TL;DR:

• Pre-sales isn’t just a sales function. Support teams handle many of the most important conversations before a customer buys
• Strong pre-sales support helps customers understand fit, limits, and policies early, which reduces refunds, repeat tickets, and frustration
• Many pre-sales questions are repetitive and time-sensitive, making them good candidates for AI and automation backed by a clear source of truth
• When support teams focus on clarity over conversion, customers make better decisions and long-term trust increases

Pre-sales is the work that happens before a customer commits. For customer experience teams, it shows up as pre-purchase questions, live chat conversations, and “will this work for me?” moments.

In many ecommerce journeys, support teams handle these conversations, not sales. Customers ask about product fit, shipping timelines, returns, and edge cases before buying. How support answers those questions determines whether customers buy with confidence or regret it later.

This guide looks at pre-sales through a customer support lens. It explains how support teams shape the pre-sales experience and why improving it leads to better outcomes for customers and support teams alike.

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What is pre-sales support?

Pre-sales refers to everything that happens before a customer hits “buy.” In traditional B2B sales, that’s lead qualification, discovery calls, and demos, usually handled by dedicated pre-sales teams or sales agents.

In ecommerce, pre-sales is the questions that pop up before checkout: 

• Will this work for me? 
• What's your return policy? 
• Do you ship to Canada? 
• Can I use this with my existing setup? 

These questions are then answered by your support team and any automation or AI tool you may have.

When you look more closely, pre-sales support helps customers feel more confident about purchasing your product. Your team answers questions, clears up confusion, and sets realistic expectations. 

The goal is to reduce uncertainty so customers know exactly what they're getting. Pre-sales shapes how customers see your brand from the very first interaction.

The difference between pre-sales and sales

Pre-sales and sales are often grouped together, but they serve different purposes. Pre-sales focuses on solution fit. Sales focuses on closing the deal.

In ecommerce, support teams handle most pre-sales questions. Customers need help understanding whether a product is right for them, and those questions rarely reach a sales team.

Here's how the roles break down.

Why pre-sales support matters

Pre-sales shapes the support experience before a ticket ever gets created. When customers get clear answers before they buy, your team deals with fewer issues after.

For support and CX teams, pre-sales is the part of the funnel that prevents confusion, sets expectations, and removes hurdles down the road.

Qualified questions, not just qualified leads

Strong pre-sales support helps filter intent early. When customers ask questions before buying, they're looking for reassurance about fit, policies, or specific scenarios. Answer clearly, and they'll self-qualify. They either buy with confidence or realize it's not the right fit before turning into a high-effort ticket later.

Fewer surprises after purchase

Most post-purchase frustration comes from mismatched expectations. Pre-sales support helps by clarifying what the product does, what it doesn't, and what customers should actually expect. You end up with fewer “I didn't realize” tickets and less time spent in damage control mode.

Better customer experience from the start

Pre-sales is often the first real conversation a customer has with your brand. When you handle these moments well, customers feel helped instead of sold to. That trust sticks around through onboarding, day-to-day support, and beyond.

Fewer refunds and repeat contacts

Clear pre-sales conversations help customers make the right call the first time. That means fewer unnecessary returns, repeat tickets, and escalations. Your team spends less time undoing decisions and more time actually helping people.

The pre-sales support process

For support teams, the pre-sales process is the set of conversations that happen before a customer buys. It isn’t formal. It doesn’t live in a CRM stage. It happens in chat, email, and social messages when customers are deciding whether to move forward.

Pre-sales support is about helping customers make the right decision, even when that decision is not to buy.

1. Understand what the customer needs and what they’re trying to solve

Pre-sales support starts by understanding what the customer is looking for, the problems they’re trying to solve, and what prompted them to reach out. Customers may ask about a specific feature, but what they really want is reassurance that the product fits their needs.

When support takes the time to understand those needs, answers become more relevant and less transactional.

2. Explain what the product does and doesn’t do

Good pre-sales support explains what a product doesn’t do as clearly as what it does. This isn’t selling yourself short or pushing customers away. It’s being honest and giving customers the information they need to evaluate their needs against your product.

When customers understand the limits upfront, they’re less likely to feel misled later.

3. Answer policy questions before they become problems

Many pre-purchase questions are really about risk. Customers ask about shipping, returns, warranties, and support coverage to understand what happens if things don’t go as planned. Clear answers here reduce anxiety and prevent escalations after purchase.

4. Let customers self-select at their own pace

If the shoe doesn’t fit, the shoe doesn’t fit. Pre-sales support shouldn’t force customers who aren’t ready to buy into buying now. That approach leaves a bad taste and often turns into regret after purchase.

When support focuses only on the sale instead of the person, customers notice. They move on to competitors who take the time to understand their situation and respect their timing.

5. Capture patterns and improve the experience

Pre-sales questions reveal gaps in product messaging, help center content, and internal documentation. When support teams feed these insights back, they reduce repeat questions and improve the experience for future customers.

Common pre-sales questions support teams handle

Pre-sales support questions are usually practical, not persuasive. Customers aren’t asking to be sold to. They’re trying to decide if buying is a good idea.

These are the most common types of pre-sales questions support teams handle.

Product fit and use:

• Will this work for my specific use case?
• What’s the difference between these two options?
• Is this compatible with what I already use?
• Can I use this if my setup is slightly different?

Policies and risk:

• What happens if I need to return it?
• Is there a warranty or guarantee?
• How does your return policy actually work?
• What support do I get after I buy?

Shipping and timing:

• When will this arrive if I order today?
• Do you ship to my location?
• What happens if it arrives late or damaged?
• Are there cutoffs I should know about?

Pricing and value:

• What’s included in the price?
• Are there extra fees I should expect?
• Is there a cheaper option that would still work for me?
• Do you offer discounts or bundles?

Readiness and decision-making:

• Is this right for me right now?
• Should I wait before buying?
• What do most customers like me do?
• What’s the biggest reason this doesn’t work for some people?

Handle these questions well, and they’ll help customers move forward. Handle them poorly, and they turn into refunds and frustration.

How support teams can improve the pre-sales experience

Improving pre-sales support isn’t about training agents to sell. It’s about giving them the tools, context, and permission to be honest and helpful before a customer buys.

When support teams do this well, customers make better decisions and support work gets easier later.

Build answers around real customer questions

Pre-sales support should be grounded in what customers actually ask, not what your team assumes they need. Review pre-purchase conversations regularly and look out for patterns. These questions should shape help center articles, macros, and, if you have one, guidance instructions for your AI tool.

If customers keep asking the same thing, the answer shouldn’t live only in chat.

Communicate clearly

Fast responses matter, but clear ones matter more. Pre-sales support should focus on explaining fit, limits, and expectations in plain language. Avoid overloading customers with features. Focus on whether the product solves their problem. Clarity reduces hesitation and prevents disappointment after purchase.

Use automation and AI for high-volume pre-sales questions

Pre-sales questions are often some of the best candidates for AI because they result in the same answer, no matter who’s asking. Shipping timelines, return policies, pricing, and compatibility checks don’t always require a human response. Scaling brands use automation and AI to answer these questions instantly.

AI tools like Gorgias AI Agent can handle common pre-sales questions using your Help Center, policies, and product data. This gives customers immediate answers while freeing your team to focus on more challenging conversations that require nuanced problem-solving.

Share context across channels

Customers often move between browsing, chat, email, and social. Support teams need visibility into past conversations and behavior so customers don’t have to repeat themselves. Context leads to better answers and smoother experiences.

This is especially important in pre-sales, where customers are still deciding whether to trust you.

Read more: How to implement an omnichannel customer service strategy

Turn pre-sales questions into improvements

Pre-sales conversations reveal gaps in your product descriptions, policies, and documentation. Feeding this back to product, marketing, and content teams improves the experience for everyone. Pre-sales support gets better when it’s treated as a feedback loop, not a one-off interaction.

Tools that help support teams handle pre-sales questions

Pre-sales support works best when tools help teams answer questions quickly, consistently, and with context. The goal isn’t more software. It’s fewer gaps between what customers ask and how easily support can respond.

A centralized customer support platform

A customer support platform, often referred to as a helpdesk, is the foundation of pre-sales support. Modern helpdesks do more than manage tickets. They centralize conversations across chat, email, social, and messaging apps, while keeping customer context intact.

This matters in pre-sales because customers often ask questions across multiple channels before buying. A single platform helps teams respond consistently and spot patterns in pre-purchase questions. Many growing brands now look for helpdesks with built-in AI and automation. 

Read more: Best AI helpdesk tools: 10 platforms compared

A searchable help center

Many pre-sales questions don’t need a live response if the information is easy to find. A searchable help center allows customers to self-serve answers around product details, policies, and common concerns before reaching out.

For support teams, this reduces repetitive tickets and creates a shared source of truth for agents and AI. Improving visibility and engagement is key. 

This guide breaks down how brands are boosting Help Center usage.

AI and automation for instant answers

Pre-sales questions are often time-sensitive. Customers want answers before they lose momentum. AI and automation help support teams respond immediately to common questions around shipping, returns, pricing, and product basics.

Tools like AI Agent use your existing help center, policies, and product data to answer these questions accurately. This lets teams scale pre-sales support while keeping responses consistent and on-brand.

Shared customer context

Pre-sales support improves when agents can see what customers have viewed, asked, or interacted with before reaching out. Browsing behavior, previous conversations, and account details help agents give better answers faster.

Context matters most before purchase, when customers are still deciding whether to trust you.

Internal documentation and guidance

Support teams need clear internal guidance for pre-sales scenarios. This includes what can be promised, what should be escalated, and how to explain limitations consistently.

Strong internal documentation keeps pre-sales support aligned and prevents mixed messages across channels.

Handle pre-sales questions without becoming a sales team

Pre-sales questions don't disappear after someone buys. How your team handles them sets the tone for onboarding, ongoing support, and whether customers stick around.

Gorgias helps support teams manage pre-sales and post-purchase conversations in one place. With shared customer context, a searchable help center, and AI-powered answers through AI Agent, your team can respond faster, stay consistent, and help customers buy with confidence.

Want to improve your pre-sales support without turning your agents into salespeople? Book a demo now.

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TL;DR:

• Live chat metrics measure speed, efficiency, satisfaction, volume, and business impact across your support operation
• First response time and resolution time are the most tracked speed metrics, with industry benchmarks under 90 seconds and 10 minutes respectively
• AI-powered chatbots can deflect 40-60% of repetitive inquiries when measured through containment rate
• Tracking CSAT and customer effort score together gives you a complete picture of the customer experience

Your support team is handling hundreds of chats per week, but you have no idea if customers are satisfied, agents are overwhelmed, or conversations are driving sales. 

Live chat metrics give you that visibility. These KPIs measure how fast your team responds, how efficiently they resolve issues, and how those conversations impact revenue. Without them, you lack visibility into staffing decisions, training priorities, and customer satisfaction. 

In this guide, we'll walk through the 14 most important live chat metrics for ecommerce brands, why they matter, and how to improve them with the right tools.

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What are live chat metrics and why they matter for ecommerce

Live chat metrics show how well your support team performs, how efficiently they handle volume, and how chat impacts the business. They help you identify slowdowns, quality issues, and missed opportunities in customer conversations.

Not all metrics are equally useful. Vanity metrics like total chat volume describe activity. Actionable KPIs like first response time or resolution rate tell you what to fix and where to invest.

For ecommerce brands, these metrics matter more than in most industries. Chat volume spikes during BFCM, launches, and promos. You need to respond fast without sacrificing quality. And unlike email or phone, live chat often sits directly on the path to purchase.

When you don’t track live chat metrics, decisions rely on gut instinct. Staffing guesses replace planning. Coaching becomes reactive. Proving ROI gets harder. The right metrics help you staff smarter, coach better, reduce costs, and tie chat conversations to revenue.

