Store Policies by Industry, Explained: What to Include for Every Vertical
TL;DR:
- Clear policies reduce tickets. When customers can’t find return windows or shipping timelines, they turn to your support team — often unnecessarily.
- Each vertical has different CX needs. A fashion shopper wants fit info. An electronics buyer needs setup help. Tailor your policies to match.
- Proactive placement matters. Don’t bury policies in the footer — surface them in product pages, chat, emails, and account portals where customers actually look.
- Policy + AI = self-service support. Gorgias’s AI Agent can guide shoppers to answers instantly, reducing WISMO and freeing up your team for high-value work.
For many ecommerce teams, store policies are an afterthought, tucked away in the footer or buried deep in the FAQ. But they shouldn’t be.
Great customer experience (CX) starts before a customer reaches out. And with 55% of shoppers preferring self-service support, your store policies are often their first stop for answers.
In this guide, we break down the must-have policies for five key ecommerce verticals, based on real Gorgias ticket data. From shipping delays to subscription changes, you’ll learn how to prevent tickets before they happen.
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Why store policies are a CX power move
If you’re constantly fielding questions about returns, shipping times, or order changes, it’s a policy opportunity.
Well-crafted store policies are one of your CX team's most effective tools for setting expectations, building trust, and preventing support issues before they happen. When done right, they turn common friction points into effortless experiences.
Common blind spots that lead to tickets
When policies are vague or hard to find, customers turn to your inbox, driving up ticket volume and slowing down your support team.
Here are the most common blind spots we see:
- Unclear or missing return windows lead to questions like, “Can I still return this?”
- No defined process for exchanges or edits confuses customers who need to fix an order.
- Subscription rules hidden in fine print frustrate loyal customers trying to pause, skip, or cancel.
- Shipping timelines that shift without explanation cause “Where’s my order?” messages that could’ve been avoided.
When policies aren’t clear or easy to find, customers turn to your inbox. And that means more tickets, wait times, and pressure on your team.
Proactive policies = fewer tickets, happier customers
Based on real data from Gorgias, these are the top 10 tickets customers send across channels like chat, contact forms, and email:
- Order damaged
- No reply tickets
- Shipping policy
- Shipping change
- Order change
- Product question
- Return status
- Thank you tickets
- Discount request
- Shipping status
What do most of these have in common? You can address them with clear, accessible policies.
15 store policies you need, organized by industry
Customer expectations aren’t one-size-fits-all, and your store policies shouldn’t be either.
What shoppers expect from a fashion brand is very different from what they need from a wellness company or electronics provider.
We’ve broken down the top policy must-haves by vertical, using real-world examples from Gorgias customers and ticket data.
Use these examples as your plug-and-play guide to write better policies, reduce ticket volume, and create smoother support experiences — no matter what you sell.
1. Apparel and fashion
When it comes to fashion, uncertainty drives tickets. “Will this fit?” “Can I return it?” “Where’s my order?” The most successful fashion brands like Princess Polly cut down on support volume by making these answers easy to find before customers ever reach out.
Key policies to prioritize
- Returns and exchanges: Be clear on timeframes, conditions, and the process. Bonus points for adding visuals or quick links to return portals.
- Size guide and fit: To minimize confusion, include details on model sizing, garment measurements, and fit notes.
- Order changes: Let customers know how to update their order before it ships.
- Shipping timelines: Set expectations around processing and delivery windows (especially during peak seasons).
Where to share store policies
- Link return and shipping policies on product detail pages (PDPs).
- Trigger chat campaigns with the sizing guide when shoppers linger on product pages.
- Add return instructions in post-purchase emails to cut “How do I return this?” tickets.
2. Consumer goods
Consumer goods customers often want to know two things right away: “What’s it made of?” and “When will it get here?” These questions can quickly pile up in your inbox if your policies aren’t front and center.
Trove Brands, home to household favorites like BlenderBottle and Owala, solves this by proactively answering product and shipping questions across their site and emails.
Key policies to prioritize
- Shipping: Share estimated delivery times, carrier information, and instructions on how customers can track their orders.
- Product specs and materials: List dimensions, materials, care instructions, and safety notes to avoid product-related confusion.
- Damage/defect resolution: Set clear expectations around what qualifies as a defect and how customers can report it.
- Warranty or guarantee: Outline what’s covered, for how long, and how to claim it, especially important for durable goods.
At the end of each product page, BlenderBottle shares a support menu where shoppers can find information on order status and replacement parts.
Where to share store policies
- Embed product-related FAQs directly on PDPs to answer questions where they arise.
- Use conversational AI assistants like AI Agent to automatically resolve tickets related to product questions and damaged orders.
- Add warranty and damage policy links in order confirmation and shipping emails to keep customers informed.
Read more: What's the secret to reducing WISMO requests?
3. Consumer electronics
In electronics, clarity is everything. Customers want to know how to use the product, what to do if it doesn’t work, and how to get a replacement — without jumping through hoops.
Over-the-counter hearing aid company Audien Hearing nails this by creating crystal-clear support content around setup, shipping, and returns, so customers can troubleshoot confidently and independently.
Key policies to prioritize
- Warranty/repairs: Explain what’s covered, how to file a claim, and turnaround times for repairs or replacements.
- Returns and exchanges: Clearly state the return window, list of eligible items, processing time, and whether you accept refunds, in-store credit, or exchanges.
- Shipping and delivery expectations: Share average delivery timelines and what to expect once a product ships.
- Troubleshooting steps: Provide self-service guides for common issues like connectivity, battery life, or setup confusion.
Audien Hearing has clear visual policies that make it simple for shoppers to find the info they need quickly.
Where to share store policies
- In chat, set up an automated flow that answers questions like “How do I set this up?” or “Can I return this?”
- Let customers track their return or exchange process, especially when high-value items are involved.
- Create step-by-step guides, accompanied by video or images, in your Help Center for setup and basic troubleshooting.
- Include warranty and return information in the product packaging, so customers have it readily available in case something goes wrong.
4. Health and wellness
In the health and wellness space, trust and transparency are everything. Customers want to feel confident that the products they’re using are safe and that the support will be just as thoughtful as the product itself.
Brands like period underwear brand Saalt do this exceptionally well, pairing clear product education with empathetic policies that guide customers through everything from first use to subscription changes.
Key policies to prioritize
- Product safety and use: Provide detailed instructions, safety disclaimers, and FAQs for first-time users, especially for intimate or ingestible products.
- Returns (especially for hygiene items): Be upfront about what can and can’t be returned, and include compassionate language to build trust.
- Order change or cancellation: Make it easy to update or cancel orders, especially for items that ship quickly or automatically.
- Subscription FAQs: Clearly explain how to skip, pause, or cancel a subscription, and what benefits subscribers get.
Saalt lets customers phrase questions themselves or choose from a dropdown menu.
Where to share store policies
- Prioritize clarity on your contact form by using dropdowns or checkboxes to organize customer inquiries by topic.
- Let AI Agent handle recurring product questions like “How do I use this?” or “Is this safe?” to free up your team.
- Include shipping and return info in SMS flows so customers can get answers on-the-go, without needing to email.
5. Food and beverage
Food and beverage customers tend to be both curious and cautious. They want to know what they’re putting in their bodies — and what to do if something goes wrong with the order.
Brands like Everyday Dose get ahead of these concerns by making their policies clear, accessible, and customer-first.
Key policies to prioritize
- Ingredient and allergen disclaimers: Transparency is everything. List ingredients, possible allergens, and sourcing details to build trust.
- Subscription changes: Give customers full control to pause, skip, or cancel deliveries with minimal friction.
- Damaged orders: Outline what customers should do if a product arrives broken or spoiled, and how fast they can expect a replacement.
- Shipping and delivery FAQs: Cover delivery timeframes, how orders are packed, and what to do if a shipment is delayed.
Everyday Dose lists frequently asked questions and makes it simple for customers to find important allergen and ingredient information.
Given that Everyday Dose is a mushroom supplement brand, many shoppers will likely have questions around allergens and exact ingredients. On each of their product pages, there is a clear “Read the Label” button.
Everyday Dose also has a chat which encourages customers to click through to the correct support link or to track their order.
Where to share store policies
- Enable self-service order management on chat to give customers real-time updates on shipping status and subscription changes.
- Feature policy links prominently in your customer account portal — especially for managing subscriptions.
- Include your damage/return policy in post-purchase and thank-you emails, so customers know exactly what to do if something’s wrong.
Pro Tip: Use a conversational AI platform to handle common questions at scale. For example, Gorgias’s AI Agent can instantly respond to FAQs like “How much is shipping?” or “When will my order arrive?” — all in your brand’s voice. And when a request needs a human touch, it routes the ticket to the right agent automatically.
Best practices for writing and distributing store policies
Even the most well-written policy won’t reduce tickets if it’s buried three clicks deep in your footer. To truly support your customers (and lighten your team’s workload), your policies need to show up in the right places, at the right moments.
Here’s how to get them in front of customers when they need them most:
Surface policies across key customer touchpoints
- Product detail pages: Link to size guides, shipping timelines, or ingredient lists directly on PDPs.
- Chat: Use a combination of automated flows and conversational AI to proactively suggest relevant policies based on the customer’s question or page.
- Help center: Turn your most common ticket topics into easy-to-scan articles with clear titles and headers.
- Email flows: Include return and warranty info in post-purchase emails, shipping updates, and thank-you messages.
- Account portals: Make it easy for customers to manage subscriptions, view order policies, and find FAQs in their account dashboard.
- SMS or mobile support: Include quick policy reminders in transactional texts, like shipping delays or renewal reminders.
3 core elements of a strong store policy
- Clear: Use plain language, short sentences, and bullet points. Avoid legal jargon.
- Accessible: Link them prominently in your footer, header, Help Center homepage, chat, and product pages.
- Actionable: Tell customers exactly what to do — where to click, who to contact, and what to expect.
Well-placed policies turn support into a self-service experience. They empower your customers to get what they need without ever opening a ticket — and that’s a win for everyone.
Turn store policies into your first line of support
Clear, proactive policies do more than answer questions. They prevent tickets, build trust, and make your support team’s job easier. By tailoring your policies to your industry and placing them where customers actually need them, you turn potential friction points into smooth experiences.
Want to take it a step further? Book a demo to see Gorgias’s AI Agent handle common inquiries like shipping, returns, and product questions, across chat, email, and contact forms.
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TL;DR
- Ecommerce teams are overwhelmed by app overload, with 42% using six tools daily—leading to inefficiencies, rising costs, and poor customer experiences.
- Top brands are consolidating their tech stacks, choosing deeply integrated, ecommerce-specific platforms to simplify operations and lower costs.
- AI adoption and excitement are accelerating, with 77.2% of ecommerce professionals using AI daily and 55.3% rating their excitement as an 8-10 out of 10.
- Gorgias powers AI-driven support and sales in one platform, through a single workspace that helps ecommerce teams resolve faster, sell smarter, and operate more efficiently.
At Gorgias, we work with over 16,000 ecommerce brands and one common challenge emerges over and over:
Ecommerce tools are essential, but too many tools becomes a burden.
With different teams responsible for different functions, brands risk creating a disconnected tech stack that causes inefficiencies, reduces productivity, and ultimately impacts profitability.
Ecommerce teams are shuffling between tabs, copying and pasting order numbers, searching for customer data, and trying to piece it all together. It’s not only inefficient—it’s expensive, frustrating, and unsustainable as you scale.
So we dug into that data.
Our 2025 Ecommerce Trends Report surveyed ecommerce professionals across industries and job roles to understand what they really think about tech stacks and AI’s role in it.
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Ecommerce professionals are approaching app overload
There is now an ecommerce app for every possible use case a brand could need. But as businesses adopt new technologies for each part of their customer journey, their teams end up working out of dozens of platforms.
The study found that 42.28% of ecommerce pros use at least six apps daily to perform their role. Regardless of the number of apps used, integration and compatibility are a must. When technologies don’t talk to each other, you spend time context-switching instead of focusing on customer experience.
For Audien Hearing, Gorgias’s open API allowed them to create an integration with its warehouse software to manage returns directly in Gorgias rather than a shared Google spreadsheet. This integration helped them reduce returns by 5%, protecting their margins and leading to higher customer satisfaction.
Read more: How Audien Hearing Increased Efficiency for 75 Agents and Reduced Product Returns by 5%
Consolidation is the smartest move a brand can make
The most successful ecommerce brands aren’t necessarily using more tools—they’re using smarter tools. Leading businesses are opting for platforms that are deeply integrated, AI-compatible, and built specifically for ecommerce needs.
A growing tech stack also comes with a growing tech budget. Each new app has new costs, including subscriptions, set-up, management, and development fees. They quickly add up.
Nearly 40% of ecommerce professionals spend $5,000 to $50,000 annually on their tech stack.
Different roles have different priorities
We asked ecommerce professionals what they actually value in their tools. Unsurprisingly, the answer changed based on who we were talking to.
Top tool benefits included:
- Revenue growth for support leaders, revenue-focused roles, and founders
- Simplified workflows and time savings for support agents
There’s a clear difference between what ecommerce leaders and agents value in a tool and considering both is key to success.
Why brands hesitate to consolidate
Despite the benefits of using fewer, well-integrated tools, there are a few things that hold brands back from consolidating their tech stacks.
We asked respondents:
What, if any, are the biggest deterrents to consolidating your tech stack?
