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Black Friday–Cyber Monday: Automation

How to Prep for Peak Season: BFCM Automation Checklist

A no-fluff checklist to automate your support, streamline operations, and boost CX before the BFCM surge hits.
By Christelle Agustin
0 min read . By Christelle Agustin

TL;DR:

  • Start by cleaning up your Help Center. Update your articles based on last year’s data, using plain language and clear policy details to boost self-service.
  • Use automations to streamline ticket routing and support efficiency. Set rules for tagging, escalation, and inbox views, so your team can respond faster.
  • Prep your macros, AI, and staffing plan in advance. Build responses for top FAQs, train AI on the right sources, and forecast agent needs to avoid burnout.
  • Automate logistics, upselling, and QA to stay ahead. From showing shipping timelines to flagging low-quality responses, automation ensures smooth operations and more revenue during peak season.

Getting ready for that yearly ticket surge isn’t only about activating every automation feature on your helpdesk, it’s about increasing efficiency across your entire support operations.

This year, we’re giving you one less thing to worry about with our 2025 BFCM automation guide. Whether your team needs a tidier Help Center or better ticket routing rules, we’ve got a checklist for every area of the customer experience brought to you by top industry players, including ShipBob, Loop Returns, TalentPop, and more. 

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2025 BFCM automation checklist

  • Tidy up your Help Center
    • Audit your docs
    • Review last year’s BFCM data to find your must-have articles
    • Update your policy details
    • Edit content using easy-to-understand language
  • Expedite your ticket routing automations
    • Set up automated ticket tags
    • Create an inbox view for each category
    • Set escalation rules for urgent tickets
    • Set up mandatory Ticket Fields
  • Prep your macros and AI agent
    • Write macros for your top FAQs
    • Train your AI on the right sources
    • Define the limits of what AI should handle
  • Forecast your BFCM staffing needs
    • Use ticket volume to estimate the number of agents
    • Plan extra coverage with automation or outsourcing
    • Run agent training sessions on BFCM protocols
  • Map out your logistics processes
    • Negotiate better rates and processing efficiencies
    • Automate inventory reorder points
    • Build contingency plans for disruptions
    • Show shipping timelines on product pages
  • Maximize profits with upselling automations
    • Guide shoppers with smart recommendations
    • Suggest alternatives when items are out of stock
    • Engage hesitant shoppers with winback discounts
  • Keep support quality high with QA automations
    • Automate ticket reviews with AI-powered QA
    • Track both agent and AI responses
    • Turn QA insights into coaching opportunities

Tidy up your Help Center

Your customer knowledge base, FAQs, or Help Center is a valuable hub of answers for customers’ most asked questions. For those who prefer to self-serve, it’s one of the first resources they visit. To ensure customers get accurate answers, do the following:

  • Audit your docs
  • Review last year’s BFCM data to find your must-have articles
  • Update your policy details
  • Edit content using easy-to-understand language

1. Audit your docs

Take stock of what’s currently in your database. Are you still displaying low-engagement or unhelpful articles? Are articles about discontinued products still up? Start by removing outdated content first, and then decide which articles to keep from there.

Related: How to refresh your Help Center: A step-by-step guide

2. Review last year’s BFCM data to find your must-have articles

Are you missing key topics, or don’t have a database yet? Look at last year’s tickets. What were customers’ top concerns? Were customers always asking about returns? Was there an uptick in free shipping questions? If an inquiry repeats itself, it’s a sign to add it to your Help Center.

3. Update your policy details 

An influx of customers means more people using your shipping, returns, exchanges, and discount policies. Make sure these have accurate information about eligibility, conditions, and grace periods, so your customers have one reliable source of truth.

Personalization tip: Loop Returns advises adjusting your return policy for different return reasons. With Loop’s Workflows, you can automatically determine which customers and which return reasons should get which return policies. 

Read more: Store policies by industry, explained: What to include for every vertical

4. Edit content using easy-to-understand language

Customers want fast answers, so ensure your docs are easy to read and understand. Titles and answers should be clear. Avoid technical jargon and stick to simple sentences that express one idea. To accelerate the process, use AI tools like Grammarly and ChatGPT. 

No time to set up a Help Center? Gorgias automatically generates Help Center articles for you based on what people are asking in your inbox.

Princess Polly Help Center
Princess Polly’s Help Center is powered by Gorgias.

Expedite your ticket routing automations

Think of ticket routing like running a city. Cars are your tickets (and customers), roads are your inboxes, and traffic lights are your automations and rules. The better you maintain these structures, the better they can run on their own without needing constant repairs from your CX team. 

Here’s your ticket routing automation checklist:

  • Tag every ticket
  • Create views for each category you need (VIP, Returns, Troubleshooting, etc.)
  • Set escalation rules for urgent tickets
  • Set up mandatory Ticket Fields 

1. Set up automated ticket tags

Instead of asking agents to tag every ticket, set rules that apply tags based on keywords, order details, or message type. A good starting point is to tag tickets by order status, returns, refunds, VIP customers, and urgent issues so your team can prioritize quickly.

Luckily, many helpdesks offer AI-powered tags or contact reasons to reduce manual work. For example, Gorgias automatically detects a ticket’s Contact Reason. The system learns from past interactions, tagging your tickets with more accuracy each time.

Rule that auto tags tickets with "VIP" when customers have spent $1,000+ and ordered 3+ times
This rule auto-tags tickets with “VIP” when customers have spent $1,000 and have ordered more than three times.

2. Create an inbox view for each category

Custom or filtered inbox views give your agents a filtered and focused workspace. Start with essential views like VIP customers, returns, and damages, then add specialized views that match how your team works.

If you’re using conversational AI to answer tickets, views become even more powerful. For example, you might track low CSAT tickets to catch where AI responses fall short or high handover rates to identify AI knowledge gaps. The goal is to reduce clutter so agents can focus on delivering support.

3. Set escalation rules for urgent tickets

Don’t get bogged down in minor issues while urgent tickets sit unanswered. Escalation rules make sure urgent cases are pushed to the top of your inbox, so they don’t risk revenue or lead to unhappy customers. 

Tickets to escalate to agents or specialized queues: 

  • Lost packages
  • Damaged items
  • Defective items
  • Failed payments
  • Open tickets without a follow-up

4. Set up mandatory Ticket Fields to get data right off the bat

Ticket Fields add structure by requiring your team to capture key data before closing a ticket. For BFCM, make fields like Contact Reason, Resolution, and Return Reason mandatory so you always know why customers reached out and how the issue was resolved.

For CX leads, Ticket Fields removes guesswork. Instead of sifting through tickets one by one, you’ll have clean data to spot trends, report on sales drivers, and train your team.

Pro Tip: Use conditional fields to dig deeper without overwhelming agents. For example, if the contact reason is “Return,” automatically prompt the agent to log the return reason or product defect.

Prep your macros and AI agent

Macros and AI Agent are your frontline during BFCM. When prepped properly, they can clear hundreds of repetitive tickets. The key is to ensure that answers are accurate, up-to-date, and aligned with what you want AI to handle.

  • Write macros for your most common FAQs
  • Train your AI on the right sources
  • Define the limits of what AI should handle

1. Write macros for your top FAQs

Customers will flood your inbox with the same questions: “Where’s my order?” “When will my discount apply?” “What’s your return policy?” Write macros that give short, direct answers up front, include links for details, and use placeholders for personalization. 

Bad macro:

  • “You can track your order with the tracking link. It should update soon.”

Good macro:

  •  “Hi {{customer_firstname}}, you can track your order here: {{tracking_link}}. Tracking updates may take up to 24 hours to appear. Here’s our shipping policy: [Help Center link].”

Pro Tip: Customers expect deep discounts this time of year. BPO agency C(x)atalyze recommends automating responses to these inquiries with Gorgias Rules. Include words such as “discount” AND “BFCM”, “holiday”, “Thanksgiving”, “Black Friday”, “Christmas”, etc.

2. Train your AI on the right sources

AI is only as good as the information you feed it. Before BFCM, make sure it’s pulling from:

  • Your Help Center with updated FAQs and policies
  • Internal docs on return windows, promos, and shipping cutoffs
  • Product catalogs with the latest details and stock info
  • BFCM-specific resources like discount terms or extended support hours

Double-check a few responses in Test Mode to confirm the AI is pulling the right information.

How Gorgias AI Agent works: Guidance, knowledge, and Actions
Gorgias AI Agent uses Guidance (your instructions) and knowledge sources in order to perform actions and craft responses.

3. Define the limits of what AI should handle

Edge cases and urgent questions need a human touch, not an automated reply. Keep AI focused on quick requests like order status, shipping timelines, or promo eligibility. Complex issues, like defective products, VIP complaints, and returns, can directly go to your agents.

Pro Tip: In Gorgias AI Agent settings, you can customize how handovers happen on Chat during business hours and after hours. 

Forecast your BFCM staffing needs

Too few agents and you prolong wait times and miss sales. Too many and you’ll leave your team burned out. Capacity planning helps you find the balance to handle the BFCM surge.

1. Use ticket volume to estimate the number of agents

Use your ticket-to-order ratio from last year as a baseline, then apply it to this year’s forecast. Compare that number against what your team can realistically handle per shift to see if your current staffing plan holds up.

Read more: How to forecast customer service hiring needs ahead of BFCM

2. Plan extra coverage with automation or outsourcing

You still have options if you don’t have enough agents helping you out. Customer service agency TalentPop recommends starting by identifying where coverage will fall short, whether that’s evenings, weekends, or specific channels. Then decide whether to increase automation and AI use or bring in temporary assistance. 

3. Run agent training sessions on BFCM protocols

Before the holiday season, run refreshers on new products, promos, and policy changes so no one hesitates when the tickets roll in. Pair training with cheat sheets or an internal knowledge base, giving your team quick access to the answers they’ll need most often.

Map out your logistics processes

Expect late shipments, low inventory, and more returns than usual during peak season. With the proper logistics automations, you can stay ahead of these issues while reducing pressure on your team. 

ShipBob and Loop recommend the following steps:

  • Negotiate better rates and processing efficiencies
  • Automate your reverse logistics
  • Connect your store, 3PL, and WMS
  • Automate inventory reorder points
  • Show shipping timelines on product pages

1. Negotiate better rates and processing efficiencies

Shipping costs add up fast during peak season. Work with your 3PL or partners like Loop Returns to take advantage of negotiated carrier rates and rate shopping tools that automatically select the most cost-effective option for each order.

2. Automate inventory reorder points

To maintain a steady supply of products, set automatic reorder points at the SKU level so reorders are triggered once inventory dips below a threshold. More lead time means fewer ‘out of stock’ surprises for your customers.

3. Build contingency plans for disruptions

Bad weather, delays, or unexpected demand can disrupt shipping timelines. Create a playbook in advance so your team knows exactly how to respond when things go sideways. At minimum, your plan should cover:

  • Weather disruptions - Do you have a backup plan if carriers can’t pick up shipments due to storms or severe conditions?
  • Carrier overloads - Which alternative carriers or routes can you switch to if primary partners are at capacity?
  • Inventory shortages - How will you handle overselling, low stock alerts, or warehouse imbalances?
  • Demand drop-offs - How will you reallocate inventory if BFCM sales don’t match forecasts?

4. Show shipping timelines on product pages

Customers want to know when their order will arrive before they hit checkout. Add estimated delivery dates and 2-day shipping badges directly on product pages. These cues help shoppers make confident decisions and reduce pre-purchase questions about shipping times.

Pro Tip: To keep those timelines accurate, build carrier cutoff dates into your Black Friday logistics workflows with your 3PL or fulfillment team. This allows you to avoid promising delivery windows your carriers can’t meet during peak season.

Maximize profits with upselling automations

You’ve handled the basics, from ticket routing to staffing and logistics. Now it’s time to go beyond survival. Upselling automations create an end-to-end experience that enhances the customer journey, shows them products they’ll love, and makes it easy to buy more with confidence. To put them to work:

  • Guide shoppers with smart recommendations
  • Suggest alternatives when items are out of stock
  • Engage hesitant shoppers with winback discounts

1. Guide shoppers with smart recommendations

BFCM puts pressure on customers to find the right deal fast, but many don’t know what they’re looking for. Make it easier for them with macros that point shoppers to bestsellers or curated bundles. For a more advanced option, conversational AI like Gorgias Shopping Assistant can guide browsers on their own, even when your agents are offline.

2. Suggest alternatives when items are out of stock

No need to damage your conversion rate just because customers missed the items they wanted. Automations can recommend similar or complementary products, keeping customers engaged rather than leaving them empty-handed.

If an item is sold out, set up automations to:

  • Suggest similar items like another size, color, or variation of the same product.
  • Highlight premium upgrades such as a newer model or higher-value version that’s in stock.
  • Cross-sell and offer bundles to keep the order valuable even without the original item.
  • Notify customers about restocks by letting shoppers sign up for back-in-stock alerts.

3. Engage hesitant customers with winback discounts

Automations can detect hesitation through signals like abandoned carts, long checkout times, or even customer messages that mention keywords such as “too expensive” or “I’ll think about it.” In these cases, trigger a small discount to encourage the purchase.

You can take this a step further with conversational AI like Gorgias Shopping Assistant, which detects intent in real time. If a shopper seems uncertain, it can proactively offer a discount code based on the level of their buying intent.

Keep support quality high with QA automations

During BFCM, speed alone is not enough. Customers expect accurate, helpful, and on-brand responses, even when volume is at its highest. QA automations help you prioritize quality by reviewing every interaction automatically and flagging where standards are slipping. To make QA part of your automation prep:

  • Automate ticket reviews with AI-powered QA
  • Track both agent and AI responses
  • Turn QA insights into coaching opportunities

1. Automate ticket reviews with AI-powered QA

Manual QA can only spot-check a small sample of tickets, which means most interactions go unreviewed. AI QA reviews every ticket automatically and delivers feedback instantly. This ensures consistent quality, even when your team is flooded with requests.

