difference: if the newest message in the conversation is on WhatsApp, the reply goes back on WhatsApp even when the customer has text or email history with that location. WhatsApp only lets you send a free-form reply within 24 hours of the customer's last WhatsApp message to you; after that the reply is refused, and only an approved template can be sent. Group Inbox has no template picker, so open that location's own Inbox to send one.
- Marking a thread read here marks it read everywhere. It's the same underlying conversation data as that shop's regular Inbox, so there's nothing to reconcile between the two views.
- This is a lighter-weight view than your regular Inbox. It covers reading, replying, new texts, and AI reply drafts, but not email, photo attachments, WhatsApp templates, or replying to Leads — open that location's own Inbox for those.
Frequently asked questions
Q: Who can see Group Inbox?
A: Anyone with an Owner or Admin role on their currently active shop, as long as that shop belongs to a shop group and the org's HQ add-on is active. The Combined Inbox entry in the location switcher only shows up once that group has more than one location in it — but going to the page directly opens it even for a single-shop group, just without any other location's conversations to pool in yet.
Q: Where do I find Group Inbox?
A: It's not in the main sidebar. Look in the location switcher — the menu you use to jump between shops — for an entry labeled with your group's name and "Combined Inbox." It only appears once your active shop is grouped with at least one other location.
Q: When I reply from Group Inbox, whose number does it send from?
A: The reply always goes out from the location the conversation started with, not your currently active shop, and normally as a text through that location's own number. You don't have to pick a number or channel — it's automatic. The exception is a customer who chats with you on website chat, Messenger, Instagram, or WhatsApp: their reply can go back on that chat instead of as a text. If that location doesn't have an approved texting number of its own yet, Send stays off and a notice above the message box says so.
Q: Can I send photos or emails from Group Inbox?
A: Not from this view — there's no attachment or email option, and a reply goes out as plain text, as a text message or back on the chat channel the customer used. If you need to attach a photo or send by email, open that conversation in the specific location's own Inbox instead.
Q: How do I start a new text to a customer from Group Inbox?
A: Click New message at the top of the thread list, type at least two characters of the customer's name, phone number, or email, and pick them from the results. Group Inbox searches the customers of every location in the group, and the text goes out from the location the customer belongs to, on that location's own number. If your role can't see customers' contact details, the search matches names only. The customer has to already exist at one of your locations — add them there first if they don't.
Q: Does Group Inbox have AI reply suggestions?
A: Yes. The AI reply button next to the message box drafts two or three short replies for the open conversation; picking one only fills the message box, and you edit and send it yourself. The drafts follow the location the conversation belongs to, not the one you're signed in to: that location needs the Growth plan or higher, and the drafts use its own AI allowance. If it's on a lower plan, the button explains that and names the location.
Q: Why is a customer greyed out in New message, or Send turned off?
A: A customer is greyed out, with the reason shown, when you can't text them from Group Inbox: their location has no approved texting number yet, has been paused or locked by SalesThumb, or is closed, they replied STOP to stop texts, or there's no phone number on their record. Send turns off for the same location-level reasons. Texting is set up per location, so switch to that location and fix it in its own Settings → Texting.
Q: Why don't I see the Combined Inbox entry even though my shops share an owner?
A: A few things have to line up: your active shop needs to actually be set up as part of a shop group (this is part of your account structure, not something you configure yourself), that group needs more than one location, you need Owner or Admin on your active shop, and the org's HQ add-on needs to be active.
Q: If I mark a message read in Group Inbox, does it show as read in that shop's own Inbox too?
A: Yes. Group Inbox reads and writes the same conversation data as each shop's regular Inbox, so there's nothing separate to keep in sync.