Top concerns are:
- Compatibility issues with existing software (52.4%)
- Direct costs (fees for software licenses, subscriptions, or customizations) (47.6%)
- Time required (40.3%)
AI adoption is accelerating—and it’s driving results
AI is dominating the world of ecommerce. It impacts every aspect of the customer journey, from brand discovery to the post-purchase experience. AI is actively reshaping the way ecommerce professionals work, so we wanted to know how they feel about it.
- 77.2% of ecommerce professionals use AI and automation to perform their role in 2025, compared to 69.3% in 2024.
- 55.3% of respondents rate their excitement for AI as an 8-10, compared to 45.6% in 2024.
Despite growing usage and excitement, teams still have their concerns with AI:
Read more: 8 AI Trends in Ecommerce: What’s Changing and How to Prepare
The AI shift—From just a support tool to a sales engine
The most impactful use cases we’ve seen aren’t just about reducing support ticket volume. AI is now driving revenue, increasing conversion rates, and enabling 24/7 coverage without expanding headcount.
Gorgias’s AI Agent is now capable of virtual sales assistance through personalized product recommendations, dynamic discounts to reduce cart abandonment, and cross-sells and upsells.
Top brands are already leveraging these new capabilities and seeing results. For example:
- TUSHY uses a Gorgias AI Agent to accurately answer pre-sale questions, leading to a 15% conversion rate, with AI Agent driving 2x more sales than human agents.
- Trove Brands enabled an AI Agent named Wally that cut misshipments by 70%, meaning reducing unwanted charges, avoidable fulfillment costs, high return rates, and customer frustration.
- Caitlyn Minimalist uses AI to reduce response times by 99% and saw a 150% increase in ticket conversions.
Gorgias: A one-tab tool for Conversational AI
We asked one final question to make ecommerce folks really reflect on how they work:
How many tabs do you currently have open?
The average ecommerce professional works with 22 open tabs. We’re not here to judge, but if you’re looking to close a few of those tabs, Gorgias might be what you’re missing.
Gorgias replaces all that complexity with a single workspace. From support to sales, order management to automation, it all happens inside one platform.
Ecommerce businesses can now leverage Gorgias’s Advanced AI for both support and sales. Within the same AI Agent, ecommerce brands can
- Fully resolve customer inquiries, not just respond
- Provide order tracking details
- Cancel, edit, and manage orders in Shopify and integrated apps
- Process returns and exchanges
- Provide tailored product recommendations
- Drive conversions
- And much more!
Get your copy of the 2025 Ecommerce Trends Report
This blog just skims the surface of what we uncover in our 2025 Ecommerce Trends report.
Want the full story?
Download the complete 2025 Ecommerce Trends: AI Adoption & Smarter Tech Stacks report to access:
- Data-backed insights and trends from ecommerce professionals
- The biggest barriers to consolidation—and how to overcome them
- Real-world case studies from leading brands like TUSHY, Caitlyn Minimalist, and July that are winning with AI
- Tactical recommendations to future-proof your ecommerce stack through AI-powered consolidation
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If you're an ecommerce leader right now, you’re likely facing a new wave of uncertainty. Rising tariffs, disrupted imports, and sudden cost increases are putting pressure on your margins, and your customer relationships.
At Gorgias, we are working with thousands of brands that are grappling with tough calls: adjust prices, shift sourcing, or absorb costs to protect loyalty. And while the supply chain is where these issues start, the customer experience is where they play out.
Whether you’re a growing DTC or an enterprise brand, your customers deserve transparency. We know the pressure you're under, and we're here to help you navigate it. To help you not only manage the conversation, but lead it with clarity, empathy, and speed.
Ecommerce brands are in an impossible position right now, following the 24 hours news cycle, and waiting to see how tariffs will cut into profits and impact their business.
For customers? It can create confusion, frustration, and a flurry of angry tickets if brands aren’t proactive and transparent. But here's the truth: how your team talks about tariffs is just as important as what they say.
These moments of friction, and how you communicate these changes to your customers can be opportunities to build trust, reduce churn, and even demonstrate the real revenue power of your team. In a moment when clarity and trust are everything, the role of CX leaders is more important than ever.
When tariffs hit, CX takes the call
Tariffs may seem like a back-end issue, but in reality, they shape front-end experiences—from product pricing and availability to fulfillment speed and satisfaction.
For ecommerce brands, especially those sourcing from China or shipping globally, these trade shifts hit close to home. Products get more expensive, shipping slows down, and some SKUs disappear altogether.
And CX teams are often the first to hear about it. The question isn’t if you should communicate tariff implications, but how.
What customers actually want to know
Here’s the good news: customers don’t expect you to control global trade policy. But they do expect honesty.
What matters most right now is:
- Transparency: Be clear about what’s changing and why.
- Timing: Tell them before they find out at checkout.
- Empathy: Acknowledge that increased prices or delays are frustrating and explain what you're doing to help.
And even more specifically, your customers are likely looking for answers to three simple questions:
- Did the price increase? Why?
- Why can’t I find this product anymore?
- Is my order going to be delayed?
In times of change, trust becomes foundational. If you're not upfront about what’s happening and how it affects them, customers will fill in the blank, or worse, turn to competitors.
How to talk tariffs without losing trust
Be clear, not complicated
Tariffs are complex, but your messaging shouldn’t be. Strip out the policy jargon and explain the changes in human terms. Let customers know what’s changing, why it’s happening, and what steps you’re taking to protect their experience.
Instead of: “Due to regulatory changes impacting import duties…”
Say: “Because of new tariffs, some of our prices have gone up. Here’s why, and what we’re doing to keep costs down.”
Say the same thing everywhere
From your Help Center to your agents to your email updates, your message should be consistent. Mismatched explanations create confusion and erode trust. Align your team on the key talking points and update scripts and automations across all customer touchpoints.
Speaking of your Help Center, now might be a great time to create an article specifically about tariffs and how you’re approaching them. The article can serve as a source of truth for your customers and your AI agents on the front lines answering questions.
Lead with empathy
Customers don’t just want the facts, they want to know you care. Acknowledge the frustration, and offer reassurance. Small gestures like a personalized note or a shipping perk can show you’re on their side.
Be specific and honest
Generic messages fall flat. Give customers details that they can rely on: Are the changes permanent? Are you absorbing part of the cost? Is a specific product impacted? When you’re upfront about the situation, and how you’re responding to it, you build credibility.
Decide how AI Agents should help
Times of uncertainty are times to cut costs, but it may also mean increased ticket volume. AI agents can help on the frontlines. But be sure to build your handovers to escalate to your team in the right moments to build trust.
Start with transparency: Beis sets the bar
Luggage brand, Beis, recently sent an email to customers that is a great example in customer-first communication. Rather than quietly raising prices or burying fees in checkout, they called it what it was: tariffs.
They explained the change clearly, why it was happening, and what customers could expect. And most importantly, they acknowledged the frustration. No spin, or vague language, just a clear message from a brand that respects its customers enough to be honest with them.
This kind of proactive messaging does more than prevent a flood of support tickets. It creates alignment between the brand and the customer. Beis didn’t make the rules but they’re navigating them with their customers, not in spite of them.
Make it a CX conversation, not just a policy page
Too often, tariff policies get relegated to the FAQ page or terms and conditions. Customers typically only land there after they’re already confused or upset.
Instead, CX should treat tariffs as a key part of the customer journey and be equipped to speak about them empathetically and clearly.
1. Proactive chat leads to fewer surprises
Add a proactive message to your chat widget that addresses tariff-related questions before they even come up. A short note like, “You may notice some pricing changes – here’s why,” with a link to your FAQ or a specific article, helps to deflect confusion and prevents cart abandonment.
2. Update your FAQ with key information
Surface timely information right where customers are most likely to look. Use your chat or search function to include a clear callout.
“Looking for information on recent pricing or shipping updates? Here’s what changed.”
This type of visibility empowers self-service, and reduces ticket volume.
3. Equip your agents with scripts that are genuine
Don’t leave your support team guessing. Create internal scripts with clear language on what to say (and what to avoid) when talking tariffs. Script empathy, not just compliance: Empower agents with language that acknowledges the inconvenience while reinforcing the brand's values.
Say:
- We’ve made some pricing updates due to new tariffs, and we’re doing everything we can to minimize the impact.
- We know this change may be frustrating. Here’s how we’re helping our customers through it.
Avoid:
- Overly technical or vague terms like “regulatory adjustments” or “economic climate shifts.”
- Any messaging that deflects responsibility or blames external factors without explanation.
4. Build smart macros for Tariff FAQs
If you’re using automation, make sure your AI Agent and autoresponders can explain tariff policies accurately and compassionately. Use macros to ensure fast, consistent replies, without sacrificing tone. Some key macro themes to create:
- Why did prices increase?
- Are tariffs permanent?
- Is my order delayed because of tariffs?
- Why is this product no longer available?
Each macro should strike a balance of clarity, empathy, and brand voice, offering both the what and the why.
You can’t control tariffs. But you can control trust.
Tariffs might be out of your control. But how you talk about them? That’s entirely in your hands.
This is your moment as a CX leader, not just to react but to lead. To turn friction into transparency, tension into trust, and confusion into connection. Because when policies change overnight and customer confidence is on the line, the brands that communicate with honesty, consistency, and care don’t just survive. They strengthen loyalty.
Your customers don’t expect perfection. They expect clarity. They expect empathy. And they expect you to show up.
At Gorgias, we’re here to make sure you can. With tools to automate answers, personalize conversations, and empower your team to deliver the kind of CX that builds long-term brand equity, even when times get tough.
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The Engineering Work That Keeps Gorgias Running Smoothly
TL;DR:
- Gorgias eliminated helpdesk outages by implementing multiple database connection pools with PgBouncer, achieving over 99.99% uptime.
- We accelerated data retrieval by organizing 40TB of data into 128 partitions, reducing query times to less than 4ms.
- Our streamlined incident response process with dedicated Slack channels and clear roles now resolves almost all incidents in under an hour.
- Looking ahead, we're strengthening security, doubling our SRE team, implementing production readiness reviews, and enhancing monitoring tools.
When customer service teams are at their busiest, they need a helpdesk that keeps up. That’s exactly why our Site Reliability Engineering (SRE) team has been working behind the scenes to make the Gorgias platform faster than ever.
Over the past year, we've made remarkable improvements to our platform to eliminate bottlenecks, speed up data retrieval, and reduce incidents. For you, this means fewer disruptions, faster load times, and a more reliable helpdesk experience.
Here's how we did it.
Eliminating helpdesk outages by increasing our connection pools
The challenge
Our platform relied on a single, shared database connection pool to manage all queries. Think of it as having just one pipe handling all the water flowing through your house — when too much water rushes in at once, the whole system backs up.
In practice, this meant a single surge in database requests could clog the entire system. When lower-priority background tasks got stuck, they could prevent high-priority operations (like loading tickets or running automations) from working properly. This would cause the entire helpdesk to slow down or, worse, become completely unresponsive.
The solution
Using PgBouncer, a tool that manages database connections and reduces the load on a server, we implemented multiple connection pools. Instead of relying on a single pipeline to stream all requests, we created separate "pipes" for different requests.
Like how road traffic picks up again after an exit, routing our database traffic into separate connection pools makes sure high-priority customer interactions don’t lag behind automated background tasks.
This solution is future-proof. In the event that a lower-priority task is delayed in one connection pool, other functionalities of the helpdesk will continue working because of the remaining connection pools.
The benefits
The results speak for themselves:
- Complete elimination of helpdesk-wide outages caused by connection pooling issues
- Faster response times — 99% of automated rules tasks take less than 800 milliseconds to complete from inception
- Partial degradation instead of full outages if issues do occur — at worst, only a single feature might be affected instead of your entire helpdesk
We've eliminated incidents caused by connection pool issues in the helpdesk completely. This reduced major helpdesk outage incidents by around four per year and maintained an average uptime of over 99.99%.
Speeding up the helpdesk by organizing 40TB of data into 128 partitions
The challenge
As Gorgias grew to over 15,000 customers, so did the volume of data. We’re talking data from tickets, integrations, automations, and many more. The combination of more users and data meant slower searches within the helpdesk.
However, the amount of data was not the problem — it was how our data was organized.
Imagine this: An enormous storage room full of file cabinets containing every piece of data. Sure, those file cabinets kept data organized, but you would still need to spend time searching through the entire room, running up and down aisles of cabinets, to find your desired file. This method was cumbersome.
We needed a more efficient way to keep our data easy to find, especially as more customers used our platform.
The solution
The answer was database partitioning — breaking our large datasets into smaller, more manageable segments. Using Debezium, Kafka, and Kafka-connect JDBC, all managed by Terraform, we migrated over 40TB of data, including 3.5 billion tickets, without a moment of downtime for our merchants.
Instead of a giant room with thousands of file cabinets, we divided that giant room into 128 smaller rooms. So now, instead of looking for a file in one room, you know you just need to go into room number 102, which has a much smaller area to search.
This approach allows our system to quickly pinpoint the location of data, significantly reducing the time it takes to find and deliver information to users.
Additionally, database maintenance has become more efficient. Some of the partitions can probably sit without needing to be changed at all. We just have to maintain the partitions that are getting new files, which cuts down on maintenance time.
The benefits
Better database partitioning provides several benefits:
- Faster queries — We have an average of 600 lookups or updates per second across these databases, each taking less than 4ms
- More efficient database maintenance — We halved the number of automated maintenance runs and cut each run’s duration in half
- Better scalability as our infrastructure is now equipped to handle continued customer growth
Faster resolutions with a streamlined incident response process
The challenge
When incidents occurred in the past, our response process was inconsistent, leading to delays in resolution. It was sometimes unclear who should take the lead, what immediate actions were required, and how to effectively communicate with affected customers.