Compared to manual QA, AI QA offers:

  • Full coverage: Every ticket is reviewed, not just a sample.
  • Instant feedback: Agents get insights right after closing tickets.
  • Consistency: Reviews are unbiased and use the same criteria across all interactions.
  • Scalability: Works at any ticket volume without slowing down your team.
Manual QA vs. AI-powered QA
AI-powered QA helps you review more tickets at a higher quality in comparison to manual QA. 

2. Track both agent and AI responses

Customers should get the same level of quality no matter who replies. AI QA evaluates both human and AI conversations using the same criteria. This creates a fair standard and gives you confidence that every interaction meets your brand’s bar for quality.

3. Turn QA insights into coaching opportunities

QA automation is not just about grading tickets. It highlights recurring issues, unclear workflows, or policy confusion. Use these insights to guide targeted coaching sessions and refine AI guidance so both humans and AI deliver better results.

Pro Tip: Pilot your AI QA tool with a small group of agents before peak season. This lets you validate feedback quality and scale with confidence when BFCM volume hits.

Give your ecommerce strategy a boost this holiday shopping season

The name of the game this Black Friday-Cyber Monday isn’t just to get a ton of online sales, it’s to set up your site for a successful holiday shopping season. 

If you want to move the meter, focus on setting up strong BFCM automation flows now. 

Gorgias is designed with ecommerce merchants in mind. Find out how Gorgias’s time-saving CX platform can help you create BFCM success. Book a demo today.

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19 min read.
CX Agent Experience Stories

What Happens When CX Agents Love Their Platform? Ask Glossier, Tommy John, and Brunt Workwear

See how CX teams at Glossier, Tommy John, and Brunt Workwear transformed agent happiness into better support, stronger loyalty, and real business results.
By Gabrielle Policella
0 min read . By Gabrielle Policella

TL;DR:

  • Happy agents lead to better CX outcomes. When agents genuinely enjoy using their platform, it boosts productivity, morale, and customer satisfaction.
  • Gorgias makes agents’ lives easier. CX teams at Glossier, Tommy John, and Brunt Workwear unanimously preferred Gorgias over legacy systems.
  • AI helps teams scale without losing the human touch. By handling basic inquiries, AI gives agents more time for high-impact conversations and personalized support
  • Agent satisfaction drives business impact. Brands saw improved team efficiency, reduced operational friction, and revenue gains from more focused, empowered agents.

Everyone talks about how important it is for your ecommerce tools to drive business growth, boost productivity, and deliver a high return on investment. But the equally important (yet often overlooked) third layer is how a tool affects the people using it day-to-day. 

The hidden costs of sticking to the CX status quo

The moment CX and ecommerce leaders start noticing slipping KPIs, frustrated agents, or rising support costs, they ask themselves a question, “Is it time to look for something new?” Sticking with the same tool might seem easier — no demos, evaluations, migrations, onboarding, or retraining involved. 

But ignoring the shortcomings of your current CX platform can snowball into larger issues over time. 

When CX agents don’t like the platform they’re working in daily, bigger problems arise:

  • Agent productivity declines 
  • Morale and employee retention suffer
  • Operational costs rise
  • Customer experience takes a hit
  • Poor data and reporting if agents aren’t using tags or ticket fields correctly

Beyond the thousands of dollars saved in operational costs or hours saved per ticket, Gorgias helps CX agents focus on what they do best — creating the best customer experience possible. 

When a platform makes agents’ lives easier, they have more time to focus on the moments that matter, like proactively reaching out to VIPs, sending surprise birthday gifts, or empathetically handling nuanced tickets. Not to mention, they enjoy doing it. 

At our annual customer conference, Gorgias Connect, we asked three CX leaders to share their experiences using Gorgias. Aside from the impressive FRTs and CX-generated revenue metrics, one theme stood out — they all mentioned how much their agents enjoyed using Gorgias. 

Glossier’s agents have more time to be expert product consultants 

Emily Weiss first launched a beauty blog and community, Into the Gloss, in 2010 as a space dedicated to sharing real information, advice, and tips with real people. 

This laid the groundwork for Glossier, launching in 2014 with a fresh “skin first, makeup second” philosophy. Amidst the “full glam” era of makeup defined by smoky eyes and bold lips, Glossier’s skincare-oriented approach disrupted the norm. 

From the beginning, Glossier has attracted a strong community thanks to its products designed based on community feedback and its social media presence. Today, more than a decade later, the brand has evolved, but its core principles have stayed the same.

As a customer-obsessed beauty brand, it’s no surprise that Glossier takes a thoughtful approach to customer experience. 

We sat down with Cati Brunell-Brutman, Head of CX at Glossier, to dive into how the team uses Gorgias to make their lives easier while creating better relationships with customers. 

Glossier’s proactive approach to customer experience

How do you approach customer experience at Glossier?

I always like saying customer experience vs. customer service because I think customer service feels like we’re just solving problems in a transactional way. Customer experience is proactive and involves looking at the entire customer journey. 

Our team interacts with customers from the moment they first land on the website to when they become repeat users of a product, and eventually, when they become subscribers. There are many opportunities along the way for our team to connect with people, engage in conversations, and make complementary product recommendations. 

This was what our founder really wanted this team to be—beauty editors. Everyone on the CX team is an editor (or a product expert), making curated recommendations. My vision for our CX team is to give them more time to lean into that. 

Simplifying workflows with AI to empower agents

What are you doing differently now to make sure that your team and your business are more resilient? 

My motto for the year is simplify and automate. I don't want anyone on my team to spend their whole day in a Google spreadsheet. So I’m asking questions like, ‘What can I automate? How can I connect tools?’

I really look to my team, especially the newer members, for this, and encourage them to ask, 'Why do we do this?' Because if the answer is because we've always done it that way, that's not a good enough answer for me. 

I’m focusing on finding those moments to simplify things so that the team can concentrate on impactful work, such as creating connections and engaging with people. That’s what I really want my team to focus on because it’s what brings value to their work, our customers, and the brand. 

How did your team react when you switched to Gorgias from your previous platform? 

We actually had our agents weigh in on this. We showed them demos of all the platforms we were considering and had them attend the meetings to speak with the teams. 

Then, we ran a poll in Slack and asked the team, ‘If you were making this decision, what platform would you choose?’ All of the agents unanimously voted for Gorgias. So, we’re definitely fans. 

How has implementing AI into your CX strategy affected the team?

Throughout the industry, I think people are concerned that there’s going to be a transition to a state where CX is 100% AI, everybody is going to lose their jobs, and customers won’t be able to talk to a person. 

But as we've implemented AI at Glossier, we’ve maintained the same team size as when we first started. We just have so much more automation of things like with WISMO tickets, returns, exchanges, and basic tickets that we don’t need a human to answer with macros for six hours straight. 

Deeper human-to-human connections powered by better tools

With the additional capacity, what can your team now focus on?

The team is actually able to do more work because they're not dealing with an antiquated technical system, which makes their jobs easier and also saves us money in the long run.

Now, our agents can perform tasks that actually require a human. AI can send out tracking links, and people can do the people work. 

We receive a lot of questions about our products, like how to use them or specific recommendations. And that's when we want a person to sit down, look at the customer’s selfie, and do a shade match. Then our editors can ask follow-up questions about what the shopper is looking for and why. 

What makes your agents unique, and how does Gorgias help support them?

One of the things that I really love about Glossier is that our editors — our agents — are people, and we have customers who know them by name. 

It’s really unique, and they’re almost like internet celebrities within our community. I'll go to our Reddit page and see customers posting screenshots of their conversations with our agents, and other customers will reply saying ‘Oh my gosh, yes!’ or ‘They helped me too!’ 

Customers will DM us things like ‘This editor recommended a lipstick for me. It was great, I love it. Can that person recommend a blush for me as well?’ 

Being able to aggregate all those conversations across social media DMs, emails, and chats in one place is invaluable.

Where would your team be without Gorgias? 

Having a really bad time in Gmail.

Tommy John found that Gorgias was the perfect fit for its CX team

In 2008, Tom Patterson was a medical salesperson frustrated with ill-fitting undershirts. This problem he faced every day was the catalyst for him to found Tommy John, a dual-gender underwear, loungewear, and apparel company. 

Tommy John launched with its flagship product, the Stay-Tucked Undershirt, to solve Tom’s initial struggle that he knew other customers were also facing. Fast-forward a few years, and Tommy John expanded into more categories with innovative underwear product lines 

Customer comfort has always been the main priority for Tommy John, embedded in everything from product design to its Best Pair Guarantee. The CX team is responsible for maintaining a customer experience that is just as smooth and seamless as the products they're buying. 

Max Wallace, CX Director at Tommy John, shared his experience migrating from a legacy platform to Gorgias and how it impacted his team. 

The search for a platform that supported both customers and agents

What motivated you to find a new platform? 

We knew we had to seriously explore other options when we were assigned yet another Customer Success Manager on our former platform after having gone through several in a short span. It felt like we were starting from scratch every time, which made it challenging to elevate our CX alongside such a critical partner.

We wanted to do right by our customers and our agents, ensuring they had the reporting and tools they needed, plus more. Gorgias really offered all of those things.

What was most important to you and your team when evaluating helpdesks? 

We didn’t want anything that was reinventing the wheel. One platform we looked at wasn’t doing the agents justice by only allowing them to view their own tickets. 

We really wanted our agents to have a holistic understanding of the volume we’re receiving, which Gorgias provides. Now they have this fleshed-out understanding of every customer interaction, and that’s been a game-changer. They’ve been loving it.

Gorgias gave agents the tools they needed to thrive 

How has Gorgias impacted agent productivity and impact? 

We have definitely seen greater speed and productivity.  Even something as simple as macro suggestions has helped steer new agents in the right direction. That’s going to be huge during peak seasons, like BFCM. 

And the fact that agents can move seamlessly between conversations without losing context means they’re handling more interactions, faster, with less frustration. They feel confident in their workflows, rather than being bogged down in repetitive tasks.

Within two months, using Gorgias’s AI Agent has enabled agents to minimize time-consuming manual tasks and spend more time with high-intent customers, generating over $100,000 in sales. 

I’m confident Gorgias will help us achieve our goal of making selling and CX much more integrated. We do want to reward our team for their efforts in driving sales, and we can track conversion rates per agent in Gorgias.

Why was voice integration such a priority for your team?

Before, our agents didn’t have visibility into previous phone calls that other agents had taken. I can't tell you how many times there has been confusion regarding what's going on with the customer because our agents did not have visibility into the customer’s history. We’d have to pull the call recording, pass it along, and by then, the customer would have already been waiting.

So it was essential for us to find a helpdesk that we could use voice with. Now with Gorgias Voice, agents can look back in the timeline, listen to the call, or even read a transcript or AI-generated summary. That’s just been amazing, and they’re loving that. 

Tying revenue back to call tickets, where most of our upselling and cross-selling happens, has been another huge win.

Tommy John’s agents unanimously prefer Gorgias

How did agents react after the switch?

The number one thing that validates that we made the right decision is that our agents truly love Gorgias.

Two weeks after going live, we asked, ‘Do you feel you will be more efficient working in Gorgias than our previous platform?’ And it was unanimous — Gorgias, completely. And this was just two weeks in, with everyone still getting their feet wet. 

We sent out a survey, and seeing every single person answer in favor of Gorgias told me everything I needed to know about how quickly the team was adapting and how much they preferred the platform.

A graphic showing responses from Tommy John's agent experience survey. They highlight what CX agents love about Gorgias.

What has been the CX team’s feedback after using Gorgias for a while? 

Gorgias has really paid off for our agents in terms of their efficiency. Being able to transition seamlessly from a phone call to a follow-up email with just one click is amazing. And having all of that in the timeline — phone calls, emails, chats — that can’t be beat. 

Brunt Workwear’s team stays engaged by helping more customers each day

Eric Girouard founded Brunt Workwear in 2019 to fill a gap in the market for comfortable, high-quality workwear for skilled tradespeople. He came from blue-collar roots himself, and many of his friends and family also work in the trades.

Eric started the company in his garage, focusing on direct-to-consumer sales. Brunt Workwear aims to create products that aren’t just for tradespeople, but are actually built by them.

The workwear brand incorporates a significant amount of customer feedback into the design process to create products that actually make their lives easier. Brunt Workwear’s commitment to its customers is even more evident in its product naming convention — each product is named after a specific tradesworker. 

When we spoke with Ruth Trieger, Director of Customer Experience, she shared how the CX team achieves its goal of making solutions as easy as possible for their busy customers — and why agent satisfaction can’t be overlooked.

How Brunt Workwear makes every customer feel at home

How do you think about the state of CX today?

The best retail or CX advice I’ve ever received is to think of everyone who walks into your store or visits your website as someone entering your home. For every visitor, you will do some basic things, such as taking their coat or offering them something to eat or drink. But if you truly want to make someone feel welcome, you’re going to meet them in a way that aligns with their preferences and makes them feel like they’re a part of something. 

When you make someone feel welcome, they build an emotional connection with a brand that far transcends any product. That’s a powerful thing. 

As I consider customer experience and the growth of AI, I realize there is a constant need to deliver fantastic experiences while using the right amount of resources. If you can do that while still creating a memorable experience, you have a customer for life.

Making life easier for customers and agents with an intuitive platform 

What is your goal when designing experiences for Brunt Workwear’s customers?

Our customer is very busy and very hardworking. They have very little spare time. So if or when something goes wrong, I encourage my team to think, ‘How can we make the solution as easy as possible?’ That’s our goal — to put ourselves in their shoes and reduce friction wherever we can. 

