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 without leaving the page. Each reply goes back out as a text message through that specific location's own number automatically, so you never have to pick a channel or switch your active shop to answer 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.
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 as a text from that specific location's own number — not your active shop's number — so the customer sees a reply that looks exactly like it came from wherever they've been talking to. Replies from this view go out as SMS only.
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.
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.
- Replies are text-only from this view. There's no photo/MMS attachment or email option in the Group Inbox reply box; use that location's own Inbox if you need to send a photo or an email.
- 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 doesn't currently include AI-suggested replies, a new-conversation composer, or a lead-threads view — those live in each shop's own single-location Inbox.
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 through the number that actually belongs to the location the conversation started with, not your currently active shop. You don't have to pick a channel or identity — it's automatic, and it always sends as a text message.
Q: Can I send photos or emails from Group Inbox?
A: Not from this view — replies here send as text messages only. If you need to attach a photo or send by email, open that conversation in the specific location's own Inbox instead.
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.