Additionally, post-incident reviews varied in quality, making it difficult to prevent similar issues from happening again. We needed a standardized framework to address incidents in a timely fashion.
The solution
To streamline incident management, we introduced a replicable, automated process:
- Dedicated Slack channels — Every incident gets its own Slack channel, ensuring our team is immediately notified.
- Clear roles & responsibilities — We defined specific roles so every engineer knows what next steps to take.
- Retrospectives — After each incident, we conduct thorough post-mortems to analyze root causes, identify improvements, and share learnings across teams.
- Proactive prevention — By improving our monitoring tools, we catch potential issues earlier, reducing the likelihood of major disruptions.
The benefits
With our improved incident management process:
- Response times have decreased significantly — almost all incidents are mitigated in under an hour
- Customers receive clearer communication during incidents, including our regularly updated Gorgias Status page
- 100+ smarter preventative measures to reduce the overall incident frequency or permanently fix recurring problems
What's next: Four ways we're improving the platform experience
With more brands catching on to how essential a solid CX platform is, our team's got our work cut out for us. Here's what's on the way:
- Enhanced security measures — We've hired a dedicated security engineer to strengthen our security infrastructure.
- A bigger SRE team — Our Site Reliability Engineering team has doubled, allowing us to address performance issues rapidly.
- Production readiness reviews — We're formalizing a process to audit new and existing services, ensuring they meet our reliability standards before deployment.
- Improved monitoring — We're investing in better monitoring tools to detect and resolve potential issues before they impact customers.
Count on a reliable future with Gorgias
Gorgias will inevitably face new challenges in performance — no system is completely immune to downtime.
But we've built our architecture with the future in mind, and it’s more resilient than ever as more and more brands realize the power of conversational AI CX platforms.
The result? A platform you can count on to help you deliver exceptional customer service, without technical issues getting in the way.
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9 Ways to Use AI to Personalize the Customer Journey
TL;DR:
- Use AI across both support and sales. Ecommerce brands are using AI to drive revenue and efficiency by combining automation in chat, email, and customer data with personalized product guidance and upsells.
- Analyze post-purchase surveys with AI to uncover customer insights. AI quickly identifies themes, sentiment, and trends from open-ended feedback to inform product, shipping, and support decisions.
- Predict customer intent with AI before they take action. By analyzing behavior like cart activity or page views, AI can engage high-intent shoppers with personalized nudges in real time.
- Automate QA and proactive support with AI. AI reviews 100% of conversations, flags quality issues, and triggers outreach for known problems — all before customers even ask.
Shoppers aren’t just open to AI — they’re starting to expect it.
According to IBM, 3 in 5 consumers want to use AI as they shop. And a McKinsey study found that 71% expect personalized experiences from the brands they buy from. When they don’t get that? Two-thirds say they’re frustrated.
But while most brands associate AI with support automation, its real power lies in something bigger: scaling personalization across the entire customer journey.
We’ll show you how to do that in this article.
AI for customer data
Before AI can personalize emails, recommend products, or answer support tickets, it needs one thing: good data.
That’s why one of the best places to start using AI isn’t in sales or support — but in enriching your customer data. With a deeper understanding of who your customers are, what they want, and how they behave, AI becomes a personalization engine across your entire business.
Enriching surveys with AI
Post-purchase surveys are gold mines for understanding customers — but digging through the data manually? Not so fun.
AI can help by analyzing survey responses at scale, identifying trends, and categorizing open-ended customer feedback into clear, actionable insights. Instead of skimming thousands of answers to spot what customers are saying about your shipping times, AI can surface those insights instantly — along with sentiment and behavior signals you might’ve missed.
Try this prompt when doing this: "Analyze 500 open-ended post-purchase survey responses. Identify the top 5 recurring themes, categorize customer sentiment (positive, neutral, negative), and surface any trends related to product quality, delivery experience, or customer support."
Predicting customer intent before they even say a word
One of AI’s biggest strengths? Spotting intent.
By analyzing things like page views, cart activity, scroll behavior, and previous purchases, AI can identify which shoppers are ready to buy, which ones are likely to churn, and which just need a little nudge to move forward.
This doesn’t just apply to email and retargeting. It also works on live chat, in real time.
Take TUSHY, for example.
To eliminate friction in the buying journey, TUSHY introduced AI Agent for Sales — a virtual assistant designed to guide shoppers toward the right product before they drop off.
Instead of letting potential customers bounce with unanswered questions, the AI Agent steps in to offer:
- Personalized product recommendations based on shopper questions
- Compatibility guidance (especially for customers unsure which bidet works with their toilet)
- Real-time installation tips and links to helpful how-to articles
With a growing product catalog, TUSHY realized first-time buyers were overwhelmed with options — and needed help choosing what would work best for their home and hygiene preferences.
“What amazed us most is that the AI Agent doesn’t just help customers choose the perfect bidet for their booty — it also provides measurement and fit guidance, high-level installation support, and even recommends all the necessary spare parts for skirted toilet installations. It’s ushering in a new era of customer service — one that’s immediate, informative, and confidence-boosting as people rethink their bathroom habits.”
—Ren Fuller-Wasserman, Sr. Director of Customer Experience at TUSHY
Forecasting revenue by segment
AI also helps you see the road ahead.
Instead of looking at retention and loyalty metrics in isolation, AI can help you forecast what’s likely to happen next and where to focus your attention.
By segmenting customers based on behaviors like average order value, order frequency, and churn risk, AI can identify revenue opportunities and weak spots before they impact your bottom line.
All you need is the right prompt. Here’s an example you can run using your own data in any AI tool:
Prompt: “Analyze my customer data to forecast revenue by segment. Break customers into at least three groups based on behavior patterns like average order value, purchase frequency, and churn risk.
For each segment, provide:
- A projected revenue trend for the next quarter
- A key insight about their behavior
- One actionable recommendation to either grow or retain revenue from that segment.”
Here’s what a result might look like:
- VIPs (Top 5% by LTV): Predicted 15% growth next quarter based on repeat behavior
- One-time Buyers: 70% churn risk flagged—time to trigger a win-back campaign
- Discount-Only Shoppers: Revenue likely to dip unless incentive strategy changes
Instead of flying blind, you’re making decisions with clarity — and backing them with data that scales.
AI for sales
When used strategically, AI becomes a proactive sales agent that can identify opportunities in real-time: recommending the right product to the right shopper at the right moment.
Here’s how ecommerce brands are using AI to drive revenue across every part of the funnel.
Dynamic pricing that responds to the market (and the shopper)
Your prices shouldn’t be static — especially when your competitors, inventory, and customer behavior are anything but.
AI-powered pricing tools like AI Agent for Sales help brands automatically adjust pricing based on shopper behavior. The goal is to make the right offer to the right customer.
For example:
- Show a discount to a price-sensitive shopper who’s hesitating at checkout
- Recommend premium add-ons to high-LTV customers who are more likely to spend
With dynamic pricing, you can protect your margins and boost conversions — without relying on blanket sales.
Turning chat into a personal shopper (that never sleeps)
AI-powered chat is no longer just a glorified FAQ. Today, it can act as a real-time shopping assistant — guiding customers, boosting conversions, and helping your team reclaim time.
That’s exactly what Pepper did with “Penelope,” their AI Agent built on Gorgias.
With a rapidly growing product catalog (22 new SKUs in 2024 alone), Pepper knew shoppers needed help discovering the right products. Customers often had questions about styles, materials, or sizing, and if they didn’t get answers right away, they’d abandon carts and move on.
Instead of hiring more agents to keep up, Pepper deployed Penelope to live chat and email.
Her job?
- Instantly answer questions about fit, fabric, or product differences
- Guide shoppers toward the best option for their needs
- Recommend complementary products (like matching panties or bottoms)
- Free up agents to focus on higher-value 1:1 moments, like virtual fit sessions
“With AI Agent, we’re not just putting information in our customer’s hands; we’re putting bras in their hands... We’re turning customer support from a cost center to a revenue generator.”
—Gabrielle McWhirter, CX Operations Lead at Pepper
Let’s look at how Penelope performs on the floor:
Real-time recommendations
A shopper asked about the difference between two wire-free bras. Penelope broke down the styles, support level, and fabric in plain language — then followed up with personalized suggestions based on the shopper’s preferences.
Proactive engagement
Using Gorgias Convert chat campaigns, Pepper triggers targeted messages to shoppers based on behavior. If someone is browsing white bras? Penelope jumps in and offers assistance, often leading to faster decisions and fewer abandoned carts.
Intelligent upsells
If a customer adds a swimsuit top to their cart, Penelope suggests matching bottoms. No full-screen popups, no awkward sales scripts — just thoughtful, helpful guidance.
Support and sales in one
Penelope also handles WISMO tickets and return inquiries. If a shopper is dealing with a sizing issue, Penelope walks them through the return process and links to Pepper’s Fit Guide to make sure the next purchase is spot on.
By implementing AI into chat, Pepper saw a 19% conversion rate from AI-assisted chats, an 18% uplift in AOV, and a 92.1% decrease in resolution time.
With Penelope handling repetitive and revenue-driving tasks, Pepper’s team now has more time to offer truly personalized touches — like virtual fit sessions that have turned refunds into exchanges and even upsells.
Curating bundles with AI-powered sales data
Bundling is a proven tactic for increasing AOV — but most brands still rely on subjective judgment calls or static reports to decide which products to group.
AI can take this a step further.
Instead of just looking at what’s bought together in the same cart, AI can analyze purchase sequences. For example, what people tend to buy as a follow-up 30 days after their first order. This gives you powerful clues into natural buying behavior and bundling opportunities you might’ve missed.
If you’re looking to explore this at scale, you can use anonymized sales data and feed it into AI tools to surface patterns in:
- Frequently bundled items
- Follow-up purchases within a set time frame
- High-value product pairings with repeat potential
Try this prompt:
"Analyze this spreadsheet of order data and identify product bundle opportunities. Look for: (1) products frequently purchased together in the same order, (2) items commonly bought as a second purchase within 30 days of the first, and (3) patterns in high-value or high-frequency product pairings. Provide insights on the most promising bundles and why they might work well together."
Just make sure you’re keeping customer data anonymous — and always double-check the insights with your team.
Related: Ecommerce product categorization: How to organize your products
AI for support
AI isn’t just here to deflect tickets. From quality assurance to proactive outreach, AI can elevate the entire support experience — on both sides of the conversation.
Quality checks powered by AI
Manual QA is slow, selective, and often feels like it’s chasing the wrong tickets.
That’s where Auto QA comes in. Instead of reviewing just a handful of conversations each week, Auto QA evaluates 100% of private messages, whether they’re handled by a human or an AI agent.
Every message is scored on key metrics like:
- Resolution completeness
- Brand voice
- Empathy and tone
- Accuracy
It gives support leaders a full picture of how their team is performing, so they can coach with clarity, not just gut feeling.
Here’s what brands can do with automated QA:
- Save time by focusing only on the conversations that need attention
- Ensure consistency across agents and AI with a single scoring standard
- Improve agent performance with targeted coaching and feedback
- Deliver higher-quality support that customers actually notice
Let’s walk through a real example.
Customer: “Hi, my device broke, and I bought it less than a month ago.”
Agent: “Hi Kelly, please send us a photo or a video so we can determine the issue with your device.”
Auto QA flags this interaction with:
- Communication Score: 3/5 — The agent was clear, but could have shown more empathy in tone.
- Resolution Score: Complete — The issue was addressed effectively.
Proactive support that reaches out first
Reactive support is table stakes. AI takes it a step further by anticipating issues before they happen — and proactively helping customers.
Let’s say login errors spike after a product update. AI detects the surge and automatically triggers an email to affected customers with a simple fix. No need for them to dig through help docs or wait on chat — support meets them right where they are.
Proactive AI can also be used for:
- Order delay notifications with live tracking updates
- Subscription renewal reminders
- Back-in-stock alerts with support follow-up for next steps
This saves the time of your agents because the AI will spot problems before they turn into tickets.
Understanding sentiment at scale
Your customers are telling you what they think. AI just helps you hear it more clearly.
By analyzing reviews, support tickets, post-purchase surveys, and social comments, AI can spot sentiment trends that might otherwise fly under the radar.
For example:
- Multiple reviews mention “runs small”? AI flags it, so your team can update the product description or add a sizing chart.
- A sudden rise in “frustrated” language in support tickets? Time to check if something’s off with your shipping or product quality.
Related: 12 ways to upgrade your data and trend analysis with Ticket Fields
Personalization at scale starts with the right AI stack
Whether you’re enriching customer data, making smarter product recommendations, triggering dynamic pricing, or proactively resolving support issues, AI gives your team the power to scale personalization without sacrificing quality.
With Gorgias, you can bring many of these use cases to life — from AI-powered chat that drives conversions to automated support that still feels human.
And with our app store, you can tap into additional AI tools for data enrichment, direct mail, bundling insights, and more.
Personalized ecommerce doesn’t have to mean more work. With the right AI tools in your corner, it means smarter work — and better results.
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8 AI Trends in Ecommerce: What’s Changing and How to Prepare
TL;DR:
- AI is reshaping ecommerce, giving early adopters a competitive edge. From visual search to dynamic pricing, these tools meet rising customer expectations and drive growth.
- Conversational AI boosts support efficiency and customer satisfaction. Solutions like Gorgias's AI Agent automatically resolve up to 60% of tickets while personalizing responses across channels.