AI can handle repetitive questions, allowing our agents to jump in quickly when nuance or empathy is needed most. What matters is making sure we are there for customers in the moments that really count.

How does Gorgias help your team achieve these goals compared to previous platforms you’ve worked with?

I come from a customer service training background, and I am used to teams needing weeks to train someone on a platform. With Gorgias, I was able to navigate the system myself in very little time. 

As a young but fast-growing brand, we have to be very nimble and change things quickly. Gorgias enables us to do that with a level of ease I've never experienced in my career, so we’re really grateful for the platform. 

I love that our agents can interface with the platform in a way that is very easy, which is good for them. From a productivity and metrics standpoint, if they’re moving easily through a platform, I also know that means they’re able to accomplish more touchpoints with our customers — more phone conversations, more emails, more chats. And that means we are helping more people. 

How does improved agent satisfaction tie back to business results?

At the end of the day, if you don’t have a happy, high-functioning team, you have literally nothing in all the world. We have a talented team, and the more customers they interact with, the more likely those people are to stay with the brand. So we see an increase in customer lifetime value when our agents can spend more time with our customers. 

Gorgias helps agents move from mountains of tickets to meaningful connections 

What additional opportunities does AI open up for your team?

AI is not replacing the human touch; it’s giving us more room to lean into it. It reduces friction so that CX agents can take on higher-value work like running close-the-loop programs, proactively reaching out on the phone, and answering faster. 

If a customer is asking, ‘Where is my order?’, I don’t need to take up an agent’s time with that because AI can get them a simple, fast answer. Then, when another customer needs somebody’s time, they’re there because that person isn’t answering a mountain of tickets. 

That’s the exciting part, AI handles the repetitive stuff, and our agents get to focus on making real connections. 

How has Gorgias enabled you to communicate the value of CX to the broader business internally? 

The reporting in Gorgias has allowed us to become a true strategic partner in the business. CX sees everything: what’s working, what’s not, and what customers are asking about. For every new product launch, every campaign, and every change, my team is on the front lines. With Gorgias’s reporting, we can bring that insight back to the rest of the organization and help shape smarter decisions.

What’s been cool is that we’re now part of the feedback loop in a much more meaningful way. Without Gorgias, we would not be able to add the same level of value as a strategic partner. That’s where I see our role continuing to shift — becoming more proactive, faster at serving customers, and a critical business function. 

At the end of the day, CX knows what’s working, what isn’t, and how customers are feeling. The more we vocalize that, the better off the entire company is.

Choose a CX platform that your CX team actually wants to use

Happy, empowered agents deliver the kind of experiences that keep customers loyal and businesses growing. 

Glossier, Tommy John, and Brunt Workwear show what’s possible when teams have a platform designed for them. More efficiency, more impact, and more human connections. Because when agents love their platform, everyone wins.

min read.

How Brands Use Conversational Commerce to Close More Sales

The secret to closing more sales isn’t a bigger ad budget—it’s offering conversational commerce.
By Holly Stanley
0 min read . By Holly Stanley

TL;DR

  • Conversational commerce builds trust. Real-time conversations replace static help pages with authentic interactions that drive confidence and loyalty.
  • bareMinerals boosted conversions by 5%+ using Gorgias Shopping Assistant to guide shade matching in real time, and saw zero returns on AI-assisted purchases.
  • Tommy John reduced wait times and grew revenue, automating post-purchase updates while freeing agents to focus on higher-value, relationship-driven support.
  • Orthofeet and Arc’teryx proved conversations convert. Chat turned returns and product questions into loyalty- and revenue-building moments.

You’re seconds away from hitting “buy now,” but one last question nags at you: does this shade actually match my skin tone? You open a live chat, only to be met with a bot that pastes a help-center article. So you close the tab.

Today’s shoppers crave immediacy and authenticity. They expect real answers, not ticket numbers. Yet too many ecommerce brands still rely on static FAQs, delayed email replies, or chatbots that feel anything but conversational. The result is often missed sales, frustrated customers, and eroding loyalty.

Conversational commerce bridges that gap. By meeting customers where they are, in real time and on their terms, brands can turn every interaction into an opportunity to build confidence and connection.

In this post, we’ll explore how leading ecommerce brands use Gorgias to strengthen trust and loyalty through real-time conversations across the entire customer journey, from discovery to delivery and beyond.

What is conversational commerce (and why it’s the future of ecommerce)

Conversational commerce is the blending of conversation and shopping. Instead of forcing customers to navigate pages, FAQs, or documents, brands engage shoppers in real time through natural, two-way dialogue. This usually takes place over:

  • Chat
  • SMS
  • Social media DMs
  • Voice assistants

Unlike traditional live chat, you meet customers wherever they are. Conversational commerce easily switches across channels (chat, SMS, Instagram, WhatsApp, etc.) while preserving context, tone, and personalization. 

The goal is to make every interaction feel as natural as a text with a friend, but with the power to guide a purchase, resolve an issue, or suggest a product.

So, how are top brands putting conversational commerce into practice to build real trust? Let’s dive into four examples.

bareMinerals builds confidence to purchase with product guidance

Imagine browsing foundation shades late at night, unsure which one will suit your skin tone. That hesitation is often enough to make a shopper abandon their cart.

That was the challenge for bareMinerals. More than half of their incoming support tickets were product questions. Many of them were about shade matching, formulation updates, or discontinued SKUs.

They needed a way to replicate the helpfulness of a beauty advisor you can call on as you browse a store.

So bareMinerals brought in Shopping Assistant, an AI-powered virtual beauty consultant built to answer product-discovery questions in real time.

It integrates with their Shopify catalog (so it never suggests out-of-stock items), trained on the nuances of context, product benefits, and discontinued color conversions.

Here’s what happened within 30 days:

  • Increased conversions: bareMinerals saw a 5%+ conversion uplift and a 5.5% increase in average order value (AOV).
  • No returns: There were zero returns on AI-influenced purchases during that first month, even within a standard 30-day return window.
  • Increased ROI: It generated 8.8x ROI and accounted for ~3.9% of gross merchandise volume (GMV).
  • Happier customers: CSAT on AI-handled tickets outpaced human agents (AI: 5.0 vs. human: 4.6). Plus, bareMinerals’ CX team now reviews AI conversations to train human agents on phrasing, tone, upselling moves, and recognizing intent.

Takeaway: By offering real-time, contextual product guidance that mirrors an in-store consultant, bareMinerals eliminated guesswork, reduced returns, and strengthened trust before a single purchase is finalized.

Tommy John relieves post-purchase anxiety with instant order updates

One of the most anxiety-inducing moments for any shopper? Waiting for their order. Questions like “Has my order shipped yet?” or Where’s my package? often lead to multiple back-and-forth contacts, burdening support and testing customer patience.

Underwear brand Tommy John experienced this firsthand. Their CX team felt the strain of repetitive, predictable post-order questions, which could be better spent on complex cases. The team needed an automated fix without a huge lift, and so they adopted AI Agent.

AI Agent handled the bulk of their routine tickets, pulling from order data and pre-configured guidance to reply instantly without agent involvement.

See how AI Agent instantly jumped in to help a customer who needed to change their address:

The impact was immediate:

  • Faster resolution times: Many customers receive real-time status updates without the wait time.
  • Reduced ticket load: Agents no longer spend time on repetitive, low-value queries.
  • More bandwidth for agents: Agents can focus on complex issues or proactive outreach.
  • Revenue impact from support: Within just two months, support-driven sales from phone calls alone reached $106K+, with 20% of calls converting into purchases.
  • Customer and team satisfaction: Average phone wait times dropped (~34% improvement), CSAT climbed, and agents unanimously preferred Gorgias over their legacy tools.

Takeaway: Post-purchase communication is a trust moment. Fast, accurate, and proactive responses reassure customers that their order matters.

Orthofeet maintains trust with a speedy returns process

Returns are often a brand’s biggest trust test. When a customer navigates through the hassle of a return, they’re watching closely: Is this going to be smooth and transparent, or frustrating and impersonal?

Orthofeet, a leading orthopedic footwear brand knew this too well. Before Gorgias, their CX stack was disjointed, a combination of Freshdesk, Dialpad, and outsourced chat. As they grew, this meant tickets piled up without central visibility. They needed a tool that gathered every piece of context in one place. 

That’s when they implemented AI Agent. As AI Agent handled tier-1 queries, like validating return eligibility under Orthofeet’s policy and directing customers to the returns portal, agents gained more time to focus on VIP customers, nuanced issues, and phone conversations.

Screenshot of Gorgias AI Agent Bot messaging with Orthofeet customer

The results were powerful:

  • Automated workflow: They automated 56% of tickets in under two months, far exceeding their original target.
  • Faster response times: Email first-response times dropped from ~24 hours to 35 seconds; chat FRT improved from minutes to 13 seconds.
  • Stable headcount: The team could maintain high growth while keeping headcount stable, all while elevating service quality.
  • Customers became AI champions: Customers embraced the AI-driven experience. One even sent a handwritten note praising their “friendly” and “helpful” AI.

Takeaway: Conversational commerce helps you blend technology and humanity to deliver scalable, emotionally resonant support. Even when things go wrong, a thoughtful conversational experience can repair, rather than erode, trust.

Arc’teryx increases conversions with personalized recommendations

Conversational commerce can create selling moments inside conversations you already have with shoppers. 

Arc’teryx, known for its technical outdoor gear, wanted to guide customers choosing between products like the Beta AR and Beta SL jackets. With Shopping Assistant, they turned real-time product questions into opportunities to upsell, cross-sell, and educate.

When shoppers linger on a page or ask for comparisons, the AI offers quick, tailored recommendations, suggesting the right jacket, complementary layers, or accessories. The result? More confident buyers and higher-value orders.

The results speak volumes:

  • Increase in conversions: Arc’teryx achieved a 75% increase in conversion rate (from 4% to 7%) after rolling out Shopping Assistant.
  • Influenced revenue: The tool influenced 3.7% of overall revenue, meaning conversations directly drove meaningful sales.
  • Substantial ROI: They also saw 23x ROI on their AI Agent investment. 

Takeaway: Smart, conversational prompts transform everyday chats into meaningful sales moments,  proving support channels can drive revenue, not just resolve tickets.

Trust is the new conversion metric

Every conversation is a chance to earn (or lose) trust. Whether it’s helping a shopper find their perfect shade, tracking an order, or smoothing out a return, conversations can turn moments of uncertainty into opportunities for connection.

Brands like bareMinerals, Tommy John, Orthofeet, and Arc’teryx prove that conversational commerce builds stronger relationships, higher retention, and measurable revenue.

The future of ecommerce will revolve around conversations that create trust at every click.

If you want to see how Gorgias can bridge support and sales for you, book a demo today.

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min read.
Create powerful self-service resources
Capture support-generated revenue
Automate repetitive tasks

Further reading

How Brands Use Conversational Commerce to Close More Sales

By Holly Stanley
min read.
0 min read . By Holly Stanley

TL;DR

  • Conversational commerce builds trust. Real-time conversations replace static help pages with authentic interactions that drive confidence and loyalty.
  • bareMinerals boosted conversions by 5%+ using Gorgias Shopping Assistant to guide shade matching in real time, and saw zero returns on AI-assisted purchases.
  • Tommy John reduced wait times and grew revenue, automating post-purchase updates while freeing agents to focus on higher-value, relationship-driven support.
  • Orthofeet and Arc’teryx proved conversations convert. Chat turned returns and product questions into loyalty- and revenue-building moments.

You’re seconds away from hitting “buy now,” but one last question nags at you: does this shade actually match my skin tone? You open a live chat, only to be met with a bot that pastes a help-center article. So you close the tab.

Today’s shoppers crave immediacy and authenticity. They expect real answers, not ticket numbers. Yet too many ecommerce brands still rely on static FAQs, delayed email replies, or chatbots that feel anything but conversational. The result is often missed sales, frustrated customers, and eroding loyalty.

Conversational commerce bridges that gap. By meeting customers where they are, in real time and on their terms, brands can turn every interaction into an opportunity to build confidence and connection.

In this post, we’ll explore how leading ecommerce brands use Gorgias to strengthen trust and loyalty through real-time conversations across the entire customer journey, from discovery to delivery and beyond.

What is conversational commerce (and why it’s the future of ecommerce)

Conversational commerce is the blending of conversation and shopping. Instead of forcing customers to navigate pages, FAQs, or documents, brands engage shoppers in real time through natural, two-way dialogue. This usually takes place over:

  • Chat
  • SMS
  • Social media DMs
  • Voice assistants

Unlike traditional live chat, you meet customers wherever they are. Conversational commerce easily switches across channels (chat, SMS, Instagram, WhatsApp, etc.) while preserving context, tone, and personalization. 

The goal is to make every interaction feel as natural as a text with a friend, but with the power to guide a purchase, resolve an issue, or suggest a product.

So, how are top brands putting conversational commerce into practice to build real trust? Let’s dive into four examples.

bareMinerals builds confidence to purchase with product guidance

Imagine browsing foundation shades late at night, unsure which one will suit your skin tone. That hesitation is often enough to make a shopper abandon their cart.

That was the challenge for bareMinerals. More than half of their incoming support tickets were product questions. Many of them were about shade matching, formulation updates, or discontinued SKUs.

They needed a way to replicate the helpfulness of a beauty advisor you can call on as you browse a store.

So bareMinerals brought in Shopping Assistant, an AI-powered virtual beauty consultant built to answer product-discovery questions in real time.

It integrates with their Shopify catalog (so it never suggests out-of-stock items), trained on the nuances of context, product benefits, and discontinued color conversions.