Live chat metrics generally fall into a few core categories, which we’ll break down throughout this guide.

The core categories of live chat metrics

Live chat metrics measure different parts of your support operation, and you need a mix of them to understand performance clearly.

Speed and time-based metrics show how quickly your team responds and resolves chats, setting the baseline for customer expectations.

Efficiency and quality metrics reveal whether issues are solved correctly the first time, not just quickly.

Volume and coverage metrics help you understand chat demand and whether your team has enough capacity during peak periods.

Satisfaction and experience metrics measure how customers feel after a chat and how easy it was to get help.

Automation and AI metrics track how often chatbots resolve conversations without human involvement, freeing agents for complex issues.

Revenue and growth metrics connect chat conversations to conversions and sales, helping you prove ROI.

Next, we’ll break down each category and the specific metrics to track.

Speed and time-based live chat metrics

Speed matters in live chat more than any other support channel. Customers initiate a chat because they want immediate help. If they were willing to wait, they'd send an email. Time-based metrics reveal whether you're meeting their expectations for instant responses and quick resolutions.

First response time (FRT): How fast you reply to a new conversation

What it measures:

The time between when a customer starts a chat and when an agent sends the first reply.

Why it matters:

This first moment sets the tone for the entire interaction and strongly affects whether shoppers stay engaged or leave.

Benchmark:

Top ecommerce teams respond in under 40 seconds.

Formula:

First response time = time of first agent message − time chat started

How to improve it:

• Staff peak hours based on historical chat volume
• Use chatbots for instant greetings and routing
• Set skill-based routing to avoid queue bottlenecks
• Allow limited concurrent chats during high-volume periods

Tip: Track median FRT instead of averages to avoid outliers skewing results.

Average response time: How fast you reply throughout the conversation

What it measures:

The average time it takes an agent to reply to each message after the first response.

Why it matters:

Customers expect steady speed throughout the chat, not fast greetings followed by long pauses.

Benchmark:

High-performing teams keep average response times under 2 minutes.

Formula:

Average response time = total agent reply time ÷ number of agent responses

How to improve it:

• Use saved replies for common questions
• Keep Help Center content searchable inside chat
• Reduce concurrent chats for complex issues

Average resolution time (ART): How long it takes to fully solve issues

What it measures:

The total time from chat start to issue resolution and chat closure.

Why it matters:

Fast replies mean little if the issue takes too long to solve.

Benchmark:

Simple issues should be resolved in under 10 minutes. For complex issues, aim for under an hour.

Formula:

Resolution time = chat close time − chat start time

How to improve it:

• Create step-by-step troubleshooting templates
• Give agents authority to handle refunds and order edits
• Use AI to surface relevant Help Center articles
• Route chats by issue type to reduce handoffs

How speed metrics work together

Speed metrics only tell the full story when viewed together.

For example, a team might hit a 45-second first response time, but if average response time stretches to five minutes and resolution takes 25 minutes, customers still experience friction. The chat starts fast, then slows down.

In practice, use first response time to gauge engagement, average response time to spot agent overload, and resolution time to identify process or tooling gaps. Looking at them together shows where speed breaks down.

Efficiency and quality live chat metrics

Speed gets customers in the door. Efficiency and quality determine whether their issue is actually solved. These metrics show whether chats are resolved fully, handled by the right person, and completed without unnecessary effort.

First contact resolution rate (FCR): How fast you solve issues on the first interaction

What it measures:

The percentage of chats resolved in a single interaction without follow-ups or escalation.

Why it matters:

High FCR lowers repeat contacts, reduces support costs, and increases customer satisfaction.

Benchmark:

70%+ is standard, while 80%+ is considered excellent for ecommerce support.

Formula:
FCR = (chats resolved on first contact ÷ total chats) × 100

How to improve it:

• Train agents deeply on products, policies, and common issues
• Use complete Macros that answer the full question, not part of it
• Collect context upfront with pre-chat forms
• Empower agents to process refunds, cancellations, and changes without escalation

Average chat duration: How long conversations take from start to finish

What it measures:

The total time from when a chat starts to when it’s closed.

Why it matters:

Chats should be efficient but thorough. Shorter isn’t better if issues aren’t fully resolved.

Benchmark:

Most ecommerce chats fall between 10-13 minutes, depending on complexity.

Formula:

Average chat duration = total chat time ÷ number of chats

How to improve it:

• Use Macros to reduce typing time
• Train agents to ask clarifying questions early
• Remove unnecessary verification steps
• Match complex issues with focused agents

Tip: Review chat duration alongside FCR and CSAT to ensure speed doesn’t hurt quality.

Transfer rate: How often chats are escalated

What it measures:

The percentage of chats handed off between agents or escalated from bots to humans.

Why it matters:

Each transfer adds wait time and forces customers to repeat themselves.

Benchmark:

Under 10% is ideal for most ecommerce teams.

Formula:

Transfer rate = (transferred chats ÷ total chats) × 100

How to reduce it:

• Use skill-based routing from the start
• Cross-train agents on common issues
• Route chats using pre-chat issue selection
• Give agents the tools and permissions to resolve issues independently

How efficiency and quality metrics work together

Start with FCR. It tells you whether problems are actually solved.

If FCR is strong but chat duration keeps climbing, agents may lack tools or permissions. If duration is short but transfer rate is high, chats are moving fast but landing with the wrong person.

Reading these metrics side by side helps you see whether your team is being efficient, effective, or just busy.

Volume and coverage live chat metrics

Volume and coverage metrics show whether you’re staffed to meet demand. They help you plan schedules, avoid missed chats, and balance agent workload without hurting quality.

Chat volume: How often customers reach out to your support team

What it measures:

The total number of chat conversations started in a given time period.

Why it matters:

Chat volume reveals demand patterns and helps you staff proactively instead of reacting when queues spike.

Benchmark:

There’s no universal benchmark, but ecommerce teams should expect predictable spikes around promos, launches, and BFCM.

Formula:

Chat volume = total chats initiated in a time period

How to manage it:

• Segment volume by hour, day, and inquiry type
• Prepare staffing for known peak events
• Deflect repetitive questions with AI and self-service
• Set clear chat availability if 24/7 coverage isn’t realistic

Missed chat rate: How often chats are left unanswered

What it measures:

The percentage of chat requests that don’t receive a response.

Why it matters:

Every missed chat is a missed chance to resolve an issue or convert a shopper.

Benchmark:

Under 5% is good, while under 3% is excellent.

Formula:

Missed chat rate = (missed chats ÷ total chat requests) × 100

How to reduce it:

• Staff peak hours based on historical volume
• Use chatbots for overflow and off-hours coverage
• Cap concurrent chats to avoid agent overload
• Switch chat to offline when no agents are available

Chats per agent: The average workload of each agent

What it measures:

The average number of chats handled by each agent in a given period.

Why it matters:

This metric helps balance productivity with quality and prevent burnout.

Benchmark:

30–50 chats per agent per day is typical for ecommerce, depending on complexity.

Formula:

Chats per agent = total chats handled ÷ number of agents

How to optimize it:

• Enable limited concurrent chats
• Use Macros to reduce response time
• Offload simple questions to automation
• Cross-train agents to handle multiple inquiry types

How volume and coverage metrics work together

If volume rises but missed chats stay low, staffing is working. If missed chats spike, check chats per agent. High workloads usually mean agents are stretched too thin, even if headcount hasn’t changed.

Viewed together, these metrics show whether you have a demand problem, a coverage problem, or both.

Satisfaction and experience live chat metrics

Operational metrics show how chat performs. Satisfaction metrics show how it feels to customers. These are the strongest predictors of loyalty, repeat purchases, and long-term value.

Customer satisfaction (CSAT) score: How customers rate the chat experience

What it measures:

How satisfied customers are with their chat experience, usually collected via a post-chat survey.

Why it matters:

CSAT reflects whether customers felt helped, heard, and resolved.

Benchmark:

Most ecommerce brands have a 4.6 CSAT. 

Formula:

CSAT = (number of satisfied responses ÷ total responses) × 100

How to improve it:

• Reduce response and resolution times
• Coach agents on empathy and tone
• Prioritize first contact resolution
• Empower agents to resolve issues fully
• Follow up on low scores to identify gaps

Customer effort score: How easy it was to get help

What it measures:

How easy it was for customers to get their issue resolved.

Why it matters:

Low-effort experiences are more predictive of loyalty than delight.

Benchmark:

Aim for 5+ on a 7-point scale.

Formula:

CES = % of “easy” responses (6–7) − % of “difficult” responses (1–2)

How to reduce effort:

• Show agents full customer and order context
• Reduce transfers and handoffs
• Collect context upfront with pre-chat forms
• Empower agents to resolve issues without escalation

Read more: Customer delight is a losing strategy in ecommerce: Here's what's better

How satisfaction metrics work together

CSAT tells you how customers felt. CES explains why.

If CSAT drops and CES is low, the experience likely involved long waits, transfers, or repeated questions. When both are strong, customers feel helped without friction, even if the issue wasn’t perfect.

Automation and AI live chat metrics

Automation only works if it helps customers. These metrics show whether AI is reducing workload without hurting the experience.

Chatbot deflection rate: How often AI resolves without a handoff

What it measures:

The percentage of AI-handled chats resolved without a human handoff.

Why it matters:

High deflection lowers cost per resolution and provides true 24/7 coverage.

Benchmark:

40–60% is typical for well-trained AI, while 70%+ is best-in-class for repetitive inquiries.

Formula:

Deflection rate = (chats resolved by AI ÷ total AI-handled chats) × 100

How to improve it:

• Train AI on your most common questions

• Connect AI to order and return data
• Review failed handoffs and refine responses
• Allow easy escalation to a human
• Track bot CSAT alongside deflection rate

Important: A high deflection rate only matters if customers are satisfied. Always measure AI CSAT separately from human CSAT.

How automation metrics work together

Deflection rate shows efficiency. Bot CSAT confirms quality.

If deflection rises but CSAT drops, automation is creating friction. When both increase together, AI is reducing volume while maintaining a good experience.

Revenue and growth live chat metrics

Live chat can influence revenue, not just resolve issues. These metrics show whether conversations help customers buy and how support contributes to growth.

Conversion rate from chat: How conversations drive sales

What it measures:

The percentage of chat conversations that lead to a purchase within a defined attribution window, usually 24–48 hours.

Why it matters:

Chat often captures shoppers in the consideration phase, when a small question stands between them and a purchase.

Benchmark:

Conversion rates typically fall at 4.7%, with the top brands at 13%. 

Formula:

Chat conversion rate = (purchases attributed to chat ÷ total chats) × 100

How to improve it:

• Train agents on product knowledge and recommendations
• Enable agents to offer targeted incentives when appropriate
• Use proactive chat for high-intent shoppers
• Share product links, images, and comparisons directly in chat

Tip: Segment conversion by conversation type. Pre-purchase chats usually convert at higher rates than post-purchase support.

📚 Read more: Customer service ROI: How to measure and improve value

Revenue per chat: How much revenue is tied to each conversation

What it measures:

The average revenue generated from each chat conversation.

Why it matters:

This metric turns chat performance into a dollar value leadership can evaluate.

Benchmark:

There’s no universal standard, but revenue per chat should trend upward as chat conversion improves.

Formula:

Revenue per chat = total revenue attributed to chat ÷ total chats

How to improve it:

• Focus proactive chat on high-value products
• Pair recommendations with real-time context
• Review top-performing conversations to refine playbooks

How revenue and growth metrics work together

Conversion rate indicates whether chat influences purchase decisions, while revenue per chat indicates the value of those conversations. 

A high conversion rate with low revenue often means chat is closing low-value orders, while high revenue with low conversion can signal chat is engaging too late in the journey. When both rise together, live chat clearly contributes to growth, not just support volume.