- Personalization now extends beyond product recommendations. AI is customizing everything from discounts to website layouts in real-time, creating unique experiences that convert.
- AI automation streamlines back-end operations for inventory and pricing. By predicting demand and adjusting prices dynamically, brands improve margins while reducing stock issues.
AI is no longer a futuristic concept associated with sci-fi movies and robots. It’s driving real change in ecommerce right now. Currently, 84% of ecommerce businesses list AI as their top priority. And it’s only getting bigger. By 2034, the ecommerce AI market is expected to hit $62.64 billion.
Brands that use AI to improve personalization, automate customer support, and refine pricing strategies will have a major competitive edge.
The good news? Most brands are still figuring it out, which means there’s huge potential for early adopters to stand out.
Let’s dive into the key AI trends shaping ecommerce in 2025, and how you can use them to future-proof your business.
1. Visual search
Instead of searching for keywords, shoppers can upload a photo and instantly find similar or matching products. Visual search eliminates the guesswork of finding the right words to describe an item and reduces friction in the search process.
In 2025, improvements in computer vision and machine learning will make visual search faster. AI will better recognize patterns, colors, and textures, delivering more precise results in real-time.
For customers, visual search simplifies product discovery while brands benefit from increased average order values. Visual search creates more opportunities to surface related products that customers might miss during manual searches, ultimately boosting conversion and revenue.
Pinterest is already doing it. With Pinterest Lens, users can take a picture on the spot to find similar products or ideas to help them with easier purchases or creative projects.
Pro Tip: Optimize product images and metadata (like color, size, and material) so your products appear accurately in visual search results. Clean, high-quality images and detailed tagging will make your catalog easier for AI to process and match.
2. Conversational AI
Conversational AI, like Gorgias’s AI Agent, already handles 60% of customer conversations. Brands that adopt it often see more than a 25% improvement in customer satisfaction, revenue, or cost reduction.
Soon, advanced natural language processing (NLP) will make it easier for customers to use text, voice, and images to find exactly what they’re looking for. These multimodal capabilities will elevate support conversations, resulting in fewer abandoned carts and support teams that can focus on more complex issues.
For example, Glamnetic uses AI Agent to manage customer inquiries across multiple channels, resolving 40% of requests automatically while maintaining a personalized touch. Their AI can automate responses to common questions, recommend products based on browsing history, and even track orders in real-time.
Pro Tip: Invest in AI chat tools that integrate with your customer support system and sync with real-time product and order data. Your responses will be accurate and timely, without losing the personal touch.
Read more: The Gorgias & Shopify integration: 8 features your support team will love
3. Product recommendations
According to McKinsey, omnichannel personalization strategies, including tailored product recommendations, have a 10-15% uplift potential in revenue and retention. But with only 1 in 10 retailers fully implementing personalization across channels, there’s a massive opportunity for brands to innovate.
In 2025, AI-driven product recommendations will become even more precise by analyzing customer behavior, preferences, and purchase history in real-time. Predictive AI will adjust recommendations on the fly, showing customers the right products at the right moment.
Take Kreyol Essence as an example. They use Gorgias Convert to track customer behavior and recommend products based on past purchases and browsing patterns. When a customer buys a hair mask, AI suggests complementary products like scalp oil or leave-in conditioner — increasing average order value without feeling pushy.
Personalization boosts sales by helping customers discover products they actually want. Plus, it creates a more tailored shopping experience, which encourages customers to return.
Pro Tip: Test different recommendation strategies, like “frequently bought together” or “you may also like,” to see which ones drive the most conversions.
Learn more: Reduce Customer Effort with AI: A Smarter Approach Than Surprise and Delight
4. Voice commerce
In 2025, more customers may use smart speakers and voice assistants like Alexa and Google Assistant to shop hands-free. AI will improve voice recognition and contextual understanding, so it’s easier for customers to find products they want.
Instead of fumbling with a keyboard, customers will be able to say, “Order more coffee pods,” and AI will not only recognize the request but also pull up the preferred brand and size based on past orders. Less friction will make the buying process more intuitive, especially for repeat purchases.
Voice commerce expands shopping accessibility and creates a more convenient experience for busy customers. It also opens the door for brands to surface product recommendations and upsell during the conversation.
Pro Tip: Optimize product descriptions and catalog structure for voice search. Clear, simple language and detailed product tags will help AI understand and surface the right products.
5. Dynamic pricing
A recent McKinsey report suggests that investing in real-time customer analytics will continue to be key to adjusting pricing and more effectively targeting customers.
In 2025, machine learning will allow ecommerce brands to adjust product prices instantly based on demand, competitor pricing, and customer behavior. If a competitor drops their price on a popular item, AI can respond immediately, so you stay competitive without sacrificing margins.
Machine learning will also refine pricing models over time, finding the sweet spot between profitability and customer conversion.
For example, AI might detect that customers are more likely to buy a product when it’s priced at $29.99 rather than $30, and adjust accordingly. More competitive pricing means higher revenue and better margins, but it also increases customer trust when prices are consistent with market trends.
Pro Tip: Test different pricing strategies and monitor how they affect sales and customer behavior.
6. Better customer insights
According to McKinsey, AI-driven personalization and customer insights can improve marketing efficiency by 10-30% and cut costs significantly.
In 2025, AI will analyze customer data like purchase history, browsing patterns, and feedback to generate smarter, more actionable next steps. Instead of guessing what customers want, brands will have the data to predict it.
For example, Gorgias’s AI Agent for Sales can identify a shopper’s interest level and purchase intent and then use it to adjust its conversational strategy. It analyzes shopper data like browsing behavior, cart activity, and purchase history.
Here’s how it would behave for different customers:
- A browsing customer: AI Agent will ask clarifying questions
- An interested customer: AI Agent provides tailored recommendations and handles objections
- A customer with an intent to buy: AI Agent assists with checkout, payment, and nudges purchase
7. Personalized shopping
AI-driven personalization leads to a 5-10% higher customer satisfaction and engagement. Yet, only 15% have fully implemented it across all channels — leaving a huge gap to fill.
In 2025, AI-driven personalization will go beyond product recommendations. Brands will be able to adjust website layouts based on customer preferences, highlight products that align with their style, and even customize customer service interactions.
A higher level of personalization will boost conversion rates and customer satisfaction. When customers feel like a brand “gets” them, they’re more likely to make a purchase and come back for more.
For example, AI Agent for Sales can adjust discounts and provide smart incentives to drive sales. When adjusting for discounts, AI Agent analyzes shopper behavior, including browsing activity, cart status, and conversation context, to offer a discount based on how engaged and ready the shopper is to buy.
Pro Tip: Use AI to test different personalization strategies and refine them based on performance data. Small adjustments, like changing product order or highlighting specific categories, can have a big impact on sales.
8. Automated inventory management
Keeping the right products in stock at the right time is about to get a whole lot easier. In 2025, AI will predict demand patterns and automate restocking decisions based on sales trends, seasonality, and customer behavior. Instead of manually tracking inventory, AI will handle it in real time to avoid stock issues.
For example, AI could notice a spike in orders for a specific product right before the holidays. It could then automatically increase stock levels to meet demand or scale back on items that aren’t moving as fast. Real-time tracking means fewer missed sales and less wasted inventory.
Efficient inventory management not only cuts costs but also improves the customer experience. When products are consistently available, customers are more likely to trust and stick with your brand.
Pro Tip: Implement AI-powered inventory management to sync data across all sales channels. This ensures accurate stock levels and seamless fulfillment, whether customers are shopping online or in-store.
Embrace AI trends in your ecommerce store in 2025
AI makes it easier for brands to deliver a personalized and efficient shopping experience. From helping customers find products faster with visual search to automating support with conversational AI, there are plenty of opportunities for personalization.
The brands that adopt and refine these strategies now will be better positioned to meet customer expectations and stay ahead of the competition. Start by implementing conversational AI and later test some other AI trends like personalized suggestions.
Ready to see how AI can upgrade your brand? Book a demo to see AI Agent in action.
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Further reading
2025 Ecommerce Trends: AI Adoption and Smarter Tech Stacks
TL;DR
- Ecommerce teams are overwhelmed by app overload, with 42% using six tools daily—leading to inefficiencies, rising costs, and poor customer experiences.
- Top brands are consolidating their tech stacks, choosing deeply integrated, ecommerce-specific platforms to simplify operations and lower costs.
- AI adoption and excitement are accelerating, with 77.2% of ecommerce professionals using AI daily and 55.3% rating their excitement as an 8-10 out of 10.
- Gorgias powers AI-driven support and sales in one platform, through a single workspace that helps ecommerce teams resolve faster, sell smarter, and operate more efficiently.
At Gorgias, we work with over 16,000 ecommerce brands and one common challenge emerges over and over:
Ecommerce tools are essential, but too many tools becomes a burden.
With different teams responsible for different functions, brands risk creating a disconnected tech stack that causes inefficiencies, reduces productivity, and ultimately impacts profitability.
Ecommerce teams are shuffling between tabs, copying and pasting order numbers, searching for customer data, and trying to piece it all together. It’s not only inefficient—it’s expensive, frustrating, and unsustainable as you scale.
So we dug into that data.
Our 2025 Ecommerce Trends Report surveyed ecommerce professionals across industries and job roles to understand what they really think about tech stacks and AI’s role in it.
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Ecommerce professionals are approaching app overload
There is now an ecommerce app for every possible use case a brand could need. But as businesses adopt new technologies for each part of their customer journey, their teams end up working out of dozens of platforms.
The study found that 42.28% of ecommerce pros use at least six apps daily to perform their role. Regardless of the number of apps used, integration and compatibility are a must. When technologies don’t talk to each other, you spend time context-switching instead of focusing on customer experience.
For Audien Hearing, Gorgias’s open API allowed them to create an integration with its warehouse software to manage returns directly in Gorgias rather than a shared Google spreadsheet. This integration helped them reduce returns by 5%, protecting their margins and leading to higher customer satisfaction.
Read more: How Audien Hearing Increased Efficiency for 75 Agents and Reduced Product Returns by 5%
Consolidation is the smartest move a brand can make
The most successful ecommerce brands aren’t necessarily using more tools—they’re using smarter tools. Leading businesses are opting for platforms that are deeply integrated, AI-compatible, and built specifically for ecommerce needs.
A growing tech stack also comes with a growing tech budget. Each new app has new costs, including subscriptions, set-up, management, and development fees. They quickly add up.
Nearly 40% of ecommerce professionals spend $5,000 to $50,000 annually on their tech stack.
Different roles have different priorities
We asked ecommerce professionals what they actually value in their tools. Unsurprisingly, the answer changed based on who we were talking to.
Top tool benefits included:
- Revenue growth for support leaders, revenue-focused roles, and founders
- Simplified workflows and time savings for support agents
There’s a clear difference between what ecommerce leaders and agents value in a tool and considering both is key to success.
Why brands hesitate to consolidate
Despite the benefits of using fewer, well-integrated tools, there are a few things that hold brands back from consolidating their tech stacks.
We asked respondents:
What, if any, are the biggest deterrents to consolidating your tech stack?
Top concerns are:
- Compatibility issues with existing software (52.4%)
- Direct costs (fees for software licenses, subscriptions, or customizations) (47.6%)
- Time required (40.3%)
AI adoption is accelerating—and it’s driving results
AI is dominating the world of ecommerce. It impacts every aspect of the customer journey, from brand discovery to the post-purchase experience. AI is actively reshaping the way ecommerce professionals work, so we wanted to know how they feel about it.
- 77.2% of ecommerce professionals use AI and automation to perform their role in 2025, compared to 69.3% in 2024.
- 55.3% of respondents rate their excitement for AI as an 8-10, compared to 45.6% in 2024.
Despite growing usage and excitement, teams still have their concerns with AI:
Read more: 8 AI Trends in Ecommerce: What’s Changing and How to Prepare
The AI shift—From just a support tool to a sales engine
The most impactful use cases we’ve seen aren’t just about reducing support ticket volume. AI is now driving revenue, increasing conversion rates, and enabling 24/7 coverage without expanding headcount.
Gorgias’s AI Agent is now capable of virtual sales assistance through personalized product recommendations, dynamic discounts to reduce cart abandonment, and cross-sells and upsells.
Top brands are already leveraging these new capabilities and seeing results. For example:
- TUSHY uses a Gorgias AI Agent to accurately answer pre-sale questions, leading to a 15% conversion rate, with AI Agent driving 2x more sales than human agents.
- Trove Brands enabled an AI Agent named Wally that cut misshipments by 70%, meaning reducing unwanted charges, avoidable fulfillment costs, high return rates, and customer frustration.
- Caitlyn Minimalist uses AI to reduce response times by 99% and saw a 150% increase in ticket conversions.
Gorgias: A one-tab tool for Conversational AI
We asked one final question to make ecommerce folks really reflect on how they work:
How many tabs do you currently have open?
The average ecommerce professional works with 22 open tabs. We’re not here to judge, but if you’re looking to close a few of those tabs, Gorgias might be what you’re missing.
Gorgias replaces all that complexity with a single workspace. From support to sales, order management to automation, it all happens inside one platform.
Ecommerce businesses can now leverage Gorgias’s Advanced AI for both support and sales. Within the same AI Agent, ecommerce brands can
- Fully resolve customer inquiries, not just respond
- Provide order tracking details
- Cancel, edit, and manage orders in Shopify and integrated apps
- Process returns and exchanges
- Provide tailored product recommendations
- Drive conversions
- And much more!