Here’s what happened within 30 days:

  • Increased conversions: bareMinerals saw a 5%+ conversion uplift and a 5.5% increase in average order value (AOV).
  • No returns: There were zero returns on AI-influenced purchases during that first month, even within a standard 30-day return window.
  • Increased ROI: It generated 8.8x ROI and accounted for ~3.9% of gross merchandise volume (GMV).
  • Happier customers: CSAT on AI-handled tickets outpaced human agents (AI: 5.0 vs. human: 4.6). Plus, bareMinerals’ CX team now reviews AI conversations to train human agents on phrasing, tone, upselling moves, and recognizing intent.

Takeaway: By offering real-time, contextual product guidance that mirrors an in-store consultant, bareMinerals eliminated guesswork, reduced returns, and strengthened trust before a single purchase is finalized.

Tommy John relieves post-purchase anxiety with instant order updates

One of the most anxiety-inducing moments for any shopper? Waiting for their order. Questions like “Has my order shipped yet?” or Where’s my package? often lead to multiple back-and-forth contacts, burdening support and testing customer patience.

Underwear brand Tommy John experienced this firsthand. Their CX team felt the strain of repetitive, predictable post-order questions, which could be better spent on complex cases. The team needed an automated fix without a huge lift, and so they adopted AI Agent.

AI Agent handled the bulk of their routine tickets, pulling from order data and pre-configured guidance to reply instantly without agent involvement.

See how AI Agent instantly jumped in to help a customer who needed to change their address:

The impact was immediate:

  • Faster resolution times: Many customers receive real-time status updates without the wait time.
  • Reduced ticket load: Agents no longer spend time on repetitive, low-value queries.
  • More bandwidth for agents: Agents can focus on complex issues or proactive outreach.
  • Revenue impact from support: Within just two months, support-driven sales from phone calls alone reached $106K+, with 20% of calls converting into purchases.
  • Customer and team satisfaction: Average phone wait times dropped (~34% improvement), CSAT climbed, and agents unanimously preferred Gorgias over their legacy tools.

Takeaway: Post-purchase communication is a trust moment. Fast, accurate, and proactive responses reassure customers that their order matters.

Orthofeet maintains trust with a speedy returns process

Returns are often a brand’s biggest trust test. When a customer navigates through the hassle of a return, they’re watching closely: Is this going to be smooth and transparent, or frustrating and impersonal?

Orthofeet, a leading orthopedic footwear brand knew this too well. Before Gorgias, their CX stack was disjointed, a combination of Freshdesk, Dialpad, and outsourced chat. As they grew, this meant tickets piled up without central visibility. They needed a tool that gathered every piece of context in one place. 

That’s when they implemented AI Agent. As AI Agent handled tier-1 queries, like validating return eligibility under Orthofeet’s policy and directing customers to the returns portal, agents gained more time to focus on VIP customers, nuanced issues, and phone conversations.

Screenshot of Gorgias AI Agent Bot messaging with Orthofeet customer

The results were powerful:

  • Automated workflow: They automated 56% of tickets in under two months, far exceeding their original target.
  • Faster response times: Email first-response times dropped from ~24 hours to 35 seconds; chat FRT improved from minutes to 13 seconds.
  • Stable headcount: The team could maintain high growth while keeping headcount stable, all while elevating service quality.
  • Customers became AI champions: Customers embraced the AI-driven experience. One even sent a handwritten note praising their “friendly” and “helpful” AI.

Takeaway: Conversational commerce helps you blend technology and humanity to deliver scalable, emotionally resonant support. Even when things go wrong, a thoughtful conversational experience can repair, rather than erode, trust.

Arc’teryx increases conversions with personalized recommendations

Conversational commerce can create selling moments inside conversations you already have with shoppers. 

Arc’teryx, known for its technical outdoor gear, wanted to guide customers choosing between products like the Beta AR and Beta SL jackets. With Shopping Assistant, they turned real-time product questions into opportunities to upsell, cross-sell, and educate.

When shoppers linger on a page or ask for comparisons, the AI offers quick, tailored recommendations, suggesting the right jacket, complementary layers, or accessories. The result? More confident buyers and higher-value orders.

The results speak volumes:

  • Increase in conversions: Arc’teryx achieved a 75% increase in conversion rate (from 4% to 7%) after rolling out Shopping Assistant.
  • Influenced revenue: The tool influenced 3.7% of overall revenue, meaning conversations directly drove meaningful sales.
  • Substantial ROI: They also saw 23x ROI on their AI Agent investment. 

Takeaway: Smart, conversational prompts transform everyday chats into meaningful sales moments,  proving support channels can drive revenue, not just resolve tickets.

Trust is the new conversion metric

Every conversation is a chance to earn (or lose) trust. Whether it’s helping a shopper find their perfect shade, tracking an order, or smoothing out a return, conversations can turn moments of uncertainty into opportunities for connection.

Brands like bareMinerals, Tommy John, Orthofeet, and Arc’teryx prove that conversational commerce builds stronger relationships, higher retention, and measurable revenue.

The future of ecommerce will revolve around conversations that create trust at every click.

If you want to see how Gorgias can bridge support and sales for you, book a demo today.

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The Updated Gorgias Helpdesk: Built for the Moments that Matter

By Christelle Agustin
min read.
0 min read . By Christelle Agustin

TL;DR:

  • Get instant context with Ticket Summaries. Jump into any conversation without digging through past messages or tabs.
  • Organize tickets and customers with Ticket and Customer Fields. Attach properties to tickets and customers to see the whole picture, then turn it into reportable data.
  • Support global customers with real-time translations. Engage in natural conversations in your customer’s language without paying for another tool.
  • Resolve urgent issues with Priority Scoring. Rank tickets by importance, so high-value or sensitive issues don’t get overlooked.
  • Onboard quickly with in-house migration. Whether you’re coming from Zendesk or Richpanel, Gorgias handles the move for you.

We recently unveiled the latest upgrades to Gorgias Helpdesk during Moments that Matter: Meet the Modern Helpdesk

The event was hosted by Bora Shehu, VP of Product Design, with updates from John Merse (VP of Product), Fraser Bruce (Senior Solutions Consultant), Nicole Simmen (Senior Manager, Customer Implementation), and a customer story from Michael Duran (Operations Manager, Authentic Brands).

From quality of life improvements to brand new features, here’s what’s waiting for you in Gorgias.

Watch the full presentation here:

Support faster with built-in ticket summaries

Agents shouldn’t have to dig for context. Every conversation now comes with Ticket Summaries. Whether an agent has jumped into a ticket mid-conversation or is dealing with a new customer, these AI-generated summaries tell the whole story in no time.

We’ve also given the Customer Timeline a makeover. Now, you can glance at past tickets and order updates in one clean view. Plus, a dedicated Order View lets agents dive into past purchases without leaving the ticket or opening a new tab.

View a customer’s conversation history on the Customer Timeline.

Enrich your data with detailed ticket and customer properties

Agents have always had visibility into customer history, but now that context is easier to act on.

Ticket Fields automatically tags tickets with AI-detected reasons, whether that’s shipping questions or product feedback, to help organize your conversations more effectively.

Then, add in another layer of data using Customer Fields (in beta) to note whether you’re speaking to a longtime, VIP customer or a customer with a history of high returns.

All of this data can be funneled into your ticket reports, making it easier for your team to discover new insights about your products, support quality, and more.

Gorgias Customer Fields lets you label customers
Provide each customer with a Customer Field label to enhance context and streamline customer segmentation.

Speak every customer’s language with instant translations

Taking your brand global doesn’t have to mean hiring a whole new team or spending extra on a localization tool. AI-powered translations (in beta) will soon be available on the helpdesk.

Finally, your team will be able to support customers in any language in real-time. Customers write in their native language, agents respond in theirs, and the exchange feels natural on both sides.

Customer messages translated from Spanish to English with AI
Instant AI translations let agents and customers interact in their preferred language without external tools.

Never miss urgent tickets with Priority Scoring

How many times has an urgent ticket been buried at the bottom of your inbox? The new Priority Scoring system prevents that by automatically labeling tickets as Low, Normal, High, or Critical based on your Rules. 

For example, you might label a negative Facebook comment with threatening sentiment as ‘High,’ or bump high-value shoppers to the top with a ‘Critical’ label. This ensures your team always sees the conversations that need the most attention, so no sensitive issue slips through the cracks.

Shape every call journey with the new IVR flow builder

Now in beta, our flow-based IVR (interactive voice response) system lets teams on Gorgias Voice build customized call journeys for every type of conversation. Route customers through interactive menus, segment them based on their data, or direct them to voicemail, and schedule SMS follow-ups and callbacks.

To match agent availability, you can set business hours per phone number and per channel across storefronts. Teams also have more flexibility with ring strategies (ring available agents all at once or one at a time), wrap-up time between calls, and faster availability refreshes.

With Gorgias Voice, you can select which team receives inbound customer calls, how the call is routed, and the ringing behavior.

Stay on top of every goal with custom dashboards

We understand that CX teams need more than surface-level KPIs—they need to know what’s actually driving performance, revenue, and retention. 

With Dashboards, you can build reports focused on CX data you care about, from agent performance to product return trends. Then, filter by store or sub-brand to zoom in on the details each team is responsible for.

We’re also introducing the Human Response Time metric to show how quickly your team responds to escalations from AI Agent. This gives you a clear sign of what issues require human attention, how fast they’re resolved, and whether you need to adjust staffing.

Effortless, in-house migration for new joiners

Leave the moving to us—we now manage migrations in-house. Depending on your plan, our Implementation team will transfer emails, customers, macros, and more for you. Combined with 99.99% uptime, switching platforms is smoother, faster, and more reliable than ever.

For accelerated performance, consider our 50-in-50 implementation program, which aims to resolve 50% of your ticket volume using AI Agent within 50 days.

Enterprise customers receive a dedicated Enterprise CSM, optimization workshops, and 24/7 support to get the most out of Gorgias from day one. 

What’s coming next

Our teams are hard at work changing the landscape of customer experience. Here’s what’s on the Gorgias Product Roadmap:

  • Cleaner, minimal interface. We’re giving our UI a new look to reduce clutter and highlight key information, making conversations front and center.
  • Detailed order view. Quickly view past purchases and make order updates without opening new tabs or interrupting your workflow.
  • Shop right in chat. Soon, product photos, descriptions, and even customer reviews will be shown directly in Gorgias Chat, so shopping experiences are as frictionless as possible.
  • Scheduled CSV exports. Prove the value of CX with automated exports, perfect for stakeholders, whether they use Gorgias or not. 
  • New integration with Assembled Workforce Management. Our partnership will help you leverage Gorgias ticket data to optimize forecasting and agent scheduling.
  • Role-based access control. Decide which dashboards, views, conversations, and settings can be accessed by each user role.
  • Okta single sign-on. Let your team sign in to Gorgias using the same authentication service you use for the rest of your tech stack.

The future of support starts with your helpdesk

Our latest helpdesk updates make it easier than before to create memorable customer moments.

As Bora Shehu, our VP of Product Design, said, “We hope that the tools we’re building help you spend less time on robotic work, and more time on impactful human work that grows your businesses through the power of conversations.”

If you’re not on Gorgias yet and want to see what’s possible, book a demo today.

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How Online Sizing Solutions Are Replacing the Fitting Room

By Alexa Hertel
min read.
0 min read . By Alexa Hertel

TL;DR:

  • 58% of fashion shoppers “bracket” orders—buying multiple sizes and returning what doesn’t fit. This drives high return rates, increased costs, and customer frustration.
  • 70% of returns are due to sizing issues. Nearly half of shoppers abandon carts over inconvenient returns.
  • Leading solutions include: AI-powered fit tools, 3D visualizations that show scale and model stats, “fit finder” tools, at-home fitting experiences, and AI-powered customer support.
  • Brands that replicate the fitting room online gain higher retention, lower costs, and stronger sustainability.

Sizing has long been a friction point for ecommerce fashion shoppers.

Without the ability to try items on, 58% of shoppers resort to "bracketing"—ordering multiple sizes of the same piece and returning what doesn’t fit. 

While it gives customers a temporary fix, it ultimately creates frustration for them and logistical headaches for brands. 

The result is rising return rates, higher costs, and wasted resources. To break this cycle, ecommerce brands need to rethink how they guide shoppers toward the perfect fit. The good news is that many brands are already showing the way by using AI-powered tools and smarter product experiences to replicate the fitting room from the comfort of home. 

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Returns are getting unsustainable 

Recent data highlights just how severe the return challenge has become for fashion and apparel retailers: 

  • 46% of shoppers have abandoned a purchase because return methods were inconvenient. 
  • Fashion and apparel brands get twice as many return requests than any other industry.
  • According to Gorgias data, 70% of returns are due to sizing confusion.
  • “Will this fit me?” is one of the top reasons customers contact support.

In addition, rapidly rising concerns around sustainability and climate change, as well as heightened awareness around over-consumption, are prompting consumers to make changes in their purchasing habits. 

Brands who prioritize well-fitting, long-lasting pieces and reduce carbon footprints and the amount of clothing diverted to landfills by lowering returns can actually benefit from a strategic edge. 

“Those who choose to approach sustainability with a long-term mindset even while battling short-term problems will be rewarded with more efficient business operations and a competitive advantage,” writes McKinsey in its State of Fashion 2025 report.

Effective sizing solutions for ecommerce brands 

Most brands already have size charts, but shoppers don’t want to measure themselves, or find those charts to be inaccurate.  

When shoppers lack confidence in choosing the right fit, they either abandon their carts or rely on bracketing, both of which lower profitability and customer trust. 

Forward-looking fashion and apparel brands are solving sizing issues by using tools for a more intuitive shopping experience. This ultimately helps them build loyalty, increase retention, and reduce returns. 