Operational insights that improve live chat performance

Beyond the core performance metrics, there are operational insights that help you understand why your metrics look the way they do and what specific actions you can take to improve them.

Contact reasons and themes

What it is:

A structured way to group chats by why customers reach out, such as order tracking, sizing questions, returns, or complaints.

Why it matters:

Recurring contact reasons often point to unclear policies, missing information, or product friction that support alone can’t fix.

How to use it:

• Review top contact themes regularly to spot trends
• Improve product pages, FAQs, or policies based on recurring questions
• Route chats to specialized agents based on topic

Voice of the customer (VOC)

What it is:

The language customers use in live chat to describe problems, objections, and feedback.

Why it matters:

This language reflects real customer concerns and often surfaces issues before they appear in conversion or retention data.

How to use it:

• Share common objections with marketing and product teams
• Mirror customer language in ads, emails, and on-site messaging
• Use complaints and compliments to guide prioritization

Insight: Forrester found that customer-obsessed companies grow revenue 41% faster than competitors by acting on customer feedback.

Behavioral patterns in conversations

What it is:

How customers behave during chats, including repeat questions, long pauses, or multiple handoffs.

Why it matters:

Behavioral friction often signals missing context, unclear processes, or tooling limitations.

How to use it:

• Review chats with repeated follow-ups or escalations
• Identify where customers get stuck or confused
• Fix upstream issues rather than coaching agents on symptoms

Cross-team insight sharing

What it is:

Using live chat insights outside of the CX team to inform marketing, product, and operations.

Why it matters:

Many support contacts are preventable when insights are shared early and acted on collaboratively.

How to use it:

• Sync regularly with marketing on objections and questions
• Flag operational issues like shipping or fulfillment delays
• Use insights to guide automation and self-service priorities

How operational insights work together

Consider a team seeing a rise in live chats about returns.

Contact reasons show that most chats are tagged “returns” and “exchange.” Conversation reviews reveal customers repeatedly asking about eligibility and timelines. Voice of the customer shows frustration with unclear wording on the returns page.

Taken together, the fix isn’t faster replies. It’s clearer return messaging, better Help Center content, and proactive chat prompts that answer the question before customers ask.

Start improving your live chat metrics with Gorgias

Tracking the right live chat metrics helps you understand what’s working, what’s breaking, and where chat drives real business impact. When speed, efficiency, satisfaction, and revenue are measured together, live chat becomes easier to manage and easier to justify.

Gorgias brings these insights into one place. You can track performance in real time, understand customer intent, and use automation to handle routine questions while agents focus on higher-value conversations.

Want to see how it works? Book a demo to explore how ecommerce teams use Gorgias to improve live chat performance and drive growth.

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From providing you with powerful marketing tools to automating time-consuming processes that are clogging up your schedule, choosing the right extensions to integrate into your Magento store can offer a wide range of benefits. 

‍If you already use Magento (also called Adobe Commerce), you’re probably familiar with Magento Extensions and how they work. If you’re currently considering Magento, consider taking a look at our comparison post of Magento and Shopify, another leading ecommerce platform. 

Let's take a look at the top 19 best Magento extensions available today, including their standout features and common user reviews.  

What Magento extensions are and how they work

Unlike plug-n-play ecommerce platforms such as Shopify and BigCommerce, Magento does not come equipped with many pre-built solutions for marketing, sales, customer support, and inventory management. Fortunately, Magento and Magento 2 do offer a large number of downloadable extensions available on the Magento Marketplace. 

These Magento extensions offer many powerful benefits, spanning from:

• Creating automated email and SMS marketing campaigns complete with personalized product recommendations 
• Providing your customers with streamlined and efficient customer support

Take a look at our list to improve the user experience on your online store and ultimately help you generate more sales.

Best Magento extensions for marketing

Creating effective marketing campaigns for your online products isn't always a straightforward task. 

By providing a range of marketing capabilities and automating much of the campaign creation process, these Magento extensions for marketing can go a long way toward making your marketing efforts more profitable.

1) Klaviyo

Klaviyo is an email marketing solution that provides several convenient tools designed to improve the results of your email campaigns. The tool also makes the process of managing those campaigns more efficient. 

With Klaviyo, you can look forward to tools such as automated email and SMS marketing flows, list segmentation tools, and a user-friendly dashboard that provides an abundance of helpful analytics and insights about your email marketing campaigns.

Unique features

• Includes a number of triggers such as cart abandonment triggers, price drop triggers, and back-in-stock triggers for automatically launching email flows
• Provides a wide variety of customizable email templates
• Powerful segmentation filters for segmenting your email and SMS lists

What users think of this app

• User-friendly and easy to set up
• A wide selection of pre-built triggers to choose from
• A capable email builder that makes it easy to create branded emails

Use Gorgias? Take a look at how Klaviyo integrates with Gorgias. 

2) Yotpo

Yotpo is an ecommerce marketing platform that provides Magento store owners with unified, data-driven solutions for SMS marketing, loyalty and referrals, reviews, and more.

With Yotpo, you can create custom loyalty programs, send high-converting text messages shoppers actually want to read, and collect authentic customer feedback — all in one place.

Unique features

• A library of SMS flows and campaign templates paired with powerful segmentation capabilities 
• Enriched data across all Yotpo products, granular performance metrics, and customer-level insights
• The ability to use SMS to send mobile-optimized review requests or notify loyal customers about their VIP status and reward points

What users think of this app

• Provides plenty of features for managing loyalty and referral programs
• Useful segmentation and targeting features
• Review request templates and flows lead to a boost in product reviews

Use Gorgias? Take a look at how Yotpo integrates with Gorgias.

3) Magento 2 Instagram Connect

With roughly a billion monthly active users, Instagram is a social media platform that offers a wealth of marketing opportunities. 

The Magento 2 Instagram Connect extension allows store owners to automatically sync products from their Magento store to their Instagram account and provides a number of other Instagram marketing tools and features such as CTA buttons for Instagram photos and an Instagram widget that lets you display your Instagram feed on your website.

Unique features

• Allows you to add a CTA button that appears when someone hovers over one of your Instagram photos
• A performance report to showcase which photos are generating the most orders
• The ability to fetch photos using hashtags from Instagram to your Magento 2 store

What users think of this app

• Great for improving the visual appeal of a Magento store
• Plenty of customization options
• Data from the performance report is very helpful for optimizing Instagram marketing campaigns

4) MageWorx SEO Suite Ultimate

Boosting organic traffic with great SEO is one of the most reliable long-term ecommerce marketing strategies. With MageWorx SEO Suite Ultimate, store owners are able to access numerous SEO tools and features, including XML & HTML sitemaps, automatic cross-linking, advanced rich snippets, layered navigation, and many more.

Unique features

• Built-in SEO reports allow you to detect and resolve SEO issues
• Canonical URLs to eliminate duplicate content
• Extended breadcrumbs provide enhanced on-site navigation

What users think of this app

• Product SEO templates are great for optimizing the metadata of product listings
• Compatible with both Magento 2 Venia PWA theme and Hyva theme
• Automatic redirects easily eliminate 404 errors

📚 Recommended reading: Our guide to ecommerce SEO for beginners.

Best Magento extensions for sales

In 2020, ecommerce sales accounted for 14% of all retail sales, up 9.5% compared to 2011. If you would like to take a large bite out of this ever-growing ecommerce pie, here are three feature-rich Magento sales extensions worth checking out.

5) CedCommerce HubSpot Integration

CedCommerce HubSpot Integration is an app that allows you to sync your Magento store with HubSpot, providing tools such as marketing automation workflows, a camping ROI tracker, and abandoned cart recovery tools.

Unique features

• Syncs data between HubSpot and Magento in a single click
• Sends out automated reminder emails to customers who have abandoned their cart
• Provides a variety of automated marketing flows based on RFM segmentation

What users think of this app

• Saves time integrating customer data from a Magento store to Hubspot
• Provides a convenient dashboard for managing marketing and sales from a single platform
• Great list segmentation features

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6) Magenest Zoho CRM Extension

Zoho CRM is a CRM service designed to help ecommerce store owners store and segment customer data in order to better target their marketing campaigns and see upselling and cross-selling opportunities. 

With Magenest Zoho CRM Extension, you can automatically sync data straight from your Magento store to your CRM, putting the capabilities of Zoho CRM at your fingertips without the need to spend hours syncing data manually.

Unique features

• Can automatically sync customer data, promotion data, product data, and more from Magento 2 stores to Zoho CRM in real time
• Lets you control how often data syncs to avoid straining your server
• Has a no-code setup experience thanks to the API-based connector 

What users think of this app

• Open source and customizable
• Easy to set up and use
• Great customer support

7) Magediary Product Scheduler

Magediary Product Scheduler is an extension that offers useful countdown timer widgets such as product launch timers and promotional timers. This extension also allows you to send automated email notifications to customers who subscribe for scheduled products.

Unique features

• Provides email notification templates for letting customers know about new product launches and promotions
• Allows you to create both "coming soon" and "ends soon" countdown timers
• Allows customers to sign up to be notified when a product is back in stock

What users think of this app

• Email notification templates and countdown timer widgets are both highly customizable
• Countdown timers boost conversion rates during promotions
• Responsive customer support

Best Magento extensions for customer support

According to data from Invesp, investing in new customers is between 5-25 times more expensive than retaining existing customers. By helping you provide exceptional customer support, these customer support Magento extensions will help you keep your retention rates as high as possible while at the same time minimizing your customer support team's workload.

8) Gorgias

Gorgias is a customer support platform that provides everything you need to improve the quality of your customer service while also reducing the burden of your customer support team. 

With Gorgias, Magento store owners are able to access powerful tools and features such as live chat support, a centralized dashboard for support agents to work from, self-service options for reducing support ticket volume, and a wide range of Rules and Macros for automating tasks such as ticket generation and prioritization. If you are looking for an all-in-one solution to customer support, be sure to check out Gorgias today.

Unique features

• Fast-loading live chat widgets that won't slow down your website
• Allows support agents to manage customer support tickets from a single, convenient dashboard
• Capable of automating a wide variety of tedious customer support tasks

What users think of this app

• Automation features allow store owners to reduce the size of their customer support staff
• Great for prioritizing customer inquiries to ensure that the most important inquiries receive the fastest possible response
• Great for revenue generation from conversions and long-term loyalty

9) Sparsh Technologies WhatsApp Chat

With 1.6 billion users across the globe, WhatsApp is by far the most popular messaging app in the world today. The WhatsApp Chat extension by Sparsh Technologies allows Magento store owners to create a customizable plug-in that lets customers contact the store's support team via WhatsApp directly from the website. Best of all, this extension is completely free to download and use.

Unique features

• Admin is able to change the default WhatsApp mobile number and push message from backend
• Customizable contact button
• Free to download and use

What users think of this app

• Easy to set up and use
• Store owners can enable and disable the plug-in with a single click
• Plenty of customization options

10) Amnesty FAQ and Product Questions

One of the best ways to reduce your customer support ticket volume is to provide customers with plenty of resources for finding the answers to common issues on their own. With the Amnesty FAQ and Product Questions extension, you can easily create FAQ pages and product questions designed to provide customers the answers they need without them having to contact your customer support team.

Unique features

• FAQ pages are SEO-optimized
• Built-in GDPR consent, reCaptcha, and Search Terms Report functionality
• Social sharing buttons and product question ratings for encouraging audience involvement

What users think of this app

• Plenty of customization options
• FAQ widgets and tabs provide customers with convenient access to self-service resources
• Provides valuable insights about the questions that customers are asking most commonly

Best Magento extensions for payment & security

Making it as easy as possible for customers to pay for their purchases is a vital objective if you want to optimize the conversion rate of your ecommerce website. With Magento extensions for payment and security, you can provide your customers with convenient payment options while also ensuring that their sensitive financial data is kept secure.