Get your copy of the 2025 Ecommerce Trends Report
This blog just skims the surface of what we uncover in our 2025 Ecommerce Trends report.
Want the full story?
Download the complete 2025 Ecommerce Trends: AI Adoption & Smarter Tech Stacks report to access:
- Data-backed insights and trends from ecommerce professionals
- The biggest barriers to consolidation—and how to overcome them
- Real-world case studies from leading brands like TUSHY, Caitlyn Minimalist, and July that are winning with AI
- Tactical recommendations to future-proof your ecommerce stack through AI-powered consolidation
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5 Holiday Onsite Campaigns to Maximize Year-End Sales
Not sure where to go once the Black Friday and Cyber Monday excitement settles down? Don't worry—you're not alone. Many ecommerce brands will celebrate the uplift in sales from the four-day shopping frenzy without realizing there's a huge opportunity to keep the momentum going.
The holiday shopping season is your final chance to drive sales, delight customers, and end the year strong. These five proven campaigns will help you capture last-minute shoppers, increase repeat purchases, and maximize results.
1. Gift finder campaign: make gifting easy 🎁
Help shoppers find the perfect gift or gift bundle by linking existing resources in the campaign or offering pre-sales assistance through a conversational campaign (recommended).
Shoppers love personalized recommendations. A gift finder campaign highlights curated suggestions that simplify their decision-making.
- How it works: Trigger a message when shoppers spend over 15 seconds on a product page.
- Example message: “Looking for the perfect gift? This [product] is a fan favorite and pairs perfectly with [accessory]. Complete your gift with just one click!” OR;
- Example message #2: “Not sure what to get? We can help! Click here to chat with us about finding the perfect gift.”
- Why it works: Gift bundles increase average order value (AOV) by 20%.
Pro tip: Highlight top-rated products or seasonal bestsellers to build trust.
2. Last-minute shopper campaign: create urgency ⏰
Encourage quick action as deadlines approach.
Last-minute shoppers are in a rush, so combining urgency with a discount is the perfect motivator.
- How it works: Use an exit-intent popup during the final shopping days.
- Example message: “Still need gifts? Use code HOLIDAY10 for 10% off and get delivery by [date]. Hurry—time is running out!”
- Why it works: Exit-intent campaigns double engagement and reduce bounce rates by 37%.
Pro tip: ”You can also set a cart value threshold, ensuring that tailored offers are only provided to shoppers once they’ve added the minimum to their cart. You can also use a unique discount code rather than a generic code to drive a higher CTR.
3. Post-BFCM re-engagement campaign: boost loyalty 🔄
Turn Black Friday shoppers into repeat customers.
Reconnect with returning buyers by rewarding them for their loyalty.
- How it works: Display a personalized offer when previous shoppers return to your site.
- Example message: “Thanks for shopping with us on Black Friday! Here’s an exclusive 15% loyalty discount for your next holiday purchase.”
- Why it works: Repeat customers typically spend more, with a 10% boost in gross merchandise value (GMV).
Pro tip: Use the customer’s previous purchase to recommend complementary products.
4. AI-powered product recommendation: upsell effortlessly 🤖
Suggest relevant items to increase cart value.
Use AI to offer personalized product recommendations based on what shoppers are browsing or have in their cart.
- How it works: Show a message at checkout or when shoppers add an item to their cart, utilizing our tagging conditions to create highly targeted audience segments.
- Example message:“Love [product]? Add [related item] to complete the set! Customers who bought this also loved [product 2].”
- Why it works: Personalized upsell recommendations increase AOV by up to 15%.
Pro tip: Highlight frequently bought together items or exclusive bundles for the holidays.
You can easily set up product recommendations shown on your cart page with Gorgias Convert:
5. Holiday new arrivals campaign: spotlight seasonal exclusives ✨
Build excitement with fresh, holiday-themed products.
Shoppers love discovering new arrivals, especially during the holiday season.
- How it works: Target homepage visitors or holiday collection browsers.
- Example message: “Just in time for the holidays! Explore our exclusive [product line] and find the perfect gift.”
- Why it works: Announcements for new products increase conversions by 6%.
Pro tip: Use festive visuals and emphasize limited availability to drive urgency.
Don’t forget to A/B test your campaigns 🧪
Testing helps you discover what works best for your audience. Experiment with different offers, visuals, or CTAs to optimize results.
- Example: Test two versions of a free shipping upsell campaign.
- Version A: “Spend $15 more to get free shipping!”
- Version B: “You’re $15 away from free shipping. Add [product] to your cart now!”
- Result: Version B may outperform because it includes a clear product recommendation, reducing customer effort.
Pro tip: Track key metrics like click-through rate (CTR) and AOV to measure success.
These holiday campaigns are proven to boost sales and customer engagement during the busiest time of year. Use tools like Gorgias Convert to launch, personalize, and optimize your strategies seamlessly.
Don’t wait—end the year strong with campaigns that deliver results!
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How to Leverage Tools to Manage a High Volume of Sales on TikTok Shop
TikTok Shop generated 68.1% of gross market value sales across all social media platforms in 2024 and $3.8 billion in sales in 2023. Clearly, it’s becoming a massive channel with abundant opportunities for sellers.
To effectively harness TikTok Shop, however, brands with high-volume sales need to understand the specific challenges they will face when launching on the social platform.
Many of these are operational, like maintaining an accurate inventory list between platforms, supporting customers efficiently, and fulfilling a large number of orders.
When used together, AfterShip Feed and Gorgias can help you overcome these operational hurdles and start selling on TikTok Shop sooner.
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Streamline order management & customer support on TikTok Shop
TikTok Shop is the commerce-enabled side of TikTok, where brands and creators can list their products for sale. Shoppers then make a purchase through shoppable (in-feed) videos, live shopping, or product showcases. The app aims to provide a “frictionless checkout experience,” enabling shoppers to engage with their favorite accounts and add-to-cart in a flash.
While setting up a TikTok Shop is relatively simple, if you already run an ecommerce store that does a high volume of sales, adding TikTok Shop as an additional channel will be a little more complex. Thankfully, tools like AfterShip Feed and Gorgias can help you solve many operational issues and provide the same best-in-class customer experience on TikTok Shop as you do on your other channels..
Here’s a highlight reel on how you can implement both tools to improve efficiency and customer satisfaction, tackling issues like fulfillment or customer support inquiries from the same customers on different channels.
Centralize customer support with Gorgias
800+ Gorgias customers currently use the TikTok Shop integration. It’s quick and easy to connect. With it, you can:
Manage all customer interactions in one place
Coordinating customer support across different channels can be a pain. With Gorgias, however, you’ll be able to manage inquiries more efficiently and handle all shoppers’ messages by responding to TikTok Shop inquiries directly from Gorgias using text, images, and videos.
Additionally, you can address order-related issues and manage cancellations, returns, and refunds from TikTok Shop in the same Gorgias dashboard you use for your existing channels.
Automate ticket creation
Leverage Gorgias’s automated ticket creation to reduce First Response Time (FRT) and ensure that you don’t miss a single customer inquiry from TikTok Shop. Save time by handling repetitive tasks (like order status updates) with automation.
Enhance customers’ experience
Enabling the Gorgias TikTok Shop integration will allow you to maintain better control over communication and provide a consistent customer experience. Customers shopping via TikTok Shop will benefit from quicker responses, improving overall satisfaction and boosting brand loyalty.
Simplify operations with AfterShip Feed
AfterShip Feed is a reliable TikTok Shop management tool with 1,800 customers. It auto-syncs products, inventory, and orders between TikTok Shop and ecommerce platforms.
Partner AfterShip Feed with TikTok Shop to:
List on TikTok Shop more efficiently
AfterShip Feed makes listing high volumes of products on TikTok Shop easier through bulk uploads and editing, enabling you to update up to 10,000 SKUs at once.
It uses AI to add key product details and keep your product listings accurate and consistent. Tools like category templates and product ID generation make it even easier to list your full catalog.
Safeguard your revenue
AfterShip Feed has several features that will help you avoid lost revenue, especially during busy times like BFCM.
Inventory threshold
Inventory threshold helps you determine the minimum amount of inventory you need to have on hand to avoid selling out or buying too much. You can also set a fixed amount of inventory aside for TikTok Shop.
Price rules
Price rules help you set the ideal prices for each item you sell to protect your profit margins.
Fulfillment hold
A fulfillment hold stops an order at the fulfillment stage to ensure sufficient funds on the customer side, sufficient stock on yours—or to solve another issue behind the scenes. TikTok Shop has a standard 1-hour fulfillment hold, which can cause issues with inventory syncing on your main ecommerce platform.
Streamline order management
AfterShip Feed supports multiple fulfillment methods and integrates with many returns solutions. Sync orders from TikTok Shop with your existing fulfillment systems, ensuring timely and accurate deliveries. You can sync up to 24,000 orders to Shopify per hour.
Other features include order ID, shipping method, and product-SKU mapping.
Which are the top-grossing TikTok Shop industries?
Two industries in particular see massive sales from TikTok Shop: beauty and personal care, and womenswear and underwear. According to a 2024 report from Statista, the beauty category saw over 370 million sales and women’s fashion 284 million sales in 2023.
The beauty category alone has generated almost $2.5 billion in GMV, while the womenswear category has seen $1.39 billion.
If your brand belongs to one of these categories, including Gorgias and AfterShip Feed in your TikTok Shop toolkit could be a great fit for you.
Gorgias and AfterShip create better experiences
Pairing Gorgias and AfterShip Feed will help you deliver a fantastic customer experience and grow your business on TikTok Shop.
How to Pitch AI Agent to Your Boss
TL;DR:
- AI Agent reduces workload and prevents burnout for CX teams. It handles routine queries and allows your human agents to focus on providing a higher level of service where it's needed most.
- AI Agent is secure and compliant with industry standards. Gorgias uses a zero data retention policy and follows strict security regulations, including SOC 2 Type II certification.
- AI Agent delivers personalized, on-brand responses. Custom Guidance and data from sources like Shopify allow AI Agent to maintain brand consistency while providing tailored customer interactions.
- Real-world success stories show tangible results with AI Agent. Brands like Psycho Bunny and Baby Gold have seen significant improvements in response times and resolution rates by implementing AI Agent.
AI changes the way CX teams operate. But we firmly believe that it’s a good thing.
It will help you improve your team’s workload, say goodbye to burnout, and create a more consistent and speedy experience for your customers.
Here’s the process we recommend for pitching Gorgias’s AI Agent to your boss, complete with an FAQ section for quick answers.
Jump to a section:
- Start with the benefits
- Outline the data & security safeguards in place
- Highlight its brand accuracy and personalization
- Share success stories
- Set expectations
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Start with the benefits
Gorgias views AI as an extension of CX teams, and that’s how many of our customers see AI Agent as well. Baby Gold calls theirs Michelle, Psycho Bunny calls theirs Lisa.
These autonomous agents allow your human agents to focus on more complex and nuanced issues, providing a higher level of service where your customers need it most.
Here are some other things that make AI Agent a great addition to your team:
- ⏰ 24/7 availability: AI Agent operates around the clock, ensuring that customer inquiries are addressed promptly at any time, including weekends and holidays.
- 🏔️ Scalability: AI Agent can handle a high volume of inquiries simultaneously without any decrease in performance. This scalability is particularly valuable during peak times like BFCM.
- 🚀 Efficiency and speed: AI Agent can process and respond to queries much faster than human agents, leading to quicker resolutions and improved customer satisfaction.
- 🦎Adaptability: AI Agent can quickly adapt to new information, products, or changes in policies immediately – all you have to do is add them to your knowledge docs and to the Guidance you set.
- 🦾 Full control: You stay in full control of how AI Agent behaves in specific scenarios. Give AI Agent custom Guidance to ensure that each interaction with your customers reflects your brand’s values, policies and tone.
📚 Further reading: Our AI Approach: Onboard, Automate, Observe, and Coach
Outline the data & security safeguards in place
Rest assured that AI Agent and Gorgias operate under a zero data retention (ZDR) policy. Once data is used, it isn’t stored.
We’re SOC 2 Type II Certified and follow strict regulations in regards to data security.
You can view the terms that cover the data we collect and how we use Artificial Intelligence by reading Our Master Service Agreement (MSA) and Data Processing Agreement (DPA).
🎯 Resource: How AI Agent works & gathers data
Highlight its brand accuracy and personalization
AI Agent provides consistent, accurate, and on-brand responses based on the information in your Help Center, Shopify order data, Macros, handover instructions, and the actual custom Guidance you set for it.
It might just surprise you with just how specialized it can get.
“Sometimes agents forget personal details to call out when communicating with our customers, like birthdays or weddings,” says Sindi Melgar, the Customer Service Manager at Baby Gold.
“But I noticed on a few different occasions where AI Agent (ours is named Michelle) is highlighting these things and is saying, ‘Congratulations on your wedding!’ Just the tone of voice that Michelle is able to adopt is definitely on brand for us.”
Ensure certain topics are handed over or excluded
When you set up AI Agent, you’ll also let it know the types of topics you’d like it not to answer.
AI Agent automatically hands over tickets to your team whenever it lacks confidence in an answer or detects an angry customer.
But you can also use handover rules to choose how AI Agent behaves when it passes tickets to your human team, and add specific topics that it should always hand over to your team.
🎯 Resource: Customize how AI Agent behaves
Provide feedback on responses
Don’t like something AI Agent said? Or, did you love an answer it gave?
It’s easy to let AI Agent know by telling it you liked the response, saying it should have pulled from a different resource, or reporting an issue.