Implement AI-powered body measurement tools

Rather than purely providing static size charts on your website, opt for AI-generated personalized fit recommendations instead. 

For example, European fashion retailer Zalando reduced size-related returns by 10% using AI-driven advice.

Two phone screens showing Zalando app size recommendations and product page.
Zalando provides size recommendations based on what’s in a customer’s cart.

The brand flags whether an item is true to size or not. It also offers the ability for customers to see recommendations based on logged fit-based return reasons,  past purchases, and other clothing items that fit them well. 

Zalando also launched a body measurement feature in 2023 where shoppers can actually scan themselves for more accurate size advice.  

Zalando app shows body measurements and personalized clothing size recommendations.
Zalando uses machine learning to predict customer sizes by scanning customer photos.

Show size and scale in product photos 

As AI grows in proficiency, there are more tools than ever to help shoppers visualize product scale and fit. 

For example, accessory shop LeSportsac uses Tangiblee, a product experience tool, to help customers understand scale and what fits inside each bag.

Online tool Tangiblee shows tote bag size on a silhouette model with comparison items below.
LeSportsac helps shoppers visualize the capacity of their bags with a 3D visualization tool by Tangiblee.

Performance hunting gear shop KUIU takes another approach. It uses a photo-based layering guide, so shoppers can see how the size and fit look with multiple layers on a model. Different model stats shown within product photography give contextual sizing cues.

Male model shows four layered hunting outfits with listed gear details on the right.
KUIU visualizes size and fit with full body photos of models in their clothes, including model height and clothing sizes.

Sleep shop Cozy Earth takes a similar route, stating model height and size on product photos.

Woman models olive bamboo pajama set with button top and pants on Cozy Earth product page.
Cozy Earth's product photos include the model's height and clothing size.

Introduce “fit finder” tools 

Some brands are helping shoppers pick the right size with interactive quizzes based on factors like height, weight, and the sizes of other clothing items that fit well. SuitShop is among those brands using a Fit Finder quiz on its website.  

SuitShop fit finder page with couple in matching cream suits walking.
SuitShop offers a fit finder quiz to match customers to their perfect suit size.

Similarly, Psycho Bunny leverages the AI tool True Fit as a size finder on product pages. 

Psycho Bunny men's polo page with True Fit sizing tool overlay.
Psycho Bunny uses True Fit to provide recommendations that match customer measurements.

Bring the fitting room home 

Ergonomic shoe brand Orthofeet eliminates sizing qualms altogether by including customizable inserts inside each box. Fitting spacers ensure a snug fit and arch enhancement for those who need it, helping shoppers get comfortable shoes that fit.

Orthofeet shoe display highlighting wide toe box and comfort features.
Orthofeet assures customers about sizing by including removable spacers in all orders.

Jonas Paul Eyewear shares the “try it on at home” approach, offering a free or low-cost home try-on kit. 

Jonas Paul kids home try-on glasses kit with multiple frames in box.
Jonas Paul sells home try-on kits to bring the sizing experience to customers.

Leverage AI-powered customer support

Gorgias Shopping Assistant helps brands meet that need by delivering human-like guidance at scale, giving shoppers instant answers that feel personal. 

For example, VESSEL uses Shopping Assistant in chat to provide real-time support on sizing and inventory, helping customers choose with confidence. By addressing fit questions directly, Shopping Assistant reduces returns and builds trust at the point of purchase.

A customer asks Gorgias Shopping Assistant about golf gloves for women.
Gorgias Shopping Assistant helps a customer find women’s golf gloves.

Similarly, outdoor clothing retailer Arc‘teryx provides an “ask me anything” AI chat where shoppers can confirm any questions they have around fit or sizing. 

Arc'teryx Atom Hoody women's product page with AI shopping assistant chat.
Arc'teryx uses AI to answer questions about their Atom Hoody.

The future for ecommerce size guides 

Sizing for ecommerce fashion and apparel brands has become a business-critical challenge. With 70% of returns tied to fit issues and nearly half of shoppers abandoning purchases over inconvenient returns, brands that replicate the fitting room online stand to gain a competitive advantage.

From Zalando’s 10% reduction in size-related returns to VESSEL’s use of AI-powered chat, the path is clear: investing in smarter size chart solutions pays off with higher retention, lower costs, and stronger sustainability. 

The brands that provide fitting room-level experiences online now will set themselves apart from the rest.

Book a demo to see how Gorgias, the leading conversational commerce platform, helps fashion brands cut returns, drive sales, and deliver fitting-room level experiences online.

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Conversational Commerce: A Complete Beginner's Guide

By Holly Stanley
min read.
0 min read . By Holly Stanley

TL;DR:

  • Conversational commerce replaces static support with real-time conversations. Instead of making customers wait or dig through FAQs, brands can respond instantly via chat, messaging apps, and voice assistants.
  • The main types are live chat, AI assistants, messaging apps, and voice support. Each helps guide shoppers and answer questions instantly.
  • It’s most effective during key moments like cart hesitation, post-purchase anxiety, and peak seasons. Proactive conversations reduce drop-offs and boost conversions.
  • Start small and scale. Begin with repetitive questions or cart recovery, then layer in automation and AI as you grow.

While your competitors are still making customers wait days for email replies, the smartest brands are having conversations that close sales in real time.

Instead of forcing customers to search through FAQs or go through an automation loop, conversational commerce lets you have instant chats through live chat, messaging apps, and even AI assistants.

In this guide, we’ll explain conversational commerce, where it delivers the most value, and how to start using it to drive revenue and improve CX without overwhelming your team.

What is conversational commerce?

Conversational commerce means using real-time, two-way conversations as your storefront. Rather than bottling up questions in FAQ pages or forcing customers to wait for your support team to respond, you can instantly connect via:

  • Chat
  • AI agents
  • Messaging apps
  • Voice assistants

Maybe someone is on your product page and asks a question like, “Does this jacket run large?”. Through chat, they get an instant answer, increasing the chance of a sale. Or a shopper receives personalized recommendations via WhatsApp and checks out, all without leaving the app.

These channels allow you to meet customers where they already are, effortlessly. When paired with AI chatbots, you can deliver fast, accurate responses 24/7, even while your team is off the clock. That means better experiences for your customers and more sales captured for your brand.

Conversational commerce bridges the gap between shopping and support. It turns your support team (and AI tools) into revenue drivers by helping shoppers feel seen, heard, and ready to buy.

Types of conversational commerce

Conversational commerce means bringing your storefront into the flow of conversation, wherever that happens for your customers. 

Here’s where those conversations typically happen:

  1. Live chat
  2. AI assistants
  3. Messaging apps
  4. Voice assistants

1. Live chat

This is a chat widget on your site, often in the bottom right corner, where shoppers can ask questions and receive immediate answers from a human agent or automation.

It’s a quick path to support or purchase, which one agent can manage multiple chats from simultaneously, boosting efficiency and keeping things personal.

2. AI assistants

These smart helpers use Natural Language Processing (NLP) to understand what shoppers mean beyond what they type. They guide customers through questions, offer product suggestions, handle FAQs, and can sometimes complete transactions right in the chat, even handling post‑purchase support like order status or returns.

Natural Language Processing (NLP): The processing of understanding and interpreting natural language using computers. NLP is used in tasks such as sentiment analysis, summarization, speech recognition, and more.

3. Messaging apps

Think WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, WeChat, and SMS—the apps where customers already spend their time in their day-to-day. Instead of sending them to shop on your website, you bring the shopping to them. Answer their questions, provide recommendations, and win purchases in a channel they already trust.

4. Voice assistants

Voice assistance isn’t limited to smart speakers like Siri and Alexa anymore.

Now, AI voice support lets brands deliver natural conversations over the phone, without needing a massive contact center team. These AI voice agents can:

  • Answer common questions using branded knowledge
  • Route calls or escalate when needed
  • Handle returns, exchanges, or order tracking
  • Personalize support based on customer intent and past behavior

AI-powered voice support combines the human feel of a phone call with the speed and accuracy of automation. It's especially useful for high-ticket products, customers who prefer calling, or peak season overflow when your human team is maxed out.

The benefits of conversational commerce for ecommerce brands

Conversational commerce isn’t a CX buzzword. When done right, it directly impacts your bottom line.

Here’s how it pays off for ecommerce brands:

  1. Higher conversion rates
  2. Faster and more efficient support
  3. Bigger carts, fewer drop-offs
  4. Stronger customer relationships

1. Higher conversion rates

When customers can ask questions and get answers in real time, whether it's sizing info, shipping details, or help choosing between products, they’re far more likely to hit “buy.”

Success story: Clothing brand Tommy John generated $106K+ in sales in just two months through conversation-led upselling and cross-selling, with a 15% conversion rate.

2. Faster and more efficient support

Conversational commerce tools like AI agents help offload the repetitive support tasks, including answering questions like “Where’s my order?” or “What’s your return policy?”

With that time back, agents get time back to:

  • Handle complex or sensitive customer issues
  • Follow up with VIP customers
  • Collaborate with marketing and sales teams to improve processes
  • QA conversations to enhance human and AI agent performance
  • Update knowledge docs used by AI tools for more accurate resolutions

Instead of getting buried in basic tickets, your team gets to do the work that really moves the needle for your customers and your business.

Related: Every successful marketing campaign starts with a customer question

3. Bigger carts, fewer drop-offs

The right nudge at the right moment, like a personalized recommendation from an AI shopping assistant, can turn a single item into a full cart. You can also recover more abandoned checkouts by re-engaging customers directly through chat or a messaging app.

Read more: You’re missing out on sales without an AI shopping assistant—here’s why

4. Stronger customer relationships

Conversational commerce lets you meet customers with a human (or human-like) touch. When your brand is helpful, fast, and easy to talk to, shoppers remember and return. 

In the long run, that means better customer retention, higher lifetime value, and more organic growth through word of mouth.

When conversational commerce creates the biggest impact 

Conversational commerce shines brightest when the stakes are high or when the moment is just right.

Here are the critical moments where a real-time conversation can make all the difference:

  1. When shoppers have items in their cart but are hesitating to check out
  2. Right after customers place an order, and anxiety starts to kick in
  3. During peak shopping seasons like Black Friday and Cyber Monday
  4. When customers are browsing complex products like skincare, makeup, or apparel

1. When shoppers have items in their cart but are hesitating to check out

A customer’s on your product page, they’ve added an item to their cart, but are hesitating. Maybe they’re unsure about sizing, shipping time, or which variation to choose. This is where a quick, helpful chat, automated or human, comes in and becomes the difference between bounce and conversion.

Pro tip: Use proactive chat prompts based on page behavior to start the conversation before the shopper leaves.

2. Right after customers place an order, and anxiety starts to kick in

After a customer hits “place order,” expect more questions to roll into your inbox. Where’s my order? How do I track it? What’s your return policy? Post-purchase excitement—and anxiety—is normal, and a smart AI agent helps you get ahead of these questions while putting customers at ease.

3. During peak shopping seasons like Black Friday and Cyber Monday

Black Friday. Holiday rush. Product drops. These are prime opportunities to boost revenue—but they also flood your support team. Conversational commerce tools help you scale without sacrificing quality, keeping shoppers happy and sales flowing.

4. When shoppers are browsing complex products like skincare, makeup, or apparel

If you sell skincare, supplements, tech, or anything that requires a bit of education, your customers likely need guidance before they commit. A personalized conversation helps them find the right fit and feel more confident in their purchase.

What to consider before you start

Conversational commerce sounds exciting, and it is. But before you dive in, it’s worth thinking through a few key factors to set your team (and your customers) up for success.

  1. Cost vs. ROI: Start small, scale smart
  2. Team resources: Who’s managing the conversations?
  3. Customer expectations: Meet them where they are

1. Cost vs. ROI: Start small, scale smart

You don’t need a full-blown chatbot army on Day 1. Start with your highest-impact touchpoints, like pre-sale FAQs or WISMO questions, and layer in automation over time. The goal is to generate clear ROI early, then expand once you see traction.

Here’s how to gradually implement automation into your CX process:

  • Identify your top repetitive questions. Use your support data to pinpoint your most common tickets. For most brands, these are WISMOs, shipping concerns, and product-specific questions.
  • Create macros for your most-asked questions. These macros will be used to answer the top recurring questions. For agents, this means no more copy-pasting the same responses.
  • Build out self-service automation flows. Once you’re feeling more comfortable with automation, set up self-service flows to let customers resolve their own needs, like checking order status, starting a return, or finding their size.
  • Automate your top channels. Don’t stop at email. Automate responses on live chat, Instagram DMs, and SMS too. Shoppers expect speed everywhere, not just on your site.
  • Maintain impact, then introduce conversational AI. If your CSAT is still healthy after these changes, you can expand to using conversational AI for faster support and team efficiency.

The goal isn’t to automate everything, it’s to automate smartly so your team can spend time where it counts: high-touch sales, VIP support, and strategic growth.

Learn more: How Dr. Bronner's saved $100K/year by switching from Salesforce, then automated 50% of interactions with Gorgias

2. Team resources: Who’s managing the conversations?

Do you have in-house agents ready to handle live chat? Or do you need automation to handle the bulk of it? Make sure your setup aligns with your team’s bandwidth.

Pro tip: Tools like Gorgias AI Agent and Shopping Assistant can handle the support and sales heavy lifting, making them perfect for lean CX teams.

3. Customer expectations: Meet them where they are

Your customers aren’t just on your website. They’re messaging on Instagram, browsing via mobile, or checking their texts. To deliver great conversational commerce, you’ll want to show up in the places your shoppers already use.

Pro tip: Don’t spread your efforts too thin. Start with the channel that aligns with your goals and customer behavior, live chat, SMS, or social DMs, and build from there.