11) PowerSync mPower Subscriptions & Recurring Payments

The mPower Subscription and Recurring Payments extension by PowerSync is a solution that makes it easy for Magento store owners to create a recurring revenue business model. 

With this extension, you are able to create and manage subscriptions for your products and easily accept recurring payments from customers who sign up for a subscription.

Unique features

• Makes it easy to manage subscriptions from a single dashboard
• Allows you to create custom billing frequencies
• Automates subscription renewals and recurring charges

What users think of this app

• Unlimited customization options
• Provides a simple checkout experience for both normal and recurring orders
• Sends out helpful automated notifications to both customers and merchants

12) Stripe Payments

Stripe Payments is one of the most popular payment processing solutions for ecommerce store owners. 

With Stripe Payments, merchants are able to provide customers with convenient and secure payment options that support almost every currency and payment method in existence today.

Unique features

• Supports 135+ currencies and payment methods
• Provides checkout flows for optimizing the checkout experience on your website
• Promises 99.99%+ uptime

What users think of this app

• Great for detecting and preventing fraudulent payments
• Frequently updated with new features
• Makes it easy to issue both virtual and physical gift cards

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📚 Recommended reading: Our guide to ecommerce payment processing.

13) Aheadworks Smart One Step Checkout

Streamlining the checkout process as much as possible is a vital goal for merchants that want to reduce their abandoned cart rate. With Smart One Step Checkout from Aheadworks, store owners are able to provide customers with an Amazon-like, one-click checkout experience by easily adding or removing predefined fields on the checkout page.

Unique features

• Allows you to track the conversion rate and performance of each checkout field
• Makes it easy to edit every aspect of Magento's default checkout process
• Supports a wide range of payment methods

What users think of this app

• Insightful built-in reports for highlighting checkout process bottlenecks
• Also available for Magento 1 stores
• Automated address suggestion further speeds up the checkout process

Best Magento extensions for shipping & fulfillment

According to data from eFulfillment Service, the average cost to fulfill an order for online retailers is 70% of the order value. 

‍In order to keep your shipping and fulfillment costs as low as possible while also providing a great customer experience, it is essential to create an optimized shipping and fulfillment process, which is something that these Magento extensions for shipping and fulfillment are sure to help with.

14) ShipStation

ShipStation is an extension that provides a number of tools and features designed to help store owners streamline their order fulfillment process, including the ability to:

• Import orders from multiple stores and channels
• Perform bulk updates 
• Automation processes for quickly processing and fulfilling orders
• Compare rates across carriers and print shipping labels
• Send customers automated shipping updates

Unique features

• Capable of connecting with multiple platforms/marketplaces
• Makes it easy to set up shipping rules to automate your order fulfillment process
• Offers an inventory management dashboard for viewing stock levels, allocating stock, and setting inventory alerts

What users think of this app

• Makes it easy to combine multiple orders into a single shipment
• User-friendly and easy to set up
• Automations make creating shipping rules far less time-consuming

Use Gorgias? See how we integrate with ShipStation. 

15) Amasty Pre Order

Having products go out of stock is something that can often lead to lost business. With Amasty Pre Order, though, merchants can enable customers to easily pre-order products that are out-of-stock or products that have yet to be released.

Unique features

• Customizable pre-order buttons and notes
• Module is read-compatible with GraphQL
• Enables pre-order functionality for all types of products

What users think of this app

• Provides valuable insights on customer preferences and product demand for improved inventory management
• Allows you to set discounts on pre-order products via rules
• Fully-optimized for mobile devices

Best Magento extensions for data & reporting

Quality data is the fuel that powers successful ecommerce stores. With these Magento extensions for data and reporting, you can leverage a variety of tools for collecting and analyzing customer data, providing you with the insights you need to optimize the customer experience on your online store.

16) WeltPixel Google Analytics Enhanced Ecommerce

WeltPixel Google Analytics Enhanced Ecommerce is a solution that automatically syncs data from your Magento store to your Google Analytics account, allowing you to easily track and analyze an incredibly wide range of data regarding your customers and website visitors.

Unique features

• Google Ads conversion tracking
• Provides data on product impressions and product clicks based on a variety of criteria
• Tracks stock status, product review count, product review status, and much more

What users think of this app

• The free version of the extension includes an impressive offering of features
• Full-page cache and varnish cache ready
• Paid version includes one-minute installation GUI and one month of free support

17) Mopinion Feedback Surveys

Customer surveys are one of the most effective tools for gathering zero-party customer data. With Mopinion Feedback Surveys, you are able to embed customizable survey forms on your Magento website. Mopinion Feedback Surveys also allows you to create email surveys and app-based mobile surveys as well.

Unique features

• Allows you to integrate feedback forms into your email campaigns
• Provides a variety of customizable feedback form templates
• Easy-to-install SDKs for iOS and Android allow you to integrate feedback forms into your native mobile apps

What users think of this app

• Feedback form templates offer a broad range of customization options
• Easy to set up and use
• Lots of useful integrations

Best Magento extensions for finance & accounting

Keeping up with the finances and accounting for your ecommerce store can often be a complex and time-consuming process. Thankfully, these Magento extensions for finance and accounting provide plenty of helpful tools for keeping you organized and automating a lot of tedious accounting tasks.

18) Magenest QuickBooks Online

QuickBooks Online is arguably the most comprehensive ecommerce finance and accounting solution on the market today. 

With the Magenest Quickbooks Online extension, you can automatically sync data from your Magento store to QuickBooks Online, making it easy for you to utilize QuickBooks' many tools and features for more accurate and efficient accounting.

Unique features

• Magento 2 data changes are automatically updated to QuickBooks Online
• Allows you to map payment methods to deposit accounts
• Syncs sales orders, invoices, credit memos, customer data, tax rates, and more from Magento 2 to QuickBooks Online

What users think of this app

• Allows you to connect multiple sales channels to a single account
• Easy to set up and use
• Provides the option to sync and edit data manually

19) TaxJar Sales Tax Automation

With sales tax rates differing from state to state, county to county, and city to city, keeping up with how much sales tax you owe for each purchase can quickly become dizzying. 

TaxJar Sales Tax Automation, however, is able to automate the entire sales tax life cycle across multiple sales channels, including sales tax calculations, nexus tracking, and reporting/filing.

Unique features

• Automates sales tax compliance across 11,000 different jurisdictions
• Automatically calculates and collects the appropriate sales tax amount at checkout
• Address validation ensures that the correct sales tax amount is collected for the jurisdiction where the customer is located

What users think of this app

• Excellent customer support
• Provides detailed and easy-to-understand sales tax reports
• Allows you to automatically submit returns and remittance to each jurisdiction

Activate better customer service for your Magento store with Gorgias

From a powerful ticketing system and auto-responders to live chat and customer intent detection, Gorgias has what your Magento store needs to provide a top-notch customer experience. 

Check out our Gorgias for Magento page to learn more about the best customer platform for ecommerce brands.

Quick summary:

• Positive scripting means using polite, pre-written responses to make customers feel acknowledged and taken care of
• Benefits: less frustrated customers, better customer satisfaction, and faster first response times
• Negatives: can make customer service teams sound overly friendly or robotic and may lead to slower resolution times when agents rely solely on scripts

A great customer experience relies on much more than positivity and kindness — your customers expect personalization at scale, self-service options, and concrete benefits like free shipping. That said, using the right words is an important factor in customer conversations.

Positive scripting is one practice that can help your customer service representative steer customer interactions toward desired outcomes (like upselling shoppers and bringing first-time customers back for a second purchase).

However, over-relying script templates in customer support is a shortcut to unhelpful customer care interactions. Read on to learn how to make the most of positive scripting while also avoiding its pitfalls.

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What is positive scripting? (AKA positive phraseology)

Positive scripting is the practice of creating canned responses for customer service interactions that use positive language to limit customer frustration and promote desired outcomes. 

With positive scripting, brands can provide support reps with resources such as scripts and templates that they can use to help ensure positive customer interactions. These scripts and templates can also be used as training resources to provide reps with examples of constructive interactions and positive language.

‎Goals of positive scripting

There are several goals that brands can accomplish with positive customer service scripts, including:

• Promoting constructive customer service experiences that contribute to customer satisfaction
• Alleviating customer frustration and de-escalating angry customers
• Maintaining a consistent, positive brand voice
• Speeding up response times to customer queries

Where can positive scripting be used?

Positive scripting can be used across numerous contact centers and customer support channels. 

Like any customer support practice, positive scripting should be tweaked for each channel. 

Call centers

Providing support via a phone call requires reps to be quick on their feet, and this is where the practice of positive scripting first originated. 

Providing call center scripts to your call center agents can go a long way toward helping agents stay positive and on-brand when there isn't much time for them to formulate a response.

SMS support

Agents have a little more time to think about their SMS responses, but not much. Customers contacting your support team via SMS still expect swift responses, and positive scripting can help ensure that your SMS responses are swift, positive, and on-brand.

Live chat support

Like SMS, live chat conversations tend to be fast-moving — and this is one of the primary reasons why many consumers list live chat as their preferred customer support channel. 

With positive scripting and live chat tools like Gorgias live chat, you can provide fast, convenient, and helpful support via this advantageous channel.

📚 Recommended reading: Find out how Gorgias customer Ohh Deer used Gorgias chat to generate $12,500 in revenue — per quarter.

Email support

Support reps can typically put a little more time and thought into their email responses. 

Nevertheless, email templates with positive scripting can still help keep these responses positive and consistent while also enabling reps to respond to email queries more efficiently.

Social media support

Providing support via social media is a great way to meet your customers where they're most comfortable — and positive scripting helps keep these responses positive and on-brand. 

This is especially important when responding to comments and posts that other potential customers are likely to see.

Scripts and templates

Scripts, templates, and automated responses should all be built using positive scripting. 

If you use a helpdesk, chances are you can build a library of templates in the tool for agents to use during customer conversations. 

For example, you can use Gorgias Macros to build positive templates and autoresponses. Unlike most templates, Gorgias Macros pull customer information from ecommerce platforms like Shopify and BigCommerce, as well as other ecommerce tools (like Klaviyo and ShipBob) to automatically personalize the response. 

Even better? Thanks to automated Rules, Gorgias can automatically send these personalized templates to customers for basic interactions — like WISMO (where is my order), questions about shipping and return policies, and so on. 

This way, your customer service team time saves time while still fostering a great, personalized customer experience.

Customer support training programs

You can use positive scripting to guide customer service training by using customer support scripts with positive language as examples of beneficial customer interactions. 

This helps new team members get a feel for expectations regarding your company's voice and tone, which they can reflect in their individual customer interactions.

Benefits of effective positive scripting

When used correctly, positive scripting can improve the quality of a brand's customer support services in several key ways, including:

Enhance customer experiences to encourage repeat business

Did you know that 54% of customers say they would stop purchasing from a brand after just a single bad experience? If you want to promote customer loyalty and repeat business, it's vital to provide positive experiences throughout every step of the customer journey. 

Likewise, repeat customers generate 300% more revenue than first-time shoppers, according to our data from over 10,000 ecommerce brands. Repeat customers place repeat orders, place larger orders, refer friends to your store, leave product reviews, and more. 

While many different elements go into crafting positive customer experiences, facilitating friendly and welcoming customer interactions with positive scripting is one important step.

Avoid or de-escalate angry customers

Using positive words and language may not solve a customer's problem, but it can help ease their frustrations. Positive scripting is an effective way to de-escalate angry customers — and a great way to prevent customers from ever becoming angry in the first place.