🎯 Resource: How to coach AI Agent and give feedback
Prioritize your team’s docs
AI Agent uses your Shopify order data, Macros, your brand’s webpages, as well as your Help Center to give your customers accurate and on-brand responses. It also prioritizes any Guidance that you set.
🎯 Resource: Why having a quality knowledge base is essential to using AI for CX
Share success stories
We wouldn’t expect you to onboard a new tool without some actual statistics and reviews. Below, browse three success stories and the fantastic metrics that AI Agent helped their teams achieve.
After just one month of implementing AI Agent, the team at VESSEL not only increased the number of emails automated via AI Agent by 20%, but reduced first response time to 58 seconds and saw their resolution time decrease to one minute and six seconds.
When Baby Gold implemented AI Agent, they achieved a 49-second first response time, a one-minute and four-second resolution time, and answered 1,361 tickets. They also quadrupled their email automation rate.
Psycho Bunny saw a 99.8% faster first response time, 99.4% faster resolution time, and 26% of tickets resolved by AI Agent.
“Our customer support KPIs are already fantastic: we're already leading in the industry,” said Tosha Moyer, Senior Customer Experience Manager at Psycho Bunny.
“To improve on that, we need AI — it’s not physically or financially possible with human agents alone.”
Set expectations
AI Agent isn’t going to find lost packages, pick up the phone, or fix damaged products. While this might seem obvious, it’s important to understand AI Agent’s core capabilities, as we want this to be an exciting and useful addition to your team.
“AI Agent does a great job of efficiently handling returns and exchanges, and split shipment tracking info,” shares Tosha Moyer. “The overall tone is good and some of its responses are really excellent.”
Below, find the top use cases for AI Agent, as well as the specific actions you can configure for it within Gorgias.
AI Agent use cases
These are the top AI Agent use cases that we recommend:
- Where is my order? (WISMO) inquiries
- Product-related questions
- Returns
- Order issues
- Cancellations
- Discounts (including BFCM)
- Customer feedback
- Account management
- Collaboration requests
The specific actions you currently can configure for AI Agent include:
- Cancel an order in Shopify
- Edit a shipping address in Shopify
- Send Loop Returns portal deep link
- Send return shipping status from Loop Returns
- Cancel a subscription in Recharge
With more to come! And to quiet any worries, it’s worth mentioning that AI Agent will not perform any actions without you configuring or activating them first.
Enhance your brand reputation and build trust
Offering fast, accurate, and 24/7 support can significantly enhance your brand reputation and build customer trust, which can translate into higher customer loyalty and increased revenue.
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10 Must-Know AI Agent Use Cases for Instant Resolutions
TL;DR:
- AI Agent handles a variety of customer inquiries. These include order tracking, returns, cancellations, discounts, account management, feedback, collaboration requests, and complex topics.
- Use Guidance to train AI Agent to handle each type of inquiry. Guidance acts like a built-in training manual, helping AI Agent follow your brand’s guidelines in every interaction.
- Test and refine Guidance to keep responses accurate. Use Test Mode to ensure AI Agent follows instructions, reflects your brand’s tone, and escalates when needed.
- AI Agent can provide 24/7 support. Even when your agents are offline, AI Agent can respond to customers, reducing response times and keeping customers satisfied.
For support teams, sending the right answer at the right time, every time, is the ultimate goal. But with limited resources and operating hours, how can you be there for your customers 24/7? We’ve got an answer.
Designed specifically for ecommerce brands, AI Agent is an autonomous support assistant that steps in where human agents are stretched thin: handling repetitive tickets. AI Agent is trained on your brand’s policies, voice, and instructions, helping you resolve customer inquiries like your agents — but faster.
We’ll cover 10 types of inquiries AI Agent can resolve instantly, complete with template instructions (Guidance) and real-life examples. Plus, keep in mind five best practices to get the most out of your new AI teammate.
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10 AI Agent use cases, templates, and examples
Each use case comes with a template for Guidance instructions that acts like a built-in training manual for AI Agent. Then, see how AI Agent uses those templates to respond to real customer tickets.
Note: Guidance are special instructions that tell Gorgias’s AI Agent exactly how to handle customer questions, including when to hand them off to your human agents. This gives you control over AI Agent, so every AI interaction is always aligned with your brand’s protocols.
1. Where is my order? (WISMO) inquiries
90% of shoppers want to be able to track their orders, according to DispatchTrack. Easily fulfill those neverending WISMO requests with one comprehensive Guidance that detects a customer’s current order status to give them the best answer.
Include these key elements in your where is my order? Guidance instructions:
- Detect if a tracking number is available: If the order has a tracking number, provide the link to the tracking page.
- Provide delivery time: Automatically calculate and share the expected delivery date based on the shipping method.
- Check order status: Inform the customer whether the order is processing, shipped, or delivered.
- Handle delivery delays: If the system detects a delay, apologize and offer an updated delivery estimate.
- Escalate complex issues: If the order is missing or has incorrect tracking info, escalate the ticket to a human agent for further review.
Here’s an example of a where is my order? Guidance setup, available as a template in Gorgias:
Here’s how AI Agent uses that Guidance to assist a customer with their order inquiry:
💡 Pro Tip: Can’t find AI Agent? Double-check that you have an active Gorgias Automate subscription and connect Shopify to Gorgias. To do this, go to Settings > My Apps > Shopify > Update app permissions. You must be an Admin to complete this task.
2. Product-related questions
Shoppers ask product questions to get the clarity they need before buying. These pre-sales questions can make or break their decision to buy your product. Close the gap from browsing to checkout by using AI Agent to deliver quick, accurate answers that help them make confident decisions.
Here’s an example of a product-focused Guidance setup:
Here’s how AI Agent uses that Guidance to assist a customer with their product inquiry:
💡 Pro Tip: AI Agent can also learn information from your web pages. Go to Automate > AI Agent > Public URL sources to sync key web pages like sizing guides, blog posts, and more.
3. Returns
Answering ecommerce return requests can be time-consuming. Requests can range from a simple what is your return policy? question to customers wanting to go through the return process. Regardless, return inquiries can easily be handled by AI and handed off to a human agent if necessary.
Include these key elements in your returns Guidance instructions:
- Determine return eligibility: Check if the order is within the return window based on your policy.
- Identify non-returnable items: Inform customers if their item is non-returnable due to your specific policies.
- Guide through the return process: Provide instructions on how to initiate a return, including steps like entering an order number or using a return portal link.
- Inform about processing times: Share estimated times for processing returns and refunds.
- Escalate complex cases: If the return involves exceptions, like damaged goods or international returns, escalate the ticket to a human agent.
Here’s an example of a returns inquiry Guidance setup, available as a template in Gorgias:
Now, look at how AI Agent uses this Guidance to assist a customer with their return request:
💡 Pro Tip: If you’re using Loop Returns, set up AI Agent to automatically send a returns portal link to customers. This Action fully resolves returns inquiries by directing shoppers straight to their orders.
4. Order issues
Order issue tickets often require back-and-forth. The customer states their problem, you ask for photo verification and check if the customer has tried all the different solutions — the list goes on. Let AI Agent cover the bases for you every time, and if needed, escalate the ticket to your team.
Include these key elements in your order issues Guidance instructions:
- Express empathy for any inconvenience caused: Show that your customer’s happiness and experience are priorities.
- Handle damaged products: Provide instructions for customers to submit photos of damaged goods, then process a replacement or refund based on your policy.
- Correct incorrect shipments: If the wrong item was sent, guide the customer through returning the incorrect item and arrange for the correct product to be shipped.
- Escalate the issue: Route the ticket to a human agent for further handling.
Here’s an example of a Guidance setup for handling order issues, available as a template in Gorgias:
Here’s how AI Agent follows this Guidance to resolve a customer’s order issue:
5. Cancellations
Canceling orders is pretty much a race against order fulfillment and your third-party logistics. The key is to catch these inquiries as soon they hit your inbox. The problem? Tickets can come late at night or outside of your business hours. However, when you let AI Agent handle them, customers can rest assured that their request will be dealt with.
Include these key elements in your cancellation Guidance instructions:
- Check order status: Determine if the order is eligible for cancellation based on its shipping status.
- Process cancellation: If eligible, guide the customer through the cancellation process and confirm the order has been canceled.
- Handle shipped orders: If the order has already shipped, instruct the customer on how to return the item once received, or escalate the case to a human agent.
- Escalate exceptions: For complex or time-sensitive cancellations, escalate the ticket to a human agent.
Here’s an example of a cancellation Guidance setup, available as a template in Gorgias:
Here’s how AI Agent follows this Guidance to handle a customer’s cancellation request:
💡 Did you know? You can let AI Agent cancel an order when the customer and order meet certain conditions. For example, the Action will only be performed if the fulfillment status is still empty. Go to Automate > AI Agent > Actions > Browse All Actions > Cancel Order in Shopify.
6. Discounts (including BFCM)
Come holiday season, including Black Friday, you’ll be swamped with loads of discount inquiries. Whether it’s customers asking about discount codes not working or if you have any codes available, these repetitive inquiries are best resolved by AI.
Include these key elements in your discount Guidance instructions:
- Provide active discount codes: Provide customers with a list of current discount codes and their eligibility criteria.
- Assist with missed discount codes: Help customers who forgot to add a discount code by offering guidance on how to apply it retroactively or escalate to an agent.
- Troubleshoot code issues: Guide customers through common reasons why a discount code might not be working, like expiry dates, minimum purchase requirements, or product exclusions.
- Upsell by offering alternatives to discounts: If no active code is provided, offer alternative available promotions or direct them to sign up for the latest offers.
Here’s an example of a discount inquiry Guidance setup, available as a template in Gorgias:
Here’s how AI Agent follows this Guidance to handle a customer asking for coupons:
7. Customer feedback
Acknowledging feedback, good and bad, can make customers more willing to keep doing business with you. Maintain an honest rapport with customers by letting them know you’re always listening.
Include these key elements in your feedback Guidance instructions:
- Acknowledge positive feedback: Respond with a thoughtful, genuine thank-you message, reinforcing customer appreciation.
- Request a public-facing review: Encourage customers who leave positive feedback to share their experience further, such as writing a product review or sharing their thoughts on social media.
- Escalate negative feedback: For negative feedback, escalate the ticket to a human agent.
Here’s an example of a customer feedback Guidance setup:
Here’s how AI Agent uses this Guidance to respond to positive feedback:
💡 Pro Tip: Let AI Agent automatically tag feedback tickets for you by going to Automate > AI Agent > AI ticket tagging. This way, your agents can find all customer feedback organized in one place.
8. Account management
Account management tasks like updating details or managing subscriptions are tedious, time-consuming, and often things customers can do themselves. Let AI Agent handle these tasks to speed up resolutions.
Include these key elements in your account management Guidance instructions:
- Provide instructions: Provide clear instructions for updating account details like email, shipping address, or payment methods.
- Verify identity for security: Include steps to verify customer identity before making sensitive changes, like account or subscription modifications.
- Escalate complex issues: For issues like account access problems or billing disputes, escalate to a human agent.
Here’s an example of a Guidance setup for account management, available as a template in Gorgias:
Take a look at how AI Agent uses this Guidance to help a customer with managing their rewards:
💡 Pro Tip: Use Recharge Actions to automate subscription cancellations or skip shipments with AI Agent. Go to Automate > Automate > Actions > Browse All Actions > Cancel subscription in Recharge or Skip next subscription shipment in Recharge.
9. Collaboration requests
Influencer marketing is on the rise as customers look to social proof when deciding what products to buy. With the right Guidance, your AI Agent can easily manage collaboration and marketing partnership inquiries.
Include these key elements in your collaboration requests Guidance instructions:
- Gather social media profiles: Prompt customers to share their social media profiles and relevant platforms for review if they haven’t.
- Request collaboration details: Ask for specifics about the type of collaboration or partnership they’re interested in (e.g., influencer campaigns, sponsorships).
- Provide next steps: Let the customer know their request will be reviewed and what they can expect in terms of timing.
- Escalate complex or high-value inquiries: For more significant partnerships, escalate the request to your marketing or partnerships team.
Here’s an example of a collaboration request Guidance setup:
See how AI Agent uses this Guidance to respond to a collaboration request from a content creator:
10. Complex and sensitive topics
AI Agent isn’t designed to handle all tickets. For highly complex and sensitive topics, instruct AI Agent to reroute them to your human agents who are equipped to handle certain subjects with more caution and context than AI.
For example, a makeup brand would disable AI Agent from taking on tickets about allergic reactions or health concerns so customers receive safe advice.
Here are other messages you should prevent AI Agent from answering:
- Messages that mention legal actions
- Messages that mention allergic reactions or health issues
- Messages where customers report negative reactions to products
- Messages that mention unsubscribing, stop messages, stop emails or stop texts
Take a look at how AI Agent escalates a ticket about a damaged product:
Note: AI Agent automatically escalates messages with angry language and sentiment to your support team — no Guidance needed.
Keep these 5 Guidance best practices in mind
While AI Agent answers most customer inquiries, you’ll still need to be there to provide it with the barriers to keep its answers on-brand and accurate.
Here are five best practices to keep in mind when creating Guidance instructions.
1. Include Guidance for your top 5 most FAQs
Prime AI Agent with essential brand information by creating Guidance for the top five most common customer questions:
- Order status and tracking
- Returns, exchanges, and refunds
- Order cancellations and edits
- Discounts and promos
- Subscription/account management
You can automate a significant portion of customer support and save time for your team just by letting AI Agent answer these tickets.