How to get started with conversational ecommerce in 2 steps

Ready to make conversational commerce part of your CX strategy? You don’t need to overhaul your tech stack or hire a whole new team. With Gorgias, you can start fast, stay lean, and scale smart.

Here’s how:

1. Start with AI Agent for 24/7 support

Gorgias AI Agent is designed to take repetitive tickets off your team’s plate, from “Where’s my order?” to “How do I make a return?” It understands natural language, pulls in relevant customer data, and responds in seconds—all using your brand’s approved knowledge.

The result is faster responses, fewer tickets, and more time back for your team.

Gorgias AI Agent supports and performs actions on behalf of customers.

2. Add Shopping Assistant to drive revenue

While AI Agent, covers the support front, Shopping Assistant is your digital salesperson. It engages high-intent shoppers in real time, recommends the right products, and even upsells or cross-sells based on what the customer is browsing.

Whether it’s helping someone choose the perfect shade or nudging them to complete their cart, Shopping Assistant is designed to increase AOV and reduce abandonment.

Gorgias Shopping Assistant understands context and suggests products to browsing shoppers.

The future of ecommerce is conversational

Every time a shopper lands on your site, scrolls through Instagram, or replies to a shipping update, they’re opening the door to a conversation. The brands that show up quickly, helpfully, and with the right message, are the ones winning loyalty and revenue.

With AI Agent, you can automate accurate responses to common questions, giving your team time back without sacrificing customer experience. And with Shopping Assistant, you can turn those conversations into conversions, offering personalized recommendations, upsells, and discounts based on shopper intent.

You don’t need a massive team or months of setup to start. Just the right tools, and a strategy built for your customers.

Book a demo and learn how Gorgias helps you turn every conversation into an opportunity to grow.

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Best AI Helpdesk Tools: 10 Platforms Compared

By Tina Donati
min read.
0 min read . By Tina Donati

TL;DR:

  • The best AI helpdesks offer smart ticketing, self-service, and sales automation. They combine multi-channel support, give teams flexible AI control, and double as an upselling tool that drives revenue.
  • Each tool has a unique strength. Gorgias is best for ecommerce brands , Zendesk offers enterprise-level customization, Intercom is great for SaaS engagement, and Tidio is easy for small teams.
  • There are also standalone AI tools that integrate with existing helpdesks. Platforms like Ada, Siena, and Yuma offer automation without requiring a full platform switch.
  • Advanced AI features vary in price and availability. Some are bundled, while others charge per resolution or limit access to higher tiers.

Every delayed reply, missed ticket, or frustrated customer costs more than just satisfaction—it hits revenue, loyalty, and your brand reputation. That’s why more and more brands are investing in AI helpdesks to automate the tedious parts of their job.

But with so many options on the market, choosing the right AI helpdesk can feel overwhelming. Should you prioritize conversational AI? Multi-channel support? No-code customization? Or pricing that scales with your team?

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We’ve reviewed the 10 best AI helpdesks available in 2025, evaluating them across AI capabilities, ease of use, integrations, analytics, and pricing. 

Helpdesk

AI Features

Main Strength

Potential Limitation

Best For

Starting Price

Gorgias

AI Agent, Shopping Assistant, Auto QA

Multi-channel ecommerce support, AI shopping assistant

Ecommerce-focused

Scaling and enterprise ecommerce brands

$10/month per agent

Zendesk

Copilot, AI triage, Zendesk QA

Enterprise-grade omnichannel support

Can be complex for smaller teams

Large enterprises like banks and airlines

$25/month per agent

Intercom

Fin AI, Fin Tasks, Fin Insights

Conversational AI, proactive support

Higher learning curve for complex workflows

SaaS and mid-to-large businesses

$39/month per agent

Gladly

Gladly Hero, Sidekick Chat, Sidekick Voice

Conversation-centric support, loyalty focus

Complex implementation onboarding process

Customer-focused businesses that prioritize loyalty

Custom pricing

Kustomer

AI Agents for Reps, AI Agents for Customers

CRM-centric support

Unintuitive and laggy user interface

Mid-to-large enterprises

$89/month per agent

Tidio

Lyro AI Agent

Easy-to-use automation for small teams

May not scale for large enterprise workflows

Small to mid-sized ecommerce/service businesses

Free, $29/month per agent

Freshdesk

Freddy AI

Affordable multi-channel support

Advanced AI limited to higher tiers

SMBs and mid-market companies

$18/month per agent

Ada

Ada Voice, Ada Email

Self-service chat automation

Basic features cost extra

Large enterprise businesses

$499/month

Siena

Customer Service Agent, Reviews Agent, Siena Memory

Automated support

Lack of visibility into support and AI performance

Mid-market ecommerce and SaaS

$500/month

Yuma

Support AI, Sales AI, Social AI

Self-service & automation for growing teams

Limited integrations with broader sales stacks

Established ecommerce brands

$49/month per agent

How we evaluated the best AI helpdesks in 2025

To create this list, we evaluated each platform based on a combination of functionality, AI capabilities, usability, and industry applicability. 

Our goal was to provide a resource that CX leaders, ecommerce managers, and support teams can rely on when choosing a helpdesk that fits their business needs.

Here’s how we approached the evaluation:

  1. Feature set assessment: Each tool was reviewed for its core helpdesk features, including ticket management, multi-channel support, workflow automation, and reporting capabilities.
  2. AI sophistication: Platforms were evaluated on the depth of their AI offerings. This included natural language processing (NLP), predictive analytics, proactive messaging, and automated resolution capabilities.
  3. Ease of use and setup: We considered setup time, onboarding complexity, and the learning curve for both agents and admins.
  4. Industry applicability: We examined which industries each tool serves best. Some platforms are tailored for ecommerce, while others are more enterprise or service-focused.
  5. Pricing transparency and scalability: We noted starting costs, AI feature availability by tier, and potential scaling considerations. Affordability and scalability were important, particularly for fast-growing teams that need to balance cost with AI functionality.
  6. Supporting resources: We reviewed customer support, integrations, documentation, and community resources. A strong helpdesk not only provides AI features but also ensures teams can implement and optimize them effectively.

By following this methodology, we created a balanced, objective view of each helpdesk, highlighting what makes them unique, their strengths, limitations, and who will benefit most from them.

The best AI helpdesks of 2025

Gorgias

Gorgias is an AI helpdesk designed for ecommerce brands, helping teams streamline support while boosting both efficiency and personalization.

By unifying all customer touchpoints—email, chat, social media, voice, and SMS—into a single dashboard, Gorgias allows support teams to manage interactions without toggling between platforms.

Unlike most helpdesks, its AI capabilities go beyond basic automation. In addition to support, its AI can influence sales by assisting, recommending, and upselling to customers based on their shopping behavior.

Best for: Scaling startups and mature ecommerce enterprises looking to expand support capacity without increasing headcount

Potential limitations: Gorgias is focused primarily on ecommerce brands, which means it may be less suitable for companies that don’t use ecommerce platforms.

Pricing: Starts at $10/month, with advanced AI features available as an add-on.

Main features:

  • Automated ticket routing: AI triages incoming customer queries and assigns them to the right agent.
  • AI-generated responses: Provides instant, context-aware replies to common questions.
  • Sentiment analysis: Flags frustrated customers to prioritize urgent tickets.
  • Multi-channel AI support: Integrates across email, chat, Shopify, social media, and 100+ ecommerce apps.
  • Macros and workflow automation: AI suggests relevant responses and automates repetitive tasks.

AI features:

  • AI Agent: Conversational AI that can update, refund, and replace orders, cancel/skip subscriptions, and even carry out custom-made actions.
  • Shopping Assistant: A proactive AI tool that guides, upsells, and recommends products to shoppers through chat. It helps CX teams increase sales and AOV.
  • Auto QA: Upgrades service quality by automatically evaluating 100% of private text conversations, whether handled by a human or AI. Each message is scored on metrics like Resolution Completeness, Brand Voice, and Accuracy.

Zendesk

Zendesk is a widely adopted AI helpdesk solution that caters to teams of all sizes, from small businesses to large enterprises. It’s known for its robust ticketing system, extensive integrations, and customizable workflows, making it a versatile choice for teams across industries.

Best for: Non-ecommerce enterprises and businesses like airlines and banks

Potential limitations: Advanced AI features and enterprise-level plans can be expensive for smaller teams, and some users report that customization for niche workflows can be time-consuming.

Pricing: Starts at $25/month per agent, with advanced AI features and enterprise options available on higher tiers.

Zendesk Auto Assist suggests a reply.
Zendesk Copilot suggests replies, which agents can approve or edit.

Main features:

  • Unified ticketing: Centralizes requests from email, chat, phone, social media, and messaging apps.
  • Macros and workflow automation: Automates routine responses and processes to reduce agent workload.
  • Advanced analytics: Offers real-time dashboards and reporting to track support performance and customer satisfaction.
  • Multi-channel support: Integrates seamlessly with major ecommerce, CRM, and communication platforms.

AI features:

  • Copilot: Assists support agents in providing consistent replies, suggests next steps, and can even perform actions on agents’ behalf.
  • AI triage: Automatically categorizes tickets and routes them to the appropriate team member.
  • Zendesk QA: Scores the quality of interactions to help you get an overview of support performance.

Intercom

Intercom combines live chat, messaging, and AI automation into a single platform that focuses on proactive customer engagement. Its conversational AI makes it easy for teams to interact with customers in real time, while its automation tools help reduce response times and increase efficiency. 

Best for: SaaS companies, software companies, and mid-market teams

Potential limitations: Companies looking for a plug-and-play AI solution will need to invest time in setting up Intercom. Customers report a steep learning curve when creating workflows, organizing users, and implementing new automations.

Pricing: Starts at $39/month per seat. Fin AI is available as a standalone product for $0.99 per resolution (50 resolutions per month minimum) if you have an existing helpdesk.

Intercom's Fin AI comes with a preview environment to test AI responses.
Intercom’s Fin AI lets you test its responses before you go live.

Main features:

  • Live chat and messaging: Provides instant support via website, mobile apps, and email.
  • Inbox and workflow management: Centralizes customer conversations and automates repetitive tasks.
  • Customer segmentation: Enables targeted messaging based on behavior, subscription plans, or engagement levels.

AI features:

  • Fin AI: Intercom’s AI assistant responds to common questions, freeing agents to handle complex issues.
  • Fin Tasks: Performs actions like retrieving order details, processing refunds, reorders, and more.
  • Fin Insights: Provides a deep look into recurring trends and issues across conversations.

Gladly

Gladly is a customer service platform built around the concept of conversation-centric support, treating every customer interaction as a continuous dialogue rather than isolated tickets. 

Best for: Customer-focused brands that prioritize personalized, ongoing conversations over transactional support—especially retail, financial services, and subscription businesses that want to strengthen loyalty.

Potential limitations: Smaller teams may find it more than they need, and advanced customization can require professional services.

Pricing: Available on request, with plans typically tailored to enterprise support teams and scaled based on users and features.

Gladly's Customer Profile lets you see customer details including relationships and conversation history.
View customer details, relationships, and past conversations on Gladly.

Main features:

  • Unified customer timeline: Combines all interactions—email, chat, social, SMS—into a single, chronological view.
  • Personalized workflows: Tailors automation and routing to individual customer needs.
  • Team collaboration tools: Enables seamless handoffs and internal notes for faster issue resolution.

AI features:

  • Gladly Hero: Customer profiles created from conversations that include preferences, relationships, and purchase history.
  • Sidekick Chat: Instant answers to requests like returns, account updates, and refunds.
  • Sidekick Voice: Real-time, AI-powered phone support with SMS follow-ups.

Kustomer

Kustomer is a CRM-centric AI helpdesk that integrates customer support and relationship management in one platform. Its AI capabilities allow teams to automate repetitive tasks, route tickets intelligently, and gain insights into customer history, making it ideal for businesses with complex support workflows.

Best for: Mid-to-large enterprises that prioritize powerful, custom reporting

Potential limitations: Users report an unintuitive and laggy interface, which can slow down large support teams that handle high support volumes.

Pricing: Starts at $89/month per seat, with AI features available as add-ons.

Kustomer's AI Agent for Reps provides quick summaries of conversations.
Kustomer’s AI Agent for Reps provides a summary of conversations for handoffs.

Main features:

  • Unified customer profiles: Consolidates all interactions, purchases, and support history in one view.
  • Workflow automation: Streamlines processes with rules-based ticket routing and escalation.
  • Advanced reporting: Tracks key support metrics and agent performance.

AI features:

  • AI Agents for Reps: Offers real-time assistance, from drafting responses to updating records and summarizing conversations.
  • AI Agent for Customers: Allows the creation of multiple AI Agents for specialized tasks.

Tidio

Tidio is an AI-powered live chat and messaging platform built for small to mid-sized businesses looking to combine automation with personalized support. Its ease of setup and affordability make it a strong choice for teams new to AI helpdesks.

Best for: Small to mid-sized ecommerce or service-based businesses looking for an easy-to-use AI chat solution to automate FAQs

Potential limitations: May not scale well for large enterprise businesses. 

Pricing: A free plan is available, with paid plans starting at $29/month per agent and AI features as add-ons.

Tidio's Lyro AI provides suggested questions to answer so it can expand its knowledge.
Tidio’s Lyro provides suggestions for improving its knowledge.

Main features:

  • Live chat and messenger integration: Supports website chat, email, and social messaging.
  • Drag-and-drop chatbot builder: No coding required to deploy automated responses.
  • Ticket management: Organizes queries for quick resolution by agents.

AI features:

  • Lyro AI Agent: Conversational AI that answers questions based on support content.

Freshdesk

Freshdesk is a helpdesk platform that combines AI automation, omnichannel support, and workflow management. It’s known for ease of use and affordability, making it popular among SMBs and mid-market companies.