Become more consistent with customer communication and policies

Your customer service agents don’t just need to be positive, they need to follow the same policies and procedures, especially for common customer interactions. Using scripting to guide 

Of course, you can also specify which policies agents can bend, and when. For example, if repeat customers ask for an extension on refund eligibility, it’s probably in your best interest to permit the return rather than frustrate a repeat customer.

📚Recommended reading: Our guide to creating a customer service policy that actually provides value. 

Maintain a positive brand voice

Positive scripting helps you maintain a consistent brand voice, but, just as importantly, it also helps you maintain a positive brand voice. By using positive scripting to guide your brand's messaging, you can carefully (and intentionally) design your language to encourage customer satisfaction and beneficial outcomes.

Examples of positive scripting

A majority of customer interactions can become more pleasant and productive with positive scripting. Here are some scenarios that would benefit from positive scripting:

• Greeting: "Good [morning/afternoon/evening], thank you for choosing [Company Name]. How can I help you today?"
• Apologizing: "I'm sorry to hear about the inconvenience you've faced. Let me look into this for you."
• Offering assistance: "I'd be delighted to assist you with that" or "I'm here to make this right for you."
• Expressing appreciation: "Thank you for bringing this to our attention" or "We appreciate your business and your feedback."
• Providing assurance: "Rest assured, we'll resolve this for you" or "We'll do everything we can to make this a positive experience."
• Suggesting solutions: "Let me find that information for you" or "May I suggest an alternative solution?"‍
• Ending interactions: "Is there anything else I can assist you with today?" or "I hope you have a wonderful day."

The pitfalls of positive scripting

The biggest potential drawback of positive scripting is one that we've already touched on; customers who contact your call center or other customer support channel want to feel as though they are talking to a real human and not a robot regurgitating a script. 

It's also vital to remember that customers are ultimately much more interested in resolving their problems quickly than in the language that your reps use. Many times, a simple message with the information they're looking for (such as a tracking number) will suffice with no flair or positivity required.

To prevent positive scripting from harming your customer interactions rather than improving them, here are a few other key mistakes and pitfalls to avoid:

• Not giving support team members the freedom to deviate from their script or inject their own flair
• Scripting entire customer interactions instead of just using scripts to save time on the most common, process-heavy elements
• Focusing too much on positive language and too little on actually solving customer issues as quickly as possible
• Writing scripts that sound too robotic or overly-friendly
• Using vague empathy statements rather than training your agents to be genuine and sincere

These are all serious mistakes to avoid if you want to make the most of positive scripting. When used appropriately, though, the benefits of this practice far outweigh its cons.

How to use positive scripting for customer service: 7 best practices

Positive scripting is a powerful tool for ecommerce brands to leverage, but it's important to use it correctly. Here are the seven best practices that you should employ to make the most of positive scripting (and avoid its pitfalls).

1) Use scripts as a starting point, not for the entire interaction

The scripts you give your support reps should be used for the most common, predictable part of customer interactions rather than mapping out the entire conversation. 

For example, your agents might use a script to greet customers and share information about your shipping policy (in response to a question about shipping). But, the agent should be flexible enough to include unique information or handle follow-up questions that may not be so predictable.

“I like to think of Macros as guidelines. When you open up a Macro, it's not 100% the right thing to say, because you have to match the customer’s tone and specific query. And it's up to the agent to understand that and adjust along the way — but Gorgias gives you the tools to do that.” 

— Leeor Cohen, Founder and CEO at CreateCX

If you require your agents to follow a script from start to finish, you risk sounding robotic and not providing agents with the flexibility they need to keep customers happy.

2) Prepare positive responses for common situations

Customers who cannot track their order, received the wrong item, or want to make a return are just a few examples of common situations where customers are sure to welcome a little friendliness and empathy — along with helpful information and clear next steps. 

Using positive scripting to create responses to these common situations helps your brand handle these issues consistently and ensure that they are handled with care and positivity. 

All you have to do is identify the questions that your support team receives most frequently and then load positive, brand-consistent responses into your helpdesk:

While each brand varies, some of the most common situations include:

• WISMO, or “where is my order?”
• Questions about refund and returns policies
• Questions about product availability
• Product-related questions (sizing, compatibility, ingredients, etc.)

3) Encourage customer support to enhance scripts with their own unique flair

Customer service reps should be free to deviate from scripts when needed or inject them with their unique flair. Encouraging your reps to use scripts as a guide rather than a word-for-word requirement ensures that your brand doesn't script away its human touch.

We love this example of an agent bending a policy and sparking up a delightful conversation:

4) Use scripts for training representatives

Along with using customer service scripts to guide customer interactions in the moment, you can also use them as resources for training your representatives. Once again, not everything that your agents say will be scripted, so ensuring they understand the principles behind positive scripting is just as important as providing the scripts themselves. 

Using scripts to showcase what positive customer interactions look like will allow your agents to leverage positive language even when they aren't using a script. For example, you can use scripts to demonstrate mock customer service interactions and then dive into the specifics of why the scripted responses you've created work well for those situations.

📚 Recommended reading: Our Director of Support’s guide to customer service training.

5) Avoid sounding like a robot

Several of the tips we've already covered are geared toward preventing support agents from sounding wooden or robotic, and this is an essential consideration when using positive scripting. 

By using scripts to initiate an interaction rather than scripting the entire conversation, giving agents the freedom to add their own flair to the scripts, and adding personality to the scripts you create, you can avoid this common pitfall of positive scripting. 

It's also vital for your reps to demonstrate genuine empathy throughout customer interactions to avoid sounding uncaring and robotic. This can't be easily scripted, making it important to ensure that your reps know how to adopt an empathetic tone and approach.

📚 Recommended reading: The ultimate guide to offering personalized customer service at scale. 

6) Nail the greeting

Your agent's initial greeting to a customer sets the tone for the rest of the interaction. It's also one of the easiest parts of customer interactions to script since the initial greeting will largely remain the same regardless of the customer's specific issue or sentiment. 

Stating the company name and the agent's name, asking the customer's name, telling them good morning/good afternoon, and assuring them that you are happy to assist them are all great elements to consider including in your greeting script.

7) Test, iterate, and refine to perfect your customer service interactions

Like almost every aspect of ecommerce, positive scripting in customer service is something you can continually improve with proper testing. CSAT surveys are one excellent way to gather customer feedback following a customer support interaction. You can use the feedback you gather from these surveys to fine-tune your customer support scripts. 

For instance, if many customers complain that your reps sound unempathetic or robotic, you may want to revisit the language of your scripts or encourage your agents to inject more of their own personalities. Throughout testing and refining your scripts, keep in mind that script building should be a collaborative experiment, with customer service teams working alongside reps and using data from past customer service interactions to guide the process.

Offer positive, fast, and helpful customer service with Gorgias

Positive scripting is one effective way to improve the quality of your brand's customer support and encourage more positive customer experiences. However, it's also just one small element of high-quality, revenue-generating customer support. 

If you would like to offer the type of fast, positive, and helpful customer service that will set your brand apart from the competition, it's important to use the right customer support tools.

With Gorgias' industry-leading customer support platform, you'll be able to leverage a range of advanced customer support tools and capabilities — all designed to boost customer satisfaction by improving both the speed and helpfulness of your support services. 

To get started offering positive, fast, and helpful customer support via the best ecommerce customer support platform on the market, be sure to sign up for Gorgias today!

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Maximizing peak season sales isn’t only about driving customers to your website. If website visitors people encounter a slow, unhelpful, or lackluster customer experience, they’ll click away before buying — flushing away all your marketing efforts and dollars.

In a recent webinar, Caela Castillo, Director of Customer Experience at luxury men’s jewelry brand Jaxxon, shared Jaxxon’s strategies for optimizing customer experience to maximize revenue during peak season. 

We’ll start with some of the most concrete strategies Jaxxon leverages, and wrap up with some bigger-picture insights on how Caela manages the team. 

You can also hear Caela share these tips herself by watching the webinar here.

How Jaxxon manages ticket spikes during peak season

Last year, Jaxxon had what Caela describes as a very successful but challenging peak season, when customer support tickets skyrocketed to three times normal levels. As a result, Jaxxon has stepped up its approach to optimizing customer support for efficiency and self-service during the 2022 peak season.

Here are the tactics and tools Jaxxons used to manage ticket spikes this year:

Provide self-service answers to FAQ in live chat

Jaxxon uses Gorgias Quick Response Flows to answer frequently asked questions during peak season. Caela and her team customize the questions and answers so that customers can get an instant response to common queries.

“We really noticed that adding automated self-service with Gorgias took part of the load off us. A lot of customers’ questions are answered by self-service, so then they’re happy and we don’t have to do anything further with those tickets,” Caela says. 

Automating these responses has two-fold benefits:

1. Customers get instant answers to questions — no wait time required
2. Agents actually have time for conversations that need a human touch

“If the customer has additional questions, then our agents have the time to have an authentic conversation with them, and give them a really great experience.”

Regularly review tickets to monitor performance and spot emerging issues

Caela regularly reviews recent customer conversations to monitor individual agent performance and identify areas for improvement or lessons learned. Using Gorgias tags — automatically applied to customer tickets for categorization and filtering — Caela can also get a sense for the most common customer questions and issues.

“If we're noticing a trend with a certain issue, then we want to solve it right away rather than figure it out weeks from now when it’s a bigger issue,” Caela explains. “So we don't want to only review tickets once a month. We want to do it in real time.”

The real opportunity for peak seasons is turning first-time customers into repeat shoppers

Jaxxon realizes that any peak season is a starting line, not a finish line. Providing an awesome first customer experience doesn’t just net a sale. It nurtures longterm relationships and turns happy customers into loyal brand advocates.

“We want to make sure that first shopping experience is really great — everything from the customer support to the shipping to the box it arrives in — so they want to come back and buy again. We listen to our customer reviews and we really want to help people have a great experience.”

Jaxxon invests in ongoing training and support to ensure its customer service agents have the knowledge, skills, and tools they need to do their job confidently and effectively.

“Sometimes customers are a little hesitant about buying something as expensive as solid gold online. And our agents can explain to them the difference between our products, or suggest an upgrade, or say, hey, would you like this bracelet to go with the Cuban link chain you bought last time?” says Caela. 

“For our agents to be able to upsell and cross-sell like that is super important for us — and it works.”

Quick Response Flows help Jaxxon open the door to some of these conversions. Providing quick, helpful answers about product restocks, sizing, shipping and more, lays a positive foundation that human agents can easily build on.

How Jaxxon sustains the team during peak seasons

One of the biggest challenges during any peak season is thinking ahead so that your team — not just your customers — succeed.

Plan ahead when it comes to coverage

First off, make sure you have enough customer service agents in place to cope with soaring demand. Jaxxon has increased its customer support team for this year’s peak season. 

Caela uses a zoning plan to stagger agents’ shifts across different time zones and locations, so there is always enough coverage for Jaxxon’s 24/7 customer support. She adapts this as peak season unfolds to meet shifting demand.

“Having open communication is essential. We always say there are no stupid questions. We’re here to help each other. Even though we work remotely, we're still able to communicate really well and work as a team.

Once the team is in place, get them ready. “Training your team is really important, and making sure they have the resources and support they need,” Caela says.

📚 Related reading: How to stand out during Black Friday with 18 marketing strategies

Maintain staff morale during crunch time

“Keeping morale high is so important for peak season, because it’s a busy time in life, not just at work,” Caela says. This is a unique situation in ecommerce — did anyone else have a turkey in the oven while answering support tickets during BFCM?

“Everyone gets stressed; sometimes people get sick. It's hard to sustain motivation sometimes. So we want to make sure everyone's really taken care of and set up for success. And we try to make it fun for the team.” 

A culture of mutual support among the Jaxxon customer service team is reinforced by team-based incentives to win gift cards, jewelry and more when certain targets are met.