2. Use a descriptive Guidance name
Always use clear and descriptive names for your Guidance. AI Agent relies on this information to identify whether the Guidance is relevant to the customer’s question.
For example, instead of naming it “Shipping,” use something like “Shipping policy – domestic & international” to help AI Agent choose the right response.
3. Include examples in your instructions
It’s important to include detailed examples to help AI Agent detect the intent behind your incoming tickets. Clear examples let AI Agent match customer inquiries with the correct response more reliably.
For instance, instead of just saying, “Answer shipping questions,” give it an example: “For domestic orders, say: ‘Shipping takes 5-7 days. For international orders, it takes 10-15 days.’” This helps AI Agent detect when a question is about shipping timelines and respond appropriately.
4. Review and update your Guidance
Customer needs and products change over time, so it’s important to check back on your Guidance to make sure it’s relevant. AI Agent’s responses should reflect any changes to your policies, products, or processes to provide customers with up-to-date information.
5. Test new and updated Guidance in Test Mode
Before going live with new or updated Guidance, use Test Mode to make sure AI Agent is responding as expected.
Here are key things to check in Test Mode:
- Help Center articles: Verify that AI Agent is pulling from the correct Help Center resources.
- Guidance instructions: Test your updated Guidance to make sure AI Agent follows the protocols you have laid out.
- Excluded topics: Ask AI Agent questions about excluded topics to make sure it escalates the inquiry as needed.
- Tone of voice: Check that AI Agent’s responses are in your brand’s tone.
Lead conversations to faster resolutions with AI Agent
Right out of the box, Gorgias includes Guidance templates to help AI Agent manage your FAQs, like returns inquiries, shipping questions, and more.
Equip your AI Agent with Guidance and watch your support team thrive with more time to nurture your customer relationships and handle complex tasks.
See how AI Agent can transform your support team within minutes by booking a demo today.
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Guide To Creating and Managing A Customer Knowledge Base
Let’s be clear: a customer knowledge base is not a landing page full of frequently asked questions.
Sure, FAQs can live in your knowledge base, but they can do so much more than simple Q&A.
A well-crafted Help Center is a strategic asset, propelling your conversion goals by easily guiding customers through the sales funnel.
We’ll walk you through what a knowledge base is, how it can support your bottom line, and everything you need to know to create yours successfully.
What is a customer knowledge base?
Customers love having the power to solve problems independently and on their schedule. That's precisely what a knowledge base delivers.
Your knowledge base isn’t just a static library of articles — it's an interactive portal connecting your customers to sales and customer service. That means making it easy for them to find answers before purchasing and helping them troubleshoot any possible issues afterward.
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How a knowledge base can transform your customer service (and customer experience)
Now that we've introduced the concept of a knowledge base, let's dive deeper into how these helpful landing pages can drive revenue by leveling up your customer service game.
Zero-touch resolutions
90% of consumers worldwide consider issue resolution as their top priority for customer service. And with a knowledge base, you can make their dreams come true with 24/7 self-service support.
Think of a customer knowledge base as your company's information powerhouse that includes helpful articles, FAQs, contact methods, and more ––– all readily available 24/7 for your customers to tap into whenever they need help.
And the magic word that describes why a knowledge base is so powerful? Self-service.
Nail this experience, and your knowledge base will serve as a revenue-driving machine for acquisition- and retention-based goals.
No more waiting in line, playing phone tag, or being told the customer support team is “offline until tomorrow.” As long as customers can easily locate the information they’re after (more on this later), they get an immediate response to their questions.
Reduce support burden (and response time as a result)
Your support team deals with a mountain of questions every day:
- "Where's my order?"
- "What's your refund policy?"
- "How long does shipping take?"
…These are the classics.
Imagine dramatically cutting down the number of repetitive inquiries your team handles or eliminating them entirely. Your knowledge base can make this happen. By leveraging data to pinpoint the most frequently asked questions, you can create help articles that address these issues and showcase them at the top of your knowledge base.
But how do you identify the most common questions? Two straightforward solutions are already at your fingertips in the Gorgias Helpdesk.
1. Monitor commonly used tags: Tags are labels for categorizing tickets by topic or customer intent. Regularly reviewing tags helps identify common customer inquiries. Generally, the more a tag is used, the greater the need for clarity on that topic.
On Gorgias, navigate to Statistics > Ticket Insights > Tags to see the frequency of tag usage. This view gives you an overview of popular tags. You can adjust the view by filtering by app integration, channel, and date range.
2. Review your intent statistics: Intent Statistics provide valuable insights into why customers contact support. You can understand the primary reasons behind customer queries by analyzing these statistics.
On Gorgias, go to Statistics > Ticket Insights > Intents to review the usage frequency of different customer intents.
This feature provides a clear bar graph view of customer concerns frequently mentioned in messages. You can also change the view using channel and date range filters.
The result: Customers don’t have to search through your articles, and your support team frees up time to focus on providing better customer experiences.
Questions answered, problems solved.
Final tip: To streamline the creation of your Help Center, we created 50+ ready-to-use article templates on key topics like shipping, tracking, account setup, and product details. See the templates here.
Turn inquiries into sales
Customers browsing your store often need help deciding between options or understanding how your product works. Don’t let them leave with uncertainty.
A knowledge base isn't just for answering questions about shipping or order tracking — it can also function as a personal shopper, guiding customers toward the perfect fit or style.
With Gorgias Convert, you can engage customers at key moments with personalized, persuasive messaging. Offer exactly what they need while they’re viewing a product, such as a helpful guide from your knowledge base that:
- Clarifies product details
- Increases brand awareness
- Encourages them to explore more of your catalog
Take TUSHY, which highlights an article on their toilet compatibility page when customers show a 30-second delay on their bidet product page.
As another example, if a customer asks, "I have wide feet. Will your shoes fit me?" don’t just respond with a simple "yes." Take it further by sharing helpful links to articles about your shoe size and fit. This approach answers their question and boosts their confidence in purchasing.
Reinforce your brand
Delivering information in a consistent tone across all customer interactions builds trust and leaves a lasting impression. You can easily do this in your knowledge base by staying in line with your brand's tone and style and communicating your company’s values.
Let’s run through an example: Let's say you sell organic skincare products, and you want to use your knowledge base to establish your expertise and the brand values you share with like-minded people.
Health-conscious consumers often have specific concerns about product safety, ingredients, and potential side effects. Your knowledge base is the ideal platform to address these concerns transparently. How?
Explain the benefits of organic ingredients, the absence of harmful chemicals, and how your products contribute to healthier skin.
Proactively addressing these concerns promotes a lifestyle choice centered around happy skin and well-being. Doing so will set you up to be seen as a trustworthy source of information about safe beauty.
Everything you need to know about creating & managing a customer knowledge base
Next, we’ll walk you through creating and managing your customer-facing knowledge base.
How to set up a knowledge base
These initial steps are the foundation of a successful knowledge base, ensuring long-term success.
1) Identify your customer’s frequently asked questions
To lay the groundwork for your knowledge base, you need to know your customers like the back of your hand. A few ways you can kick off this research:
Review key questions and phrases from your previous conversations with customers: Dive into your customer support history, whether it’s through email, live chat, or social media.
Look for recurring questions, common issues, or patterns. For example, those should be high-priority topics if you're constantly fielding inquiries about sizing or return policies.
You can learn these by looking into the reasons for contact with Gorgias. This AI-powered feature identifies a ticket's contact reason from its message content. Reasons could range from cancellations and refunds to shipment issues and feedback. The Contact Reason is conveniently located at the top of each ticket, as shown in the image below.
Use customer satisfaction surveys to discover what burning questions are on your shoppers’ minds: To view satisfaction scores on Gorgias, navigate to Statistics > Support Performance > Satisfaction.
This section provides details on surveys sent, response rates, average ratings, and response distribution over three months. Filter for scores of 3 stars or below. Analyzing lower ratings and their accompanying comments will help you pinpoint the topics your Help Center articles should address.
Any customer data you have available becomes your roadmap to creating valuable knowledge base content.
The research step is crucial, and here’s why: In 2022, Deloitte Digital conducted research with Twilio about the business value of trust. The results showed that when companies make it easy to do business with them, 96% of consumers trust the brand more.
When asked how companies can make it easier to do business with them, customers said the following factors are the most important:
- Making sure issues are resolved quickly
- Being able to easily get in touch with a real person for help (and not getting bounced around from person to person when trying to solve a problem)
- Being able to simply find answers and get information as needed on their own.
Your knowledge base can help with all three factors. As a result, Deloitte’s research found that customers are more likely to reward that trust by making more frequent and higher-value purchases.
2) Use templates to streamline page creation
Starting a Help Center can be daunting, especially when you're strapped for time already.
Creating a Help Center involves research, brand consistency, copywriting, and page structure. Luckily, platforms like Gorgias provide templates that eliminate the guesswork and lighten the load.
These ready-to-use templates are crafted from successful Help Centers across various industries, giving you a proven framework to structure your own content confidently.
3) Customize the look of your knowledge base
Your knowledge base isn't just a sidekick. It's a key part of your brand's identity. No matter if a new customer lands on your knowledge base through your main site or via a Google search, it should feel like they're interacting with the same business as they jump between the knowledge base and your main site pages.
That’s why you need to ensure your knowledge base’s branding seamlessly matches your website, creating a cohesive experience for your customers.
A few elements to consider:
- Add your logo to the header
- Match the header design to your main website
- Edit fonts and use your preferred typeface
- Use similar iconography and images as you would on your other website pages
Princess Polly’s customer knowledge base ties in all of these elements well. Even though the knowledge base is on a separate subdomain, it doesn’t feel any different from the brand’s main domain from a user’s perspective.
Princess Polly's knowledge base design matches its main homepage, keeping the user experience cohesive.
Platforms like Gorgias allow you to edit fonts, logos, and headers for your Help Center without any coding required. If you're craving more customization, you can dip into HTML and CSS to tailor specific elements.
4) Make your pages categorizable and searchable
Remember, the goal here is to make things effortless for your customers. If your knowledge base is a maze of articles without clear categorization, it's not user-friendly — it's a Q&A jungle that nobody wants to venture through.
Organize all your articles with crystal-clear categorization — think "Shipping," "Returns," "Loyalty Program," and "Sizing." Don't forget to add a smart search bar that understands keywords and common phrases to recommend relevant articles.
"We have a great Help Center that attracts tens of thousands of monthly visitors who are then redirected back to the main site and in this circular motion where we don't want those customers to drop off. Two critical aspects drive this success: ensuring accessibility so customers can easily find the answers they need, and providing direct contact options for our team. We don't want you to have to go searching for your answer to the point where you're frustrated and you stop that purchasing experience." —Colin Waters, Leading at The Feed & former Associate Director of Customer Experience at BrüMate
Turn your knowledge base into an interactive Help Center
Once you’ve gone through the foundational steps, you can work on taking your knowledge base to the next level. This will enhance customer satisfaction and engagement.
5) Create automated and interactive FAQs
In a world where 65% of customers expect companies to adapt to their changing needs and preferences, proactive customer service is essential. One way you can satisfy this expectation is to use automated and interactive FAQs via chatbot that adjust to customer needs.
For example, with Gorgias Automate, you can use Article Recommendations in Chat to help customers out without live agent help. When they type in the Chat, they'll automatically receive a relevant Help Center article suggestion.
The goal is to answer the customer’s question without having to pull in a support agent.
What if automation doesn’t answer a customers’ question? Glad you asked! At the end of the flow, if the customer still requires help then a ticket is then created for an agent to follow up.
6) Offer self-serve order tracking
Order tracking is a hot topic for customers, so don't be shy about it. Add more than one CTA that customers can click to track their order without having to get in touch with your team.
Feature an order tracking CTA prominently in your knowledge base's header, via chat, and as a main option on the Help Center page.
See the screenshot from Parade below, for example: This may seem overkill, but we promise it’s not. The data to prove it: merchants who use Gorgias’s automation tools reduce support tickets in their helpdesk by 60%.
7) Go multimedia
When it comes to crafting a comprehensive knowledge base solution, text alone might not always suffice. Customers often prefer visual cues, and research has shown that visual content can significantly improve understanding and retention of information.
Think about any time you’ve built a piece of furniture that you bought online. Those manuals are confusing enough as is — even with the images added to every step. Imagine how much head-scratching you’d be doing if you didn’t have the images to accompany you.
That’s why images, videos, and other iconography are useful to include in your knowledge base, so you can eliminate confusion and boost user confidence.
Check out how Loop uses videos along with written instructions for tutorials:
8) Make contact forms easily accessible
Yes, one of the key objectives of a knowledge base is to empower customers to find answers and solutions independently. However, there will always be situations where customers require personalized support — like when an order arrives damaged, for example.
Integrating contact forms directly into your knowledge base provides a straightforward channel for customers to reach out for assistance. But these inquiries can be difficult to keep up with when you have multiple forms living on various parts of your site.
💡 Tip: Add a “contact us” CTA in your knowledge base. If a customer clicks it, they’re redirected to the main contact page on your website. You can also create a knowledge base form that’s separate to track traffic from the Help Center page alone.
Here’s an example from BrüMate, which features its “contact us” form directly on the Knowledge Base domain:
9) Add flexible communication options
It’d be nice if you could promptly answer every customer’s question, but sometimes, a self-service knowledge base isn't enough. Unique situations will arise, and that's where the human touch comes in.
A staggering 83% of customers agree that they feel more loyal to brands that respond to and resolve their complaints. So, be prepared to chat live when the need arises.