Best for: SMBs and mid-market companies looking for an affordable, easy-to-implement AI helpdesk

Potential limitations: Some advanced AI functionality is limited to higher-tier plans. Large enterprises may require additional configuration to fully leverage AI features.

Pricing: Plans start at $18/month per agent, with AI capabilities and advanced automation available on higher tiers.

Freshdesk's Freddy AI can help reword responses for better communication.
Freshdesk’s Freddy AI can help improve responses by rephrasing, enhancing tone, and expanding.

Main features:

  • Multi-channel ticketing: Consolidates email, chat, phone, and social support.
  • Automation and workflows: Rules and macros automate repetitive tasks.
  • Analytics and reporting: Provides insights into performance and customer satisfaction.

AI features:

  • Freddy AI: Fetches order details, resolves questions, updates customer profiles, and more using approved data.

Standalone AI tools you can integrate with existing helpdesks

Not ready to move helpdesks? These standalone AI tools plug into your existing helpdesk to add automation, self-service, and conversational support.

Ada

Ada is focused on conversational automation, enabling teams to provide self-service solutions that reduce ticket volume while improving response times

Its no-code interface makes it accessible for non-technical teams, and its AI capabilities allow for personalized customer interactions at scale.

Best for: Large enterprise businesses looking to reduce support tickets through chat-based support

Potential limitations: Basic features that are free on competitor platforms cost extra on Ada, which limits smaller businesses looking for an all-in-one solution.

Pricing: Starts at $499/month for essential AI features. Higher-tier plans are available on request.

Adjust how Ada's AI agent responds to certain questions.
Ada lets you coach your AI on how to respond to specific questions.

Main features:

  • No-code chatbot builder: Quickly design and deploy AI chatbots across web, mobile, and messaging apps.
  • Ticket deflection: Automates repetitive queries to reduce human agent workload.
  • Multi-language support: Offers conversational support in multiple languages to serve global audiences.

AI features:

  • Ada Voice: AI-powered phone support that can respond to customers, take action, and escalate issues in real-time.  
  • Ada Email: Instant, personalized replies for email threads with the ability to hand off to agents.

Siena

Siena is focused on providing automated support for rapidly growing ecommerce and SaaS brands. With an emphasis on efficiency and self-service, Siena helps teams reduce ticket volume and respond faster, while giving managers visibility into performance metrics.

Best for: Mid-market ecommerce and SaaS companies that want to combine automation with insights

Potential limitations: Lacks clear visibility into AI performance, which can keep support teams in the dark about support performance and customer satisfaction.

Pricing: Starts at $500/month with automated tickets at $0.90 each. 

A conversation between a customer and Siena.
Siena can adjust its voice to suit your brand’s tone. 

Main features:

  • Omnichannel support: Handles email, chat, and social media from a single dashboard.
  • Custom workflows: Automates repetitive tasks and ticket routing based on rules and customer data.
  • Reporting and analytics: Tracks support KPIs and team performance in real time.

AI features:

  • Customer Service Agent: Provides contextual, automated responses for common queries.
  • Reviews Agent: Responds to every customer review with personalized feedback.
  • Siena Memory: Stores key details from customer interactions and turns them into insights reports.

Yuma 

Yuma is focused on conversational automation and self-service solutions. It is designed to reduce agent workload while providing fast, personalized responses, making it appealing to growing ecommerce teams.

Best for: Established ecommerce brands looking to integrate sophisticated conversational AI alongside their current helpdesk

Potential limitations: Limited integrations with broader sales stacks mean brands prioritizing sales will have a hard time creating a smooth workflow.

Pricing: Starts at $350/month for 500 resolutions, with higher-tier plans for more resolutions.

Yuma AI can respond to your social media comments.
Yuma AI automatically responds to comments across your social media channels.

Main features:

  • Omnichannel support: Handles chat, email, and social messaging from one platform.
  • Self-service portals: Allows customers to resolve common issues independently.
  • Workflow automation: AI assists with repetitive tasks and ticket routing.

AI features:

  • Support AI: Replies to customers on email, WhatsApp, SMS, and social media using your brand’s voice.
  • Social AI: Instant responses to social media comments, DMs, and tags. 
  • Sales AI: Guides shoppers to the relevant product and tracks bestsellers.

What features to look for in a good AI helpdesk

The best AI helpdesk makes support efficient, personalized, and scalable. 

Here’s a quick checklist of what to look for when evaluating an AI helpdesk:

  • Smart ticket management
  • Self-service workflows
  • Multi-channel support
  • Sales and upselling capabilities
  • User-friendly AI controls
  • Performance insights
  • AI learning and improvement

Feature

What It Is

Benefit to CX Team

Smart ticket management

AI that deflects repetitive tickets and routes complex issues to agents via macros, recommendations, and copilots

Frees up time for higher-value tasks like customer retention and streamlined experiences

Self-service workflows

Automated execution of order edits, address changes, refunds, and cancellations—whenever customers ask

Eliminates time spent on repetitive requests while offering 24/7 support

Multi-channel support

All-in-one platform consolidating email, chat, SMS, social media, and phone interactions

Eliminates the need to switch between platforms while giving customers a variety of contact options

Sales and upselling capabilities

AI that analyzes shopper behavior and delivers targeted assistance, product recommendations, and offers

Maximizes revenue impact for CX teams by directly influencing customer buying decisions

User-friendly AI controls

Intuitive tools and toggles for adjusting AI behavior through knowledge bases

Allows teams to test and deploy AI quickly without technical expertise

Performance insights

Dashboards displaying performance metrics, support KPIs, revenue impact, plus custom reporting

Maintains support quality while providing scalable insights that grow with your business

AI learning and improvement

Quality assurance features that improve AI through feedback, corrections, and knowledge updates

Enables accurate responses that lead to consistent support quality and increased customer satisfaction

Key takeaways from our review

The future of customer support is AI-driven, and the tools you choose today will define the efficiency, responsiveness, and satisfaction of your support team tomorrow. 

If it's still early in your AI helpdesk journey, we have additional resources to help you learn more from the pros before getting started:

You Don’t Need More Tools: You Need Teams Who Use Them Right

By
min read.
0 min read . By

TL;DR:

  • Most brands underuse their support tools: Gorgias has powerful features, but many teams don't take full advantage of them.
  • Atidiv’s CX experts unlock Gorgias’s full potential: From tagging and macros to dashboards and rules, Atidiv ensures every feature drives value.
  • Smart tagging creates strategic insights: Agents tag every interaction to surface product feedback, customer sentiment, and emerging trends in real time.
  • Macros and Rules streamline support: Atidiv builds brand-consistent Macros and uses Rules to reduce manual work and clutter.

You don’t need more software—just better usage: Atidiv transforms existing tools like Gorgias into engines for efficiency, growth, and retention.

If you’re like most ecommerce brands, you’ve invested in great tools like Gorgias to streamline support, automate workflows, and deliver personalized experiences at scale. But here’s the hard truth: Having the tools doesn’t mean you’re using them well.

We see it all the time. Gorgias is live, Macros are written, a few Rules are set, and then… chaos. Tags go unused, dashboards lack insight, and your agents are still drowning in tickets.

That’s why leading brands aren’t just buying tech, they’re partnering with teams who know how to use it. That’s where Atidiv comes in.

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The tools are there. Most teams just don’t maximize them.

Gorgias is a powerful platform. Out of the box, it gives you:

  • Custom tagging and views
  • Automation rules to speed up repetitive tasks
  • Macros that standardize your brand voice
  • Real-time dashboards and revenue attribution

But without the right people using these tools effectively, it’s just noise. Atidiv’s CX specialists are trained Gorgias power users, and they make sure every feature works hard for your brand.

What happens when CX teams know the tool inside out

Here’s how Atidiv leverages Gorgias to drive real results:

Smart tagging for strategic insights

Atidiv agents don’t just respond to tickets, they tag every interaction with purpose.

  • Common product issues? Tagged.
  • Pre-sale objections? Tagged.
  • VIP customers? You bet—tagged.

This turns your inbox into a live dashboard of customer sentiment, product feedback, and emerging trends, no extra software required.

Macros that actually get used

Atidiv writes and maintains Macros that go beyond “Thanks for reaching out.”

  • Dynamic responses tailored to each issue
  • Integrated links to help center articles or policies
  • Embedded personalization that keeps your brand voice consistent

These aren’t just canned replies—they’re crafted CX responses built to scale.

Gorgias Macros can be enhanced with the addition of dynamic variables pulled from your ecommerce platform, tags, snooze rules, Shopify actions, and more.

Enhance your Macros with tags, snooze rules, Shopify actions, and other dynamic variables.

Dashboards that drive decisions

Every Atidiv client gets a customized Gorgias dashboard. It’s built by Atidiv’s Team Leads to track what matters:

  • CSAT trends
  • SLA performance
  • Volume by tag or channel
  • Revenue generated from support

No more wondering if your support is working, now you know.

Rules that eliminate repetition

We use Gorgias Rules to route tickets, send auto-replies, and tag intents, reducing ticket clutter by up to 30%.

The result? Agents spend more time on high-impact conversations and less time chasing tracking numbers.

Gorgias Rules automatically trigger based on your chosen conditions.

Run your support on autopilot with Gorgias Rules that automatically trigger based on your chosen conditions.

A real-world example: What this looks like in practice

A fast-growing superfood brand came to Atidiv with Gorgias already live, but underutilized. They were answering tickets manually, tracking performance in spreadsheets, and dealing with repeat questions daily.

Within 30 days, Atidiv helped them:

  • Build >10 custom macros
  • Implement >5 auto-routing and tagging rules
  • Clean up and standardize 50+ tags
  • Created 15+ executive views
  • Launch a real-time performance dashboard
  • Reduce first response time by approximately 45%
  • Retention analysis using tags
  • Surface batch of products with bad taste based on tag trends

And no, they didn’t need to buy any new tools.

It’s not about more tech, it’s about more leverage

Most brands think their next CX win will come from another app or integration. But the real unlock often comes from better use of what they already have.

That’s what Atidiv offers:

  • CX teams that are fluent in Gorgias
  • Leadership layers that manage performance and QA
  • Strategic use of features you’re already paying for
  • Flexibility to scale up or down without hiring overhead

The bottom line

You don’t need to overhaul your tech stack. You need a team that can turn Gorgias into a strategic engine for support, growth, and insight.

Atidiv makes it possible, with trained agents, experienced leaders, and a deep understanding of what Gorgias can do when used to its full potential.

→ Want to get more out of the tools you already have? Let’s talk about how Atidiv + Gorgias can transform your support operation.

How CX Leaders are Actually Using AI: 6 Must-Know Lessons

By Tina Donati
min read.
0 min read . By Tina Donati

TL;DR:

  • Train your AI like a new hire. Give it tone guidelines, review weekly, and keep refining to stay on-brand.
  • Adapt AI to real customer behavior. Adjust tone and timing to improve satisfaction, even if the answer stays the same.
  • Use AI to drive sales, not just support. Top brands use it to answer product questions and guide pre-purchase decisions.
  • Start small and improve as you go. Begin with one common question and test often to build momentum.

If you’ve been side-eyeing AI and wondering if it’s just hype, you’re not alone. A lot of CX leaders were skeptical, too:

“I used to be the loudest skeptic,” said Amber van den Berg, Head of CX at Wildride. “I was worried it would feel cold and robotic, completely disconnected from the warm, personal vibe we’d worked so hard to build.”

But fast forward to today, and teams at Wildride, OLIPOP, bareMinerals, and Love Wellness are using AI to do more than just deflect tickets. They’re…

  • Cutting costs without cutting corners
  • Driving revenue before a customer even checks out
  • Delivering fast, on-brand, human-feeling support at scale

Here are six lessons you can steal from the brands doing it best.

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1. Think of AI as your sidekick

We need to get one point across clearly: AI isn’t about replacing your support team.

For brands with lean CX teams, burnout is a serious problem. And it’s one of the biggest reasons AI adoption is accelerating.

“I was constantly seeing the same frustrating inquiries—sponsorship asks, bachelorette party freebies, PR requests… 45% of our tickets were these kinds of messages,” said Nancy Sayo, Director of Consumer Services at global beauty brand, bareMinerals.

“Once I realized AI could handle them with kindness and consistency without pulling in my team, I was sold.”

bareMinerals' AI Agent answers a collaboration/PR request with an on-brand tone of voice and empathy.
Gorgias AI Agent helps bareMinerals resolve questions about collaborations and PR requests within seconds. 

Instead of thinking of AI as a replacement, think of it as an enhancement. 

It’s about making sure your CX team doesn’t burn out answering the same five questions 50 times a day.

With Gorgias AI Agent, Nancy’s team now uses automation to absorb the high-volume, low-conversion noise, freeing up their seasoned agents to focus on real revenue-driving moments.

“We use AI to handle low-complexity tickets. And we route higher-value customers to our human sales team—people who’ve been doing makeup for over a decade and really know what they’re doing.”

TL;DR? The smartest teams use AI to take the weight of repetitive tickets (“Do you ship internationally?” “Can I get free samples?”) off their shoulders so agents can focus on conversations that build trust, drive loyalty, and increase LTV.

2. Train your AI like a team member

While you can get started with AI quickly for simple queries, we don't recommend using it “out of the box.” And honestly, that’s a good thing.

Brands that “set it and forget it” are missing the point. Because if you want AI to sound exactly like your brand—not like every other chatbot on the internet—you need to give it the same context you’d give a new hire.

Amber van den Berg, Head of Customer Experience at baby carrier brand Wildride, wrote out detailed tone guidelines, including:

  • Dos and don’ts for customer conversations
  • Approved Dutch-to-English translations
  • Example replies for nuanced, emotional questions
  • Pre-written macros for product recs and delivery issues
Each conversation is evaluated using an Auto QA Score to help train Wildride's AI Agent.
Wildride uses Gorgias Auto QA to train their AI Agent, Lisa, to improve its language, communication, and resolution skills.