“A positive attitude goes a long way to keeping people motivated. You get so much farther if you're kind and positive. And I’m very big on looking at difficult situations as learning experiences. And if someone is struggling, other team members will help them so we all rise together.” 

📚 Related reading: How Jaxxon offers motivates agents with rotating customer support incentives.

Lean on tools and systems to manage high demand

Having the right systems in place to manage customer support more efficiently is important at any time of year. But it has the biggest impact during peak periods when demand balloons. 

“You have to prepare for the worst, in terms of very high demand. Things just get crazier as peak season progresses! So make sure to have your self-service and automation set up and ready to go,” says Caela. “After last year’s challenges, we've made sure to have stronger systems in place this year.”

Jaxxon now uses Gorgias to manage all customer conversations. This helps the team work more efficiently in several ways:

• Seeing all customer conversations across different channels in one place, to avoid tab-shuffling and duplicated responses
• Filtering and sorting tickets, for easier prioritization
• Deflecting some questions to automated self-service, to free up customer service agents’ time for more complex customer conversations
• Bringing together all of a customer’s information, to enable more personalized service

Implementing self-service chat has cut Jaxxon’s live chat volume by 17%, yet increased conversions by 6%. Meanwhile, revenue generated by chat has shot up by an impressive 46%. The overall impact has been positive for customer experience and Jaxxon’s bottom line.

Read more about how Jaxxon uses Gorgias to speed up response times without sacrificing the quality of customer service.

Customer experience is vital to maximize peak season sales

By assembling a larger, well-trained customer service team and putting the right tools in place, Jaxxon is poised to continue delivering high-quality customer service this peak season — even when ticket volumes triple. Caela and her team are excited to dive into the peak season. With Gorgias by their side, they are ready to ride out whatever challenges come their way.

To hear the full story of Caela’s tips, lessons learned, and Jaxxon’s preparations for peak seasons, watch the webinar replay.

‍

Yohan Loyer started his job at Gorgias as the first Customer Success Manager for Europe. His current position is EMEA Partner Manager, with the goal of growing Gorgias’ presence in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA). The role boils down to building meaningful relationships and being a reliable, trustworthy partner for our agency partners. 

In this interview, Yohan tells his story and we learn more about his internal career development and the environment Gorgias provided to nurture it accordingly.

1) What is your role at Gorgias right now and how do you find it?

My role is to help our ecommerce agency partners:

• Understand the value of Gorgias
• Keep Gorgias top of mind when recommending customer service solutions to their customers
• Identify customers that are a good fit for Gorgias

As a social person who likes to interact with other people and has hands-on experience working with Gorgias customers, this role is a great fit for me. There really is no chance to be bored in Partnerships!

2) What did you do before Gorgias? What is your educational and professional background?

I did my undergraduate degree in international business in New York, where I got a scholarship to play for my university’s soccer team. Then, I did my master's in Business Consulting and Information Systems Management in France. 

Right after university, I worked as an IT consultant and then moved to Salesforce as part of the EMEA customer success team in Dublin. I worked as a Customer Success Manager (CSM) for 3.5 years, when my main focus was helping the company’s customers get the most out of the Salesforce platform and resources.

Apart from that, I have always been passionate about new technologies and how they impact the world, so continuing to work in tech and ecommerce at Gorgias is not a coincidence.

3) How did you find out about Gorgias and what made you apply to work here?

I was looking for a role in a fast-growing company in the ecommerce space with an innovative product, strong company culture, and competitive package. I did some research online and found out about Gorgias on an ecommerce blog, if I remember correctly. 

Gorgias had everything I was looking for. They were also hiring for their first Customer Success Manager in Europe at that time, so it was perfect timing for me to apply!

4) What are the roles you had at Gorgias and how did they change over time?

I was initially recruited as the first Customer Success Manager (CSM) in Europe. We already had one Onboarding Manager in Europe when I joined (Emna Charfi, who is now the manager of our Customer Success team). 

She was already working as a CSM with some customers (on top of her main role as Onboarding Manager). Even after I joined as the first full-time CSM in Europe, she continued as the CSM for some of our largest customers while I onboarded. 

After a few months, I took over as the Customer Success Manager for our largest European customers for about 1.5 years, before transitioning to the Partnerships team last July.

I worked closely with Louis Lavedan from the Partnership team when I was a CSM, so I got to see what Partnerships was like. When he moved to San Fransico, taking over his role as Partner Manager for EMEA seemed like a logical next step.

5) What training and resources did Gorgias provide to help you in your new roles? 

The Gorgias team has always been super helpful and available with me and new team members in general. 

Learning directly from colleagues has definitely been one of the highlights of my onboarding and overall experience with Gorgias. Whether it is answering questions on Slack, sharing screens, recording Loom videos, or jumping on a quick call, there is always a Gorgian ready to help!

6) How did your manager (or others at Gorgias) help you upskill and grow yourself?

The two managers I worked with both have hands-on experience with Gorgias customers and partners, and a genuine desire to be helpful and see their team members grow. They are always reliable and helpful when needed, which builds trust and promotes a culture of feedback and transparency. 

Gorgias as a company is obsessed with scaling and automating processes, and my managers have definitely lived up to those values and helped me become more efficient and see the big picture when working on projects.

At Gorgias, we are also lucky to have a best-in-class product and grow at a very rapid rate, which comes with a lot of super interesting challenges and opportunities. The company has a really unique positioning with an obsession for customer satisfaction, which all contribute to a great environment to work in.‍

7) How can you connect your experience with Gorgias's core values?

My experience at Gorgias so far has been very much aligned with our core values, especially “Customer first”, and “Maximize your impact”. 

We live and breathe for customers, automate time-consuming tasks, share best practices with the rest of the team, and try out new tools and processes — all with the end goal of providing a better product and experience to merchants who use Gorgias. 

Our managers highlight Gorgians who are living up to our core values weekly on our Slack channels, so we get to see first-hand all the great things our team does in accordance with our values.‍

8) What is your favorite thing about working at Gorgias?

As someone who worked closely with customers for all of my career, I think that my favorite thing at Gorgias is our huge focus on customer experience and satisfaction. Making our customers happy and successful, independent of their size, is our target and biggest investment as a company.

Whether it is reviewing our processes to make sure they benefit our customers, going the extra mile when helping our customers out, finding workarounds, prioritizing product features, or letting our customers get on a call with our highly available success and support teams, we are always doing things with our customers’ interest in mind.‍

9) If there is one thing you would like to change about the company, what would it be?

I guess it would maybe be the name of the company (haha). Simply because it’s hard to pronounce. Also, people don’t read or hear “Gorgias” for the first time and instantly know what we do. 

10) What's next for you at Gorgias (and how is Gorgias helping you get there)?

As I started my new role as EMEA Partner Manager recently, my focus is becoming a great Partner Manager, first and foremost. 

We have a pretty good presence and network in Europe, but it’s still in the early stages compared to the US. I am learning and getting a lot of help from our US team who built a very strong market presence and brand in the US, and I am super excited to help develop the Gorgias brand and customer base in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa!

Interested in joining Yohan and the rest of Gorgias team? Check out our jobs page to learn more about our benefits, interview process, and open roles.

TL;DR:

• Your tech stack directly impacts revenue and efficiency. The right tools create faster experiences, automate work, and enable impactful decisions.
• Evaluate beyond price. Consider total cost of ownership, ease of use, integration capabilities, and vendor support quality.
• Match architecture to your resources. Managed platforms offer quick setup; composable stacks provide flexibility but need developer expertise.
• Build methodically, not all at once. Audit current tools, prioritize high-impact gaps, and pilot solutions before finalizing your stack.

Your tech stack can make or break your ecommerce business, but most new store owners don't realize it until they're already drowning in disconnected tools and manual workarounds. 

The right combination of tools should result in fuss-free customer experiences, automated tasks, and the ability to scale effortlessly. Choose the wrong stack, and you’ll have a piling tech debt (and wasted budget) than you know what to do with.

In this guide, you'll learn what an ecommerce tech stack is, why it matters, how to evaluate and choose the right tools for your business, and how to build a stack that grows with you — without the costly mistakes most founders make.

What is an ecommerce tech stack?

An ecommerce tech stack is the collection of digital tools and software that work together to run your online store. These tools handle sales, marketing, customer service, fulfillment, payments, and other essential operations while revealing customer insights that fuel growth.

Your tech stack has two main parts:

1. Front end: The customer-facing elements like your store design, interface, and shopping experience
2. Back end: Behind-the-scenes systems like servers, databases, and order processing

According to Gorgias’s 2025 Ecommerce Trends Report, most ecommerce professionals use 3-5 apps to perform their day-to-day tasks. 

A typical stack includes your ecommerce platform (like Shopify or BigCommerce), CMS, CRM, payment gateways, analytics tools, and customer support software. These tools connect through APIs so data flows smoothly between them — avoiding data silos that slow you down.

Pro Tip: Use builtwith.com to scan the back-end of any website to see the tech it uses.

Why your ecommerce tech stack matters

A poorly assembled tech stack creates slow site speeds, lost sales, and frustrated teams drowning in manual work. The tools you use directly impact every aspect of your business, from customer experience to operational efficiency. Here's why getting it right matters.

Faster customer experiences

The right tools improve site speed and streamline checkout, reducing friction at every touchpoint. Customers expect pages to load in under three seconds and checkout to take less than a minute.

Operational efficiency

Integrated tools automate repetitive tasks and unify customer data across channels. Your team spends less time switching between platforms and more time solving problems.

Better decision-making

When your tools connect properly, you get analytics that show the complete customer journey. You can identify bottlenecks, optimize campaigns, and make data-driven decisions rather than make uninformed guesses.

Scalability

The right stack handles growth without requiring a complete rebuild. As you add new channels, products, or team members, your tools should scale with you — not hold you back.

Cost control

Avoiding redundant tools and reducing manual work saves money over time. Understanding your total cost of ownership (TCO) — including implementation, training, and maintenance — helps you invest wisely.

How to choose your ecommerce tech stack

Selecting the right tools requires careful evaluation beyond flashy features and marketing promises. The wrong choices lead to wasted budgets, frustrated teams, and technical debt that's expensive to fix. Consider the following as you build your stack.

Cost (TCO)

Go beyond looking at the monthly subscription price to gauge total cost of ownership (TCO). Look at implementation costs, training time, maintenance efforts, developer hours for customization, and migration costs if you outgrow the tool. A $50/month tool requiring 40 hours of developer time costs far more than a $200/month plug-and-play solution.

Most AI tools have usage-based pricing models, which makes it easy to scale, but makes budgeting harder. Set a realistic budget early, factor in growth projections, and balance costs against ROI — will the tool save team time, increase conversions, or reduce cart abandonment?

When evaluating costs, ask yourself:

• What's the total setup cost, including developer time?
• How will pricing change as we grow?
• What ROI will this deliver — time saved, higher conversions, or reduced cart abandonment?

Complexity

Consider ease of use for both technical and non-technical users on your team. A powerful tool that requires developer expertise for basic tasks will slow you down if your marketing team can't use it independently.

When evaluating complexity, ask yourself:

• Can non-technical team members complete tasks on their own?
• How long will onboarding take, and what training resources are available?
• Does the tool offer low-code/no-code options to reduce dependency on developers?

Yes, some complexity is unavoidable for enterprise-grade features, but unnecessary friction kills adoption and will cost you productivity during the transition period.

Compatibility

Your tools have to integrate seamlessly to create a connected ecosystem.

For this reason, native integrations are always preferable. They're faster, more reliable, and easier to maintain than third-party connectors. 

For example, Gorgias offers 100+ integrations with ecommerce platforms, marketing tools, and shipping providers, allowing support teams to access order data, modify subscriptions, and process refunds without leaving the helpdesk.