Concerned about managing live chat support? A few ways to make it easier for strapped CX teams:
- Only implement live chat on specific web pages, so it’s not featured on all pages on your site.
- Set realistic SLAs for when your customer support team is online, so if it’s outside working hours the customer shouldn’t expect an answer until the following day.
- Highlight your most prominent FAQ articles as soon as someone opens the live chat window, so they can find certain answers without contacting your team.
Here’s another knowledge base example from Princess Polly, which features a live chat widget on its knowledge base page and highlights key FAQs.
⚡ Key Takeaway: Every customer has a different preference for how they want to be communicated with. It’s important that you offer various methods to satisfy those preferences.
Keep your knowledge base updated
Your knowledge base is an ongoing initiative. As you expand your product line and discover new information, you’re going to want to adapt your knowledge base to continue meeting the needs of your buyers.
So lastly, let’s talk about maintaining and evolving your knowledge base to ensure you continue providing a high-quality and effective experience.
10) Track knowledge base analytics
Your knowledge base is an evolving entity. Using analytics to your advantage will help you continue to improve it over time.
Here are a few questions to consider:
- Are some queries or questions more popular than others? Use this to improve your content hierarchy by placing the most relevant information upfront.
- Is one method of communication preferred? Customers naturally scan left to right and top to bottom. Line up your most popular contact options with that in mind. For example, if you’re placing email, live chat, and phone number options left to right, feature email first if you know that’s the most popular contact option.
- What time of day do you see an uptick in engagement on your knowledge base? Trigger a customer service email workflow that shares FAQ pages to send during these times.
- What common questions can you place on other areas of your website? If customers are asking how your products are sustainable, it might be worth just adding that information directly to your homepage, product description pages, or on social media. Plus, you can pass this feedback to other teams like marketing, which can delve deeper to solve these problems at the root.
Gorgias's cloud-based integration with Google Analytics makes tracking engagement a cinch, helping you uncover the most-viewed questions, peak activity times, and top-clicked links.
11) Get feedback from customers
Metrics from your analytics tools is helpful but becomes even stronger when you combine it with qualitative data. This type of information has to be collected directly from customers, which you can do via feedback forms.
After each support interaction, simply ask customers how you can improve. Some questions you can ask are:
- Did they know your Help Center existed?
- Was it easy to find?
- Did they have trouble finding the answer they needed?
12) Optimize your knowledge base for search
Did you know your knowledge base can be used as an acquisition tool by driving organic traffic to your website? Optimize it for search engines by framing questions as main headings.
For example, article titles can be formatted like, "What is your return policy?" This way, when potential customers search Google for answers, your article will appear.
When building your knowledge base in Gorgias, you can even customize your meta title and description for an extra SEO boost. Check out ALOHAS’ knowledge base as an example. For customers who search “What is Alohas’ return policy?” in Google, this article will show:
The ALOHAS Help Center is the highlighted result on Google thanks to search engine optimization.
13) Regularly audit articles
We all know things won’t stay the same forever. Products change, ingredients shift, and branding gets a makeover.
When information changes, It's essential to shift the information in your knowledge base too.
What if you decide to change your shipping policy, so it’s only free after a customer spends $50 versus $25? The last thing you want is an irate customer pointing to an old article that mentions the $25 rule.
This is why you must regularly audit and quality check your articles to ensure they're as recent as possible. Failing to do so can impact customer loyalty.
Examples of a full-fledged interactive knowledge base
Now that you have the full scoop on building a successful customer knowledge base, looking at specific examples may help.
Here are a few businesses that have integrated automation, clear categorization, and user-friendly interfaces to empower customers to find answers and solutions efficiently.
BrüMate
BrüMate's Help Center stands out for its customer-centric approach. Here's what makes it effective:
Directly addresses key questions
Right at the top of the page, BrüMate addresses two of the most common customer queries: the returns policy and compatibility with their products. This ensures that customers can find answers without scrolling.
Directing customers to the right product
BrüMate goes a step further by offering a personalized product finder quiz. This interactive element helps customers discover the perfect BrüMate product that suits their needs without the hassle of extensive research.
“We’ve started pushing people towards resources that are in our Help Center. We're trying to help our customers self-solve.”
—Colin Waters, leading at The Feed & former Associate Director of Customer Experience at BrüMate
Accessible support
The Help Center features easily accessible header links, including options to track packages and return to the main site. The chat bubble is readily available, and if the customer service team is offline, customers can access helpful articles.
ALOHAS
ALOHAS’s Help Center excels in providing quick and convenient access to information. Here's what sets it apart:
Top questions featured
Just like BrüMate, ALOHAS prioritizes customer needs by featuring top questions prominently at the top of the page. This means customers don't have to scroll to find answers.
ALOHAS puts its most frequently asked questions about refunds and shipping at the top of its knowledge base.
Effective use of iconography
ALOHAS uses icons effectively for Call to Action (CTA) buttons related to orders, including tracking, returns, cancellations, and reporting issues.
ALOHAS makes it easier to navigate their knowledge base with icons and emojis.
User friendly categorization
The Help Center is well-organized with clear categorization of articles, making it easy for users to navigate and find relevant information.
Powerful search function
ALOHAS' search function is highly effective, pulling relevant information based on key phrases, further enhancing the user experience.
ALOHAS includes a search bar to allow customers to find their specific questions quickly.
LUNO
LUNO takes a minimalist approach that proves simplicity can be highly effective:
Simplicity
LUNO demonstrates that sometimes less is more. The Help Center is clean and uncluttered, ensuring customers can find what they need without distractions.
LUNO's knowledge base is simple without extra decorative elements like images or icons.
Dedicated product information
Many articles are dedicated to specific product questions, such as compatibility, user manuals, and repair guides. It serves as a virtual manual for customers.
Turn your customer service knowledge base into a conversion machine
88% of customers already search your website for some kind of knowledge base or FAQ. It's your chance to transform those searches into conversions.
All of the knowledge base tools mentioned today are available with Gorgias, which you can try for free for 7 days.
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How AI Agent Works & Gathers Data
TL;DR:
- No data is stored. AI Agent follows a zero data retention policy and complies with regulations like GDPR and CPRA.
- Learns from your store’s data to provide personalized support. AI Agent pulls from sources like Shopify, your Help Center, and internal documents to respond with relevant, on-brand answers. The use of internal knowledge rather than public databases helps to avoid generic answers.
- Constructs sentences using a mix of different large language models (LLMs). AI Agent uses OpenAI, Anthropic, and other models to form natural-sounding responses.
- Feedback helps improve AI Agent’s performance. Support teams can review AI Agent’s responses, while Gorgias also monitors feedback from thousands of brands to optimize back-end prompts.
AI Agent is an autonomous AI support assistant designed specifically for ecommerce brands. Trained on your store’s Shopify data, policies, and brand guidelines, AI Agent responds to customer interactions with personalized, high-quality answers.
But is it the good type of AI?
As AI emerges more and more as a necessity for CX teams, there are a few common concerns among leaders. Worries that it will steal customer data, use data to enhance OpenAI’s LLM, or leverage shopper data for things outside of its scope are just a few.
To quell those concerns, we’ll go into the specifics of how AI Agent actually collects and uses data.
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Jump to an answer:
- How does AI Agent collect data?
- Does AI Agent store data?
- Is AI Agent trustworthy?
- How accurate are the support responses?
- Do you have to legally disclose that you’re using AI?
How does AI Agent collect data?
Gorgias’s AI Agent uses merchants’ unique data, including orders, ticket information, product catalogs, and store content, and then uses a blend of state-of-the-art LLMs, including OpenAI and Anthropic, to help it construct natural, human-like responses.
AI Agent uses the following as data sources:
- Custom Guidance
- Shopify order data
- Your Help Center
- Public webpages
- Macros
- Handover instructions and excluded topics
How AI Agent handles Shopify order data
The information AI Agent has access to is approximately the same data as the one presented in the Shopify widget in the Gorgias helpdesk. We push this same information to AI Agent to compute the next step for the customer.
Some of the data permissions that AI Agent has when integrated with Shopify include access to all orders, all draft orders, order edits, fulfilments, products, customers, themes, discounts, scripts, and content.
How AI Agent chooses data between different data sources
AI Agent processes the information from the ticket to understand where to pull the relevant data from, such as correlating information from the account associated with the interaction as well as the intent of the message. Here’s how it works.
🎟️ Ticket analysis
AI Agent first analyzes the content of the ticket to identify the key information and intent behind the customer's inquiry.
📊 Data correlation
It correlates this information with the available data sources, such as Guidance your team sets up (which takes precedence over other knowledge sources), Help Center articles, Macros, and any other integrated knowledge bases.
🤔 Context understanding
AI Agent understands the context of the message and retrieves relevant data. If there are multiple sources of information, it determines which source is most pertinent to the query.
💬 Clarifying questions
If the ticket has vague or insufficient information, AI Agent will ask clarifying questions to ensure it pulls the correct information.
✅ Internal QA process
Before sending the response, AI Agent undergoes an internal QA process where it verifies the information and creates an internal note for the merchant. This note includes information on what knowledge and Shopify data was used, and shows "reasoning" for the event if the QA failed.
🗣️ Feedback loop
Merchants or admins can provide feedback on whether the resolution was good or bad, and AI Agent uses this feedback to improve future responses.
Does AI Agent store data?
Gorgias and AI Agent do not store shopper or customer data.
AI Agent operates under a zero data retention (ZDR) policy, meaning that once the request is processed, the data is not stored.
📚 Further reading: Our Master Service Agreement (MSA) and Data Processing Agreement (DPA) govern the use of all Gorgias services, including AI Agent. If you’d like to learn more, these terms detail the data we collect and how we use Artificial Intelligence.
AI Agent prioritizes data security
Data privacy and security are top priorities for us, and our systems are designed to handle data in a secure manner without retaining personal or sensitive information.
AI Agent uses language models developed by OpenAI. OpenAI does not use customer data to train their models, and there is a zero data retention policy. Any data sent through the API is not stored beyond the duration needed to serve the request pulled.
Gorgias is SOC 2 Type II compliant and adheres to strict regulations and standards to ensure the privacy, security, and proper handling of sensitive data.
AI Agent does not use shopper data to enhance its LLM
AI Agent and Gorgias comply with stringent data privacy regulations, such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA), ensuring that shopper data is handled securely and responsibly without being used for model enhancement.
This approach ensures that shopper data remains private and is not utilized beyond the scope of providing immediate customer support.
“We were initially nervous about using AI, but it has quickly proven its worth. Our community members have even mistaken the AI Agent for a real person, which speaks volumes about how well it aligns with our brand voice.”
—Zoe Cranney, Community Experience Expert, LSKD
Is AI Agent trustworthy?
Yes! AI Agent was built not only to provide instant and accurate responses, but also with transparency in mind. For every interaction that AI Agent has, it provides you with an internal note that covers:
- The Guidance/Articles/Macros it used
- The source of the account information it pulled
- A prompt for your feedback to improve future responses
How accurate are the support responses?
While no AI tool is capable of perfect accuracy 100% of the time, we put several safeguards in place to keep AI Agent from sending inaccurate information.
Trained on your knowledge — not generic information
When AI Agent responds to a customer, it pulls from your team’s specific documents. Aside from the Guidance you set, which it prioritizes, AI Agent uses your Shopify order data, Macros, your brand’s webpages, as well as your Help Center.
Using AI Agent is unlike only relying on ChatGPT for answers, which uses broad information. AI Agent draws from your data only, making its responses highly accurate and personalized to your brand.
We use multiple LLMs for natural language processing
LLMs like OpenAI and Anthropic’s main role in AI Agent is to recognize and form natural-flowing responses. It can speak in different languages and tones to align with your brand voice. This, combined with your own internal knowledge sources, helps add that human touch that sets it apart from automated emails and bots.
Topics can be excluded or handed over
As another layer of control, we let you define topics that AI Agent should completely ignore and hand over to your team.
For example, some topics — such as medical questions or legal threats — are too sensitive to handle with AI. You can add these to your Exclusion or Handover topics to ensure AI Agent does not respond to them.
Teams can provide feedback on resolutions
You can improve AI Agent’s responses by providing feedback on how it handled tickets. You can either approve of its behavior or suggest adjustments to improve future interactions.
For example, when an influencer reached out to hip toddler carrier brand Wildride and said, “I really love you guys,” AI Agent replied, “Love you too ❤️❤️”.
Amber van den Berg, Head of Customer Experience, found this really funny, as it was exactly the type of response the team would have given. But if that response wasn’t quite right, or wasn’t on brand, they could have given AI Agent that feedback.
Do you have to legally disclose that you’re using AI?
You have the choice of whether or not to disclose your use of AI in response generated by AI Agent.
However, for maximum legal protection, we recommend using your email signature to indicate that the message your customers receive has been created with AI.
- In email: Use the Email Signature setting to disclose your use of AI.
- In chat: Use the Privacy Policy feature to disclose your use of AI.
Note: Some laws, such as the California Bolstering Online Transparency Act, prohibit misleading consumers about the use of automated artificial identities.
Give better support to your CX team & your customers
"I saw how well AI Agent was replying to customers and really started to think about how we could optimize it to work for us even more,” said Amber van den Berg, Head of Customer Experience at Wildride.
“Within one month, AI Agent was answering 33% of emails, which is quite impressive." This was essential for Wildride’s CX team after viral social media content bumped 1000 tickets per month to 1000 tickets per week.
Now, the team is freed up to focus on more complex issues, and AI Agent can fill in the rest.
Book a demo to see how AI Agent can work for you.
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