“Lisa, our AI agent, is basically a super well-trained intern who never sleeps. I give her the same updates I give my human team, and I review Lisa’s conversations every week,” said Amber. “If something feels off-brand, too robotic, or just not Wildride enough, I tweak it.”

The feedback never stops, and that’s what makes Lisa so effective.

Related: Meet Auto QA: Quality checks are here to stay

3. Let AI mirror the pacing of real conversations

Even when AI gets it right, customers might not always feel like it did. Especially if the tone of voice is off or if your customer base just isn’t used to automation.

“Our CSAT was low at first,” said Nancy Sayo of bareMinerals. “Even if the response was accurate and beautifully written, our older customers just didn’t want to interact with AI.”

So Nancy’s team adapted. Rather than giving customers a blunt “no” to product requests, they restructured the flow:

“If someone asked for free product, we’d say, ‘We’ll send this to the team and follow up.’ Then, 3-5 days later, the AI would close the loop. It softened the blow and made customers feel heard—even if the answer didn’t change.”

That simple tweak raised CSAT and created a better customer experience without requiring a human to step in.

Inside Gorgias, teams like bareMinerals review AI performance weekly, not just to catch mistakes, but to optimize for tone, satisfaction, and brand feel. They use:

  • CSAT reporting to spot dips in sentiment
  • Conversation analytics to flag where AI may be losing trust
  • Macro editing to quickly adjust common replies

AI gives you the flexibility to test, tweak, and tailor your approach in a way traditional support channels never could. 

AI Agent's performance metrics include coverage rate, automated interactions, success rate, customer satisfaction, and more.
Track AI Agent’s performance in Gorgias and see how many of your tickets it automates, as well as its success rate, total interactions, and more.

4. Use AI to drive sales—not just support

Too many CX teams still treat AI like a glorified autoresponder. But the most forward-thinking brands are using it to guide shoppers to checkout.

“Our customers often ask: ‘Which carrier is better for warm weather?’ or ‘Will this fit both me and my taller partner?’” said Amber van den Berg, Head of CX at Wildride. “Lisa doesn’t just answer—she gives context, recommends features, and highlights small touches like the fact that a diaper fits in the side pocket.”

With Gorgias Shopping Assistant, brands can turn AI into a proactive sales assistant—answering product questions in real time, referencing what’s in the customer’s cart, and nudging them toward the best option with empathy.

5. CX insights should power the rest of your business

Great support doesn’t stop at the inbox. At Love Wellness, CX is the connective tissue between ecommerce, product, and marketing.

“We meet quarterly with our CX and ecommerce teams to review top questions, objections, and patterns,” said Mckay Elliot, Director of Amazon at Love Wellness. “That feedback goes straight into product development and PDP optimizations on both DTC and Amazon.”

But it’s not just a quarterly ritual. Feedback sharing is embedded in the culture, and they do this with a Slack channel dedicated to customer feedback. 

Dropping in insights is part of the team’s daily and weekly responsibilities. It helps everyone stay close to the content, and it sparks real collaboration on what we can improve. They then use those insights to improve ad messaging and content.

Love Wellness has an internal feedback channel in their Slack
Love Wellness’s team shares customer feedback internally through Slack.

Your team has so much data they can review between channels like email, SMS, chat, and social media—both compliments and complaints. You need to be willing to listen to every customer’s needs.

Read more: Why customer service is important (according to a VP of CX)

6. Don’t overthink it, start small

One of the biggest mistakes brands make with AI? Trying to do too much, too soon.

Rolling out AI should feel like a phased launch, not a switch flip. The best results come from starting simple, testing often, and iterating as you go.

“We started with one simple question—‘Do you ship internationally?’—and built from there,” said Amber van den Berg of Wildride.

“And if it doesn’t work? You can always turn it off,” added Anne Dyer, Sr. Manager of CX & Loyalty Marketing at OLIPOP. “The key is to test, review, and keep iterating. AI should enhance your human experience, not replace it.”

Test out conversations in Gorgias's AI Agent Test environment
Before you go live with AI Agent, see how it responds to inquiries in the Test environment.

If your helpdesk supports it, start in a test environment to preview answers before going live. Then roll out automation gradually by channel, topic, or ticket type and QA every step of the way.

For most brands, the best starting point is high-volume, low-complexity tickets like:

  • “Where’s my order?”
  • Subscription pauses or cancellations
  • Returns and exchanges
  • Store policies and FAQs

You don’t need to solve everything on day 1. Just commit to one question, one channel, and one hour per week. That’s where real momentum starts.

Related: Store policies by industry, explained: What to include for every vertical

How do you measure the impact of AI in CX?

Most CX teams are used to tracking classic metrics like ticket volume and CSAT. But when AI enters the mix, your definition of success shifts. It’s not all about how fast you handle tickets anymore—it’s about how customers feel after conversations with AI, team efficiency, and the quality of every interaction.

Here are the metric CX teams used to track without AI—and what they track now with AI:

Metrics Tracked Before AI

Metrics Tracked After AI

Total ticket volume

% of tickets resolved by AI

Average first response time

Response time by channel (AI vs. human)

CSAT (overall)

CSAT + sentiment on AI-resolved tickets

Tickets per agent/hour

Time saved per agent + resolution quality

Burnout rate or turnover

Agent satisfaction or eNPS

The best use of AI makes space for human touch

AI isn’t here to replace your CX team. It’s here to free them up, so they can focus on deeper, more meaningful conversations that build loyalty and drive revenue.

So if you’re on the fence, start small. Train it. Review weekly. Build the muscle.

You’ll be surprised how quickly AI becomes your favorite intern.

If you want more tips from the experts featured today, you can:

Why Consolidated Doesn’t Mean Compromised: Top 3 Myths Debunked

By Holly Stanley
min read.
0 min read . By Holly Stanley

TL;DR:

  • Consolidation doesn’t mean giving up flexibility. The right all-in-one tools are modular and API-friendly, so teams can customize and integrate freely.
  • You gain efficiency, not lose features. One platform means fewer gaps, less manual work, and faster support.
  • It’s more affordable and faster than you think. Consolidation cuts hidden costs and delivers ROI quickly.
  • Gorgias is built for ecommerce. With a deep Shopify integration and 100+ apps to connect to, it can scale with CX teams, no matter their size.

If your CX team is juggling a dozen different tools just to answer one support ticket, you’re not alone. According to our 2025 Ecommerce Trends report, 42.28% of ecommerce professionals use six or more tools every day. Plus, nearly 40% spend $5,000–$50,000 annually on their tech stack.

That’s a lot of money and a lot of tabs.

It’s no wonder “tech stack fatigue” is setting in. But while many brands are ready to simplify, there’s still hesitation around consolidation. The biggest fear is that all-in-one tools are too rigid or basic to handle the complexity of a growing business.

But the truth is, consolidation doesn’t mean compromise. When done right, it means clarity, speed, and control. It also means fewer tools, smoother workflows, and faster customer support. 

Let’s bust some myths and show you what smart consolidation looks like.

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Myth #1: “All-in-one tools are too rigid”

One of the biggest blockers to consolidation is compatibility. Fifty-two percent of ecommerce professionals said they hesitate to consolidate because they’re worried about tools not playing nicely together. 

That hesitation makes sense. In the past, “all-in-one” tools meant being locked into a single provider’s ecosystem, with limited integrations and rigid workflows. For CX teams managing fast-moving ops and dozens of tools, from email and returns to reviews and subscriptions, the idea of losing flexibility is a non-starter. 

Reality: All-in-one tools are modular, not monolithic

Modern support platforms have moved away from monolithic systems and toward modular API-friendly designs that give brands control instead of constraints. 

If you choose the right platform, consolidation doesn’t lead to a loss of functionality. Instead, it means getting a better-connected system that works smarter.

Just ask Audien Hearing who uses Gorgias’s open API to create an integration with its warehouse software to manage returns directly in Gorgias instead of a shared Google spreadsheet.

They also combine the power of Gorgias Voice with an integration to Aircall to resolve thousands of questions a day. This integration enables agents to access customer and order data directly from Gorgias while on a call—staying in one workspace.

“It's amazing that we're able to create any custom solutions we want with Gorgias's open API. Gorgias is way more than a typical helpdesk if you utilize the features it offers,” says Zoe Kahn, VP of Retention and Customer Experience at Audien Hearing.

View the customer conversation, details, and integration information in one view in Gorgias
Access and update customer data from any integration—without leaving Gorgias—so you can handle inquiries in a single workspace.

Read more: The Gorgias & Shopify integration: 8 features your support team will love 

Myth #2: “We’ll lose features we rely on”

Another common hesitation around consolidation is the risk of putting all your eggs in one basket. If everything runs through one tool, what happens when something breaks or you need to pivot?

It’s understandable, many teams worry that one tool can’t possibly do everything well. Maybe it won’t support their preferred channels, or the automation will be too limited. Or maybe they’ve been burned by a platform that promised too much and delivered too little.

Reality: All-in-one tools reduce gaps, not capabilities

In reality, consolidating gives CX teams more freedom, not less.

Instead of stitching together half a dozen tools and hoping they sync, teams using a single, well-integrated platform gain:

  • A centralized view of the customer
  • Cleaner workflows with fewer manual handoffs
  • Less time spent training agents on multiple systems
  • And fewer gaps in data or context

Under one system, your team doesn’t have to jump between tabs anymore. They can just focus on helping customers, quickly and consistently.

Take it from Osea Malibu, a seaweed‑infused skincare brand that transformed their support quality assurance process using Gorgias Auto QA. Their manual QA system was time-consuming and couldn’t scale as ticket volume surged. But the switch made impressive improvements:

  • QA time reduced by 75%, from over an hour per week to just 15 minutes
  • 100% of tickets now automatically quality‑checked, instead of a small manual sample
  • CSAT increased (during BFCM) to 4.74/5, reflecting better consistency and faster resolutions
Gorgias Auto QA lets agents give feedback on AI and human agent resolutions
Empower both human and AI agents to give more accurate answers with Gorgias’s Auto QA feature.
“Gorgias Auto QA saved me so much time. What used to take over an hour now only takes 15 minutes a week, and I no longer have to worry about spreadsheets.” —Sare Sahagun, Customer Care Manager at Osea Malibu

Myth #3: “Consolidation is expensive and time-consuming”

On paper, consolidation sounds smart. But 47.6% of ecommerce professionals say cost is a barrier, and 40.3% worry about the time it takes to implement a new system.

Sticking with a fragmented stack isn’t exactly cheap or quick, either. Between training new agents, managing multiple vendors, and patching together tools that don’t fully sync, the hidden costs add up fast.

Reality: Consolidation reduces overhead and busywork

It’s not actually consolidation that drains your resources—it’s complexity. And with Gorgias, simplifying pays off fast.

Trove Brands is a standout example. After centralizing their support with Gorgias, they implemented AI-powered order cancellation workflows and saw:

  • 45% of tickets automated, cutting manual workload
  • 70% reduction in failed order cancellations, saving costs and frustration
  • 99.93% faster first response time during BFCM 2024 (from 11 hours 30 minutes to just 30 seconds)
Gorgias AI automatically detects tickets and assigns them with the proper tag
Reduce hours of admin work thanks to AI that labels tickets according to your brand’s system.

Related: The hidden cost of not adopting AI in ecommerce

What’s the top benefit of consolidating your tech stack?

The biggest benefit of fewer tools is efficiency. It’s also a direct line to real business impact.

Constant tab-switching and duplicate data entry mean way too much time spent managing platforms instead of helping customers.

When you consolidate your tech stack, your team spends less time learning new systems, chasing down info, or waiting for one tool to sync with another. 

Instead, they get everything they need in one place, faster replies, smoother workflows, and happier customers.

And that all adds up to better CSAT, lower churn, and a support team that’s finally free to focus on what matters.

What makes Gorgias different from other all-in-one platforms?

Gorgias is built specifically for ecommerce brands, with features that reflect the way CX teams actually work.

As Shopify’s only Premier Partner for customer support, we offer a native integration that pulls in key order data and context automatically, so agents have everything they need without switching platforms. That means conversations, AI, automation, revenue data, and reporting are in one place.

Our open app ecosystem allows you to connect to 100+ tools like Shopify, Klaviyo, Yotpo, and Recharge in just a few clicks. Need more customization? Our add-ons, like AI Agent and Voice let you level up at your own pace.

Whether you're handling hundreds of tickets a week or scaling globally, Gorgias adapts—so you don’t have to keep reinventing your support stack every six months.

Time to rethink your stack

Dr. Bronner’s, a globally recognized organic soap and personal care brand, made the switch from Salesforce to Gorgias to keep up with growing support demands, and it paid off fast.

Here are the results they saw with Gorgias:

  • $100,000 saved in the first year by cutting licensing and developer costs
  • 45% of all customer queries automated after just 2 months
  • 74% reduction in ticket resolution time, powering faster support
  • 11% increase in CSAT, thanks to quicker, more personalized responses

“We don’t get boxed out because we only work with Gorgias tools. Gorgias deeply understands the needs of CX, Shopify, and orders and how those tools work together so that it’s really easy for us to work across the board throughout those tools and that didn’t exist in our last setup at all,” says Emily McEnany, Senior CX Manager at Dr. Bronner’s.

If you’re still stitching together half a dozen tools to handle support, it might be time to ask: Is your tech stack helping you or holding you back?

With Gorgias, you get centralization and flexibility, so your team can move faster, serve better, and scale smarter.

Book a demo or dive into the full 2025 Ecommerce Trends report to see how other brands are rethinking their stacks.

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