When evaluating compatibility, ask yourself:

• Does this tool offer native integrations with our existing platforms?
• If not, can middleware solutions like Zapier bridge the gap reliably?
• Will our team be able to access the data they need without switching between systems?

Support and SLAs

Evaluate the vendor's support quality before committing. Check reviews from current customers about their support experiences and documentation quality. These include knowledge bases, video tutorials, and active community forums.

For enterprise plans, review the service level agreement (SLA) carefully. It should define expected uptime percentages, response times, and solutions if the vendor fails to meet commitments.

When evaluating support, ask yourself:

• Is support available during our business hours through our preferred channels (email, phone, chat, etc.)?
• What are the guaranteed response times for our plan tier?
• Does the vendor provide quality documentation and self-service resources?

Scalability and ease of use

Scalability means the tool grows with your business without requiring a complete overhaul. User-friendliness drives team adoption. If your staff finds the tool frustrating, they'll find workarounds that undermine your data quality and workflows.

Test tools with actual team members who'll use them daily, not just decision-makers. The best tool is the one your team will actually use consistently.

When evaluating scalability and usability, ask yourself:

• Can it handle traffic spikes during peak seasons and support new sales channels as we expand?
• Are there flexible pricing tiers that match our growth trajectory?
• Will our team find this tool intuitive enough to use consistently?

Which tech stack architecture is right for your business?

Your tech stack architecture reflects the balance between flexibility and control and the speed of launch. 

You don’t have to pick one or the other. Most businesses land somewhere on the spectrum between fully managed solutions and completely customized, composable architectures. 

Your decision depends on your technical resources, growth stage, and how differentiated your customer experience needs to be.

Managed SaaS platforms

Managed SaaS platforms handle hosting, security, and updates automatically. You get faster setup, automatic updates, built-in security features, and predictable monthly costs. These are well-known platforms, like Shopify and BigCommerce, which are fully managed. You don't worry about servers, patches, or uptime. The tradeoff is less customization and ongoing platform fees.

Self-hosted solutions

Self-hosted solutions give you complete control over your infrastructure. You can customize every aspect of the experience and avoid platform transaction fees. But you're responsible for security, scaling, updates, and troubleshooting. Self-hosted works best when you have dedicated developer resources and specific requirements that managed platforms can't meet.

Composable/modular commerce

Composable commerce means building your stack from tools that integrate via APIs. Instead of one platform handling everything, you select specialized solutions for each function. For example, an app for checkout, another for content, another for search. This approach maximizes flexibility over being pilot-ready.

The benefits are clear: You're never stuck with mediocre features in one area because you love the platform's other capabilities. You can swap tools as better options emerge. On the opposite end, it requires more integration work, ongoing maintenance, and technical expertise. Your biggest dependency? Someone who can troubleshoot when integrations break or APIs change.

Headless commerce

Headless commerce separates your front end (what customers see) from your back end (where data is managed). You can update your storefront design without touching back-end systems, or vice versa.

This architecture shines for brands building omnichannel experiences. However, you’ll have to sacrifice time and effort to build and maintain the front end. Headless isn't necessary for most businesses starting out, but it becomes more valuable as you scale.

API-first platforms

API-first platforms expose all functionality through APIs, making it easier to build custom experiences across any device or touchpoint. This approach enables seamless integration between tools and allows you to access data and features programmatically, giving you maximum flexibility in how you build and scale your customer experience.

Components of an ecommerce tech stack

Every ecommerce tech stack is made up of foundational layers. Understanding each layer helps you identify gaps in your current setup and make smarter vendor choices.

Platform/storefront and hosting

Your ecommerce platform is the foundation — it's where you build your online storefront, manage products, and process orders. Popular options include Shopify, BigCommerce, WooCommerce, and Magento. Managed platforms like Shopify handle hosting automatically, while open-source options like WooCommerce require separate hosting arrangements.

Whether you choose managed or self-hosted, prioritize platforms with strong performance track records and reliable infrastructure. Look for built-in CDN support, image optimization, and mobile responsiveness out of the box.

Tip: Site speed and uptime are critical. Even a one-second delay can reduce your sales significantly.

CMS and content

A content management system (CMS) controls how you create and publish content beyond product pages. These include blog posts, landing pages, promotional banners, and educational content. Many platforms include basic CMS functionality, but brands with content-heavy strategies often need bigger solutions.

Headless CMS platforms like Contentful or Sanity lets you manage content separately from your storefront and push it to multiple channels. This matters if you're publishing across web and other touchpoints. For most businesses, the CMS built into platforms like Shopify is sufficient. 

Payments and checkout

Payment gateways and processors securely handle transactions between your customers and their banks. Options like Stripe, PayPal, and Shop Pay each offer different features, fees, and geographic coverage. Your checkout experience directly impacts conversion rates, so prioritize speed and simplicity.

Security and compliance are non-negotiable. Your payment solution must be PCI DSS compliant (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) to safely process credit card information. Most managed platforms handle this automatically. Consider offering multiple payment methods — credit cards, digital wallets, buy now pay later — to reduce friction at checkout.

Inventory, order and returns

Inventory management systems (IMS) track stock levels across locations and channels, preventing overselling and stockouts. Order management systems (OMS) coordinate fulfillment, shipping, and delivery tracking. For larger operations, these might be separate tools; smaller businesses often use platform-native features.

Returns and exchanges platforms streamline the post-purchase experience. Tools like Loop Returns and ReturnLogic create self-service portals where customers can initiate returns without contacting support. 

For end-to-end fulfillment, 3PL partners like ShipBob handle warehousing, picking, packing, and shipping, plus platforms like NetSuite offer comprehensive ERP solutions for larger operations.

CRM and customer support

A CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system stores customer data, tracks interactions, and manages the entire relationship with a customer. Customer support platforms handle inquiries across multiple channels — email, chat, social media, SMS, and voice — from a unified dashboard.

Gorgias is a unified platform for support and sales, built specifically for ecommerce. It centralizes conversations from every channel, giving agents instant access to order history, customer preferences, and inventory levels without switching tabs. Gorgias’s AI Agent can automate 60%+ of repetitive questions 24/7, route tickets to human agents, and can even modify orders, offer upgrades, and personalize recommendations interactions. 

Other options include Salesforce for enterprise-level CRM and HubSpot for marketing automation, combined with basic CRM functionality.

Analytics and reporting

Web analytics platforms track customer behavior, traffic sources, and conversion funnels. Google Analytics is the standard for understanding how visitors interact with your site. More advanced options like Mixpanel offer deeper product analytics and cohort analysis. Business intelligence tools help you aggregate data from multiple sources into actionable dashboards.

Performance monitoring tools track site speed, uptime, and user experience metrics in real-time. The goal is reporting that connects marketing spend to revenue, customer lifetime value, and operational efficiency. Without proper analytics, you're making guesses. 

Security and compliance requirements for your ecommerce store

Don’t overlook the potential for security breaches to occur. Ecommerce businesses handle sensitive financial and personal data, making them prime targets for attacks. Building security into your tech stack from day one is far easier and cheaper than retrofitting it later. Here are the essentials.

Payment security and PCI DSS compliance

PCI DSS compliance is legally required if you process, store, or transmit credit card data. Most managed platforms handle this automatically, but if you're self-hosted, you're responsible for maintaining compliance through regular audits and security updates.

Data encryption at rest and in transit protects customer information from interception. Use HTTPS everywhere, encrypt databases, and ensure your payment processor uses tokenization.

Access controls and web application firewalls

Access controls limit who can view and modify sensitive data. Implement multi-factor authentication (MFA) for all administrative accounts, use identity and access management (IAM) systems to enforce role-based permissions, and audit access logs regularly.

Web application firewalls (WAF) protect against common attacks like SQL injection and cross-site scripting. Many managed platforms include WAF protection; self-hosted stores need dedicated solutions.

Regional compliance requirements

Compliance requirements vary by region. GDPR (Europe) and CCPA (California) mandate specific data privacy practices, including customer consent for data collection, the right to deletion, and transparent privacy policies. Failure to comply results in significant fines.

Managed platforms typically include compliance features, but you're still responsible for how you use customer data. Review your vendors' security certifications and data processing agreements to ensure they meet your requirements.

How to scale and optimize your tech stack as you grow

Your tech stack needs room to grow without reactive overhauls. This means choosing tools that can handle increased traffic, new channels, and expanding teams. It also means building automation and analytics into your function. Here’s how.

Step 1: Start with workflow automation

Automation frees your team from repetitive tasks so they can focus on strategic work. Start with high-volume, low-complexity processes, i.e., answering where is my order tickets, fulfilling return and refund requests, and sending out shipping updates and inventory alerts. 

Workflow automation tools connect your apps and trigger actions based on specific events, automatically adding customers to email sequences, updating your CRM, and creating fulfillment tasks.

Step 2: Use AI to scale customer support

Customer support is your direct line to your loyal followers. Using AI-powered automation lets you satisfy customers with immediate replies 24/7, without a big lift. 

Gorgias's AI Agent, for example, helps hesitant customers pick the right product and move them closer to a sale. It can even execute Shopify actions autonomously, making order edits and address self-serve.

Step 3: Monitor performance regularly

Performance monitoring tools track uptime, response times, error rates, and user experience metrics across your entire stack. Dashboards should alert you to issues before customers complain. Regular monitoring helps you identify bottlenecks, optimize slow queries, and plan capacity upgrades proactively.

Step 4: Audit tools and costs quarterly

Review your tool usage and costs every quarter. Are you paying for licenses your team doesn't use? Do you have tools that overlap in functionality? Unused subscriptions quietly draining your budget every month? 

Cut tools that don't deliver clear value to keep your stack lean, efficient, and focused on what moves the business forward.

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How to build your ecommerce tech stack

Building your tech stack works like furnishing a new home — you don't buy everything on day one. Start with the essentials, identify what's missing as you go, and add the right pieces gradually. The best approach is methodical.

Step 1: Audit existing tools and identify gaps

Map out every tool your team currently uses across all departments. Document what each tool does, who uses it, what it costs, and how it integrates with other systems. Identify redundancies (multiple tools doing the same job), gaps (critical functions with no solution), and friction points (manual workarounds or data silos). Talk to your team about their daily pain points — they know where the breakdowns happen.

Step 2: Prioritize based on impact and urgency

Not all gaps are equally important. Focus first on tools that directly impact revenue (checkout optimization, customer support, marketing automation) or create significant operational friction (manual data entry, disconnected systems). Score potential solutions based on expected ROI, implementation complexity, and strategic importance. Build a phased roadmap rather than trying to fix everything at once.

Step 3: Pilot new tools before full rollout

Start with proof-of-concept trials on a small scale. Test with a subset of products, a single customer segment, or a small team. Measure results against clear success criteria before committing to annual contracts or company-wide deployment. Pilots reveal integration issues, usability problems, and unexpected costs that demos never show. Get stakeholder buy-in by demonstrating real results, not vendor promises.

The right tech stack is waiting for you in Gorgias

Gorgias integrates with 100+ ecommerce tools, centralizes all customer interactions, and uses conversational AI to automate repetitive customer requests, so you can continue growing.

Book a demo to learn how our platform fits into your ecommerce tech stack and helps you scale support without scaling costs.

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Free shipping has become so ubiquitous in ecommerce that shoppers now expect it. 

According to a survey conducted by Forbes, 77% of respondents abandoned their cart because they were unhappy with the shipping options. 84% made a purchase because it qualified for free shipping. 

Free shipping isn’t always an option for ecommerce stores though, especially for those with small margins or where shipping is expensive for every order. 

These are the best strategies for how to offer free shipping, even if you’re unsure it’s something your business can afford. 

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Is offering free shipping in ecommerce worth the cost?

Free shipping has become a key differentiator in a very crowded ecommerce ecosystem, with 75% of customers now expecting it on all orders. 

Offering free shipping can drive more revenue for your business, encourage repeat business, decrease cart abandonment, and even pull customers away from your competition. 

Let’s be clear: Offering free shipping for all products is not sustainable for most businesses. But free shipping is not all-or-nothing. Below, explore why providing free shipping in some capacity is worth the expense for your business. 

Encourage customers to become repeat buyers

One survey found that 90% of consumers consider free shipping to be the primary factor driving them to shop with online retailers more frequently. And, according to Gorgias, repeat shoppers generate 300% more revenue than first-time shoppers, on average.

When customers are online shopping, they remember easy experiences, which includes not having to pay for shipping when they find something they love. A stress-free experience (without unpleasant surprises at checkout) creates loyal customers who want to shop with your business long term. 

📚 Recommended reading: Learn why customer experience is a largely untapped revenue stream for most ecommerce brands. 

Incentivize higher average order volume (AOV)

On top of that, some free shipping models encourage customers to place larger orders, generating more revenue per customer.

Take the minimum order value model (what you might call the Amazon not-Prime model), where shipping only becomes free once the cart reaches a certain subtotal. Depending on which study you prefer, at least 84% — and perhaps as many as 93% of customers — have added items to their cart to qualify for free shipping, increasing average transaction value and potentially total revenue per customer.

Sway customers away from competitors

When you offer free shipping and a competitor doesn’t, that single difference can pull new customers your way — and away from the competition. When 90% of consumers consider free shipping their top incentive and a full 60% of them expect free shipping no matter what, offering it is a huge differentiator for your customer base. 

📚Recommended reading: 7 Strategies for Creating a Customer-Centric Post-Purchase Experience

Decrease cart abandonment

One firm determined the overall rate of cart abandonment in ecommerce stores is north of 75%, and unexpected charges (including shipping charges) at checkout are the top culprit.

In other words, providing free shipping — and keeping other unexpected fees out of the checkout process — will reduce cart abandonment and increase conversion rate for typical ecommerce businesses.

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Is your online store ready to offer free shipping?

Making the decision to implement free shipping isn’t always as simple as flipping a switch. It takes careful planning and even more careful execution. Consider the following factors to help you understand the cost of free shipping for your business and decide if it’s the right move for you.  

Understand how much shipping costs your ecommerce business

The demand for free shipping has changed the way that small businesses choose to operate. For example, writer Amanda Mull at The Atlantic reveals how free shipping priorities (and algorithms favoring the vendors who offer it) have hurt numerous small business owners on Etsy. 

If you’re operating on razor-thin margins and you’re already struggling to be price-competitive, pivoting to an always-free shipping model might not be feasible. Even if your margins are healthy, for many smaller ecommerce retailers, blanket free shipping isn’t sustainable or feasible—nor are the extra costs that come with it.

Next steps: How to calculate shipping costs for your business 

On a spreadsheet, compile the shipping costs for every product you sell — from the smallest and lightest to the largest and bulkiest — to all four corners of the US (if you’re a US-based store) and anywhere you ship internationally. 

This cost will differ based on your preferred shipping carrier, too. Compare rates between FedEx, UPS, and USPS to see who has the most affordable option — we’ve linked shipping calculators for each above. Once you have these numbers, calculate your average shipping cost. Then, multiply it by the average number of orders you get in one month. 

You’ll also want to look at your best-selling items and calculate how much it costs to ship them, as you’ll likely be sending these out more often than other items in your catalog. 

Don’t worry about exact numbers here. The goal is to get a ballpark number to compare with your monthly revenue. If your estimated shipping costs will put you in the red, free shipping may not be the best option (even with the bump in orders). If this is the case, consider qualified or flat-rate shipping instead — more on both below. 

📚 Recommended reading: Our list of shipping best practices for ecommerce businesses.

Consider flat-rate shipping instead

Offering a flat-rate shipping charge is one way to give customers a low-cost shipping option without absorbing the entire cost yourself. 

Even if you can’t afford free shipping, charging one flat shipping cost for all orders on your site incentivizes larger orders. And, if you can keep the flat rate low, it can convince customers who just want to make a small order to convert. 

Set up flat rate shipping in Shopify

Setting up flat rate shipping is quick and easy if you use Shopify: Here’s how to do it.

Determine your free shipping limit

Most brands can’t support universally-free shipping. That’s why a qualified free shipping option based on factors like order size or location is such a good option. 

The most straightforward way to offer qualified free shipping is to set a minimum order amount. But in terms of your bottom line, this minimum threshold needs to be high enough that you aren’t losing money on most transactions.

Here’s a formula for calculating your free shipping threshold:

Free shipping threshold = (Average shipping cost per order / gross profit margin percentage as a decimal) + average value of an order

Free shipping threshold = ($10 / .30) + $50

Free shipping threshold = $83.33

The result you get from this formula is the average amount at which free shipping won’t create a loss for you.

Now in some cases that figure will be too high to be all that relevant. “Free shipping on orders $350+” can make sense for some retailers, but not those with an average ticket of $50.

Fit Small Business gives additional formulas for calculating a minimum threshold that still operates at a loss. 

Consider free shipping for returns

Customers hate paying for return shipping. If you can afford it, letting shoppers return an item for free is a great way to avoid driving them away. It also can create repeat business, low-effort experiences, and encourage loyalty. 

Of course, free returns leave you vulnerable to expensive spammers and order spikes. So, tighten up your return policy and try to incentivize exchanges over returns to protect lost revenue.

Find other ecommerce differentiators besides free shipping

Ecommerce is a wide field, and your business is competing for only a small slice of the market. Look for differentiators with lower cost pressures and high levels of impact that may be unique to your industry or market.

Free shipping isn’t the only thing that matters. Fast delivery also makes a difference in many industries and markets. Can you outmaneuver your competition by offering next-day shipping, even at a premium price? Perhaps your customers will be willing to pay for faster service if it isn’t available elsewhere.

Here are a few other areas you might explore in search of other ecommerce differentiators:

• Unique services
• Ecosystem effects (think Apple: “Our products all work better together, so stick with us across our catalog”)
• Value-adds (freebies, discounts on future orders, etc.)
• Multiple shipping and delivery options, including fast or flat rate
• Eco-friendly shipping or packaging approaches

Similarly, you may not be able to prioritize free shipping until you figure out other logistics like inventory management, order management, order fulfillment, order tracking, and returns management.

How to offer free shipping on a budget

If you’re ready to put together your free shipping strategy, use these tips to craft a program that’s enticing to online shoppers without destroying your bottom line.

1) Increase product prices to absorb the cost of shipping

According to research from the Baymard Institute, 48% of shoppers abandoned their cart because the extra costs were too high. People like the transparency of seeing one price without getting surprised by additional fees at checkout. 

Speaking generally, most customers would prefer to pay $50 for an item that ships free than spend $45 on the same item, only to discover an additional $5 charge for shipping in their shopping carts. Even though you’re passing shipping costs onto the customer in other ways, you still give buyers the perception of lower costs overall. 

Consider raising your prices to include shipping costs to limit surprises at checkout and increase transparency. 

2) Offer a “free shipping for orders over” model to incentivize higher AOVs

Offering free shipping when a customer reaches a minimum price threshold can be a powerful strategy for raising ticket value.

Customers will frequently add more items to reach that threshold, increasing average order value (AOV), overall revenue, and your business’s order volume as a whole.

To make it easy for customers to see how close they are to free shipping, add an app to your ecommerce store (like the Essential Free Shipping Bar for Shopify stores) that shows progress visually. For example, Gorgias customer OLIPOP makes it easy for folks to see how many more packs of soda they need to purchase to get free shipping. 

This is also a great way to build upselling into your strategy. When customers are looking for additional items to meet the free shipping threshold, consider showing items that pair well at checkout. This automation is easy to add via the app store if you’re on Shopify, and you can see how OLIPOP sneaks in suggestions in the screenshot above.  

If you’re going to offer completely free shipping, make sure you use it as a marketing tool and make it very clear to shoppers. For example, Woxer uses a banner at the top of its site to announce that it offers free shipping across the US no matter the order total.

A cohesive and realistic shipping strategy is highly valuable to any company that ships products to people because it is part of your brand image.

📚 Recommended reading: Our guide to creating an ecommerce shipping and fulfillment strategy. 

3) Offer subscription-based products to increase LTV

In a survey conducted by Salesforce for CFO, more than half of survey respondents said that 40% of their revenue was made up of subscriptions. 

A subscription format is powerful because it ensures repeat purchases and raises the overall lifetime value (LTV) of customers who opt in. If you choose to become part of the subscription economy, you could choose to offer free shipping on subscriber orders only. That way you limit the amount of free shipping you give, and further incentivize shoppers to sign up for a subscription. 

4) Limit free shipping to certain items, customers, or locations

Stores with wide product catalogs that include many low-dollar items may not be able to offer blanket free shipping. But, you can limit free shipping to certain high-dollar product categories, select items within those categories, people who live within a certain distance, or VIP customers.

Here are a few approaches you can use to limit free shipping: 

• Shoppers must reach a designated spend threshold
• Free shipping is limited to members (like Amazon Prime or Madewell Insider) 
• Free shipping is limited to shoppers with a certain number of points in a loyalty program (a service like LoyaltyLion can help you manage this) 
• Shipping costs are location based (For example, US only if your store is located there) 
• Products that cost over a certain dollar amount automatically qualify 

5) Partner with a third-party logistics company to offer free (sometimes two-day) shipping at scale

Partnering with a third-party logistics company allows you to split inventory across multiple fulfillment centers throughout the nation. That means they’ll end up closer to customers’ homes, which reduces shipping costs because of location proximity, and means that you can offer faster shipping for less cost. 

ShipBob is a great option for this, as they’re a trusted global fulfillment company.  

Take care of your shoppers with the Gorgias + ShipBob integration. Sync shipping data with your helpdesk, reduce tab-shuffling, and help you improve customer experience during fulfillment. 

6) Optimize your packaging for cost

Shipping fees are calculated based on item weight, size, speed, and distance to destination. And the size and weight of your packaging contribute to that cost. Cutting down on the dimensions of your packaging where possible and using lighter-weight mailers can lower the cost of each package. 

📚Recommended reading: 8 Tips to Minimize Shipping Costs and Maintain Quick Delivery

7) Create a limited-time free shipping offer

There’s nothing quite as powerful as a ticking timer, whether it’s a 15% off coupon that’s only good for the next hour or a sale that only lasts for the weekend. Discounts are powerful, but free shipping can be just as enticing.

Consider adding free shipping promotions to existing promotional events such as holiday sales, store anniversary sales, Black Friday and Cyber Monday, and other seasonal events pertinent to your industry and market.

Time-limited holiday sales can be effective, but they also tend to be some of your busiest sales windows in any given year. If you could use some additional help with your logistics this upcoming Black Friday and Cyber Monday, check out our complete guide to BFCM logistics.

📚Recommended reading: The 12 Best Shipping Software Tools for Ecommerce Stores

Provide world-class customer service with Gorgias

Free shipping is often one key to a world-class customer experience in ecommerce. But whatever you choose to do with your shipping policies, you absolutely must pair it with world-class customer service and support. Customers will appreciate your free shipping, but they’ll love you (and show it through repeat business) when you outpace the competition in terms of customer service.

Gorgias is an all-in-one customer service and helpdesk platform built for ecommerce businesses like yours. It integrates with a variety of different apps, like LoyaltyLion, Attentive, and Klaviyo. We operate at the speed of ecommerce, empowering you to serve and scale like never before. We also offer support for logistics like free shipping and order management, largely thanks to our many ecommerce integrations.

Ready to see what Gorgias can do? Get started for free right now!