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The State of Conversational Commerce: 5 Trends Reshaping Ecommerce in 2026

Explore 5 key trends from The State of Conversational Commerce Trends Report in 2026.

0 min read . By Gabrielle Policella

By Gabrielle Policella

We Rebuilt Chat to Feel Less Like a Bot. Here Are the Results

0 min read . By Gorgias Team

min read.

By Gorgias Team

TL;DR:

Chat is growing 2.5x faster than email. The shift toward real-time, conversational commerce pushed a full redesign to match how people actually want to shop.
The new Chat is designed to drive action, not just answer questions. Clickable replies, contextual prompts, and built-in shopping features guide shoppers from discovery to checkout faster.
36% more customers click on products shown in Chat. Shoppable product cards make browsing feel natural and keep shoppers engaged in the conversation.
2.25x more shoppers add products to cart from Chat. Removing external links and keeping the journey in one place significantly increases buying intent.
7.3% more shoppers engage with Chat overall. Cleaner design and contextual entry points encourage more visitors to start conversations earlier.

In 2025, chat’s growth outpaced email by 2.5x quarter over quarter. Chat has become our most powerful customer experience tool for how shoppers discover products, ask questions, and decide to buy.

We knew it needed an upgrade, so we reimagined the entire experience from the ground up.

The result is 36% more engagement with product recommendations, nearly 2.25x more shoppers add-to-cart, and 7.3% more customer engagement.

In this post, we'll walk you through our thinking, what’s new in Chat, and how brands are already seeing big gains.

Why the legacy experience needed a makeover

Chat has outpaced email support. Today’s shoppers prefer the speed of quick chat conversations over email. And when shoppers make a new move, we watch, listen, and move with them.

This behavioral shift isn’t happening in isolation. It aligns with the rise of conversational commerce and proves a universal move toward real-time conversations in ecommerce.

In fact, the signals were already there. Two years of building AI Agent showed us just how much design shapes behavior. The interface is the experience, and we knew that pushing chat experiences to closely resemble human interactions would transform how shoppers engage.

Our new and updated chat brings that vision to life. We believe that shopping is moving from static pages to conversations. This new update is built for how people actually want to shop.

What the new Chat can do

The new design turns live chat into an interactive shopping surface made for modern shoppers. We've brought together multiple ways for shoppers to jump into chat, added clickable replies instead of typing, browsable product cards right in the conversation, and quick cart access.

Let's walk through what's new.

A cleaner visual experience

Chat now comes in a softer color palette that adapts to your store’s branding. We removed message bubbles in favor of an airy design that brings in the familiarity of speaking to your favorite conversational AI assistant. Every interaction now has the breathing room for deeper conversation and personalization.

Sol de Janeiro's Gorgias Chat has an orange to gray gradient background. A list of shortcuts like Track order, Report issue, and Other are listed.

One-click replies that move shoppers forward

It’s now easier for shoppers to get an answer with quick reply buttons and suggested questions in Chat. This replaces the tree-based flows of the previous Chat, removing the need to follow a fixed path. Shoppers can find answers faster without typing text-heavy explanations.

Clickable replies to an undelivered package is shown in Gorgias Chat to reduce typing.

Shoppable product cards in messages

Browsing and buying within Chat is now possible. Previously, it only supported product links that would open in a new page. With the upgrade, you can view item details without leaving the conversation. Shoppers can browse, compare products, and add to cart in one place.

AI Agent provides four product recommendations, each with its own clickable product cards.

Product detail pages that open in chat

We’re keeping the context by removing the external redirects. The new interface lets shoppers browse product recommendations right in chat. View key product details, images, descriptions, variants, and pricing without opening a new tab.

View product page details inside Gorgias Chat

Product page questions that remove hesitation

Chat adds clickable questions on product pages — like “Is this true to size?” or “What’s the difference between shades?” — designed to match what a shopper is likely wondering in the moment. These context-aware prompts help remove buying hesitation before shoppers even think to ask.

Cornbread Hemp's product pages includes a list of clickable product questions that open up Chat when clicked.

Instant access to cart and order status

Chat adds instant access to shopper actions, like a cart button and an orders button for returning customers. Shoppers can jump straight to their cart or check on an existing order without waiting for an agent to give them a status update.

Gorgias Chat allows shoppers to view order status as well as cancel orders.

How our redesigned chat improves your bottom line

Every update in Chat drives performance. We didn’t simply give it a makeover, we also fine-tuned its underlying mechanics.

36% more customers click on products shown in Chat

When product suggestions are easy to browse, shoppers interact with them more. The new product cards make shopping feel natural, allowing customers to explore items at their own pace. That convenience led to a 36% increase in engagement with recommended products.

2.25x more shoppers add products to cart from Chat

Chat keeps the entire shopping journey inside the conversation, from browsing and asking questions, to adding to cart and checking out. This new layout removes the usual tab-switching between chat and the website. Less friction has led to more than double add-to-cart actions than before the redesign.

7.3% more shoppers engage with Chat

Chat's cleaner design and contextual entry points make it easier for shoppers to start a conversation. With suggested questions on product pages and quick reply buttons, more visitors are choosing to engage earlier in their journey. This has resulted in a 7.3% lift in chat engagement.

Your store, now in every conversation

Conversational commerce has moved from concept to reality. Chat makes it part of the everyday shopping experience, letting shoppers browse, ask questions, compare products, and check out in one interaction. It brings the ease of the in-person shopping experience into the digital world.

We built Chat to redefine the shopping experience. We hope you see it reflected in your customers’ journeys.

Book a demo to see what's possible with the new experience.

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Featured articles

AI in CX Webinar Recap: Building a Conversational Commerce Strategy that Converts

By Gabrielle Policella

0 min read . By Gabrielle Policella

min read.

Make AI Sound More Human: How to Avoid Robotic Replies in Customer Support

Learn how small tweaks can make AI sound human and build trust in customer support.

By Gorgias Team

0 min read . By Gorgias Team

TL;DR:

Train your AI on your brand voice. A clear voice guide that covers tone, style, and formality helps your AI sound more natural and aligned with your brand.
Add short delays before AI responds. A one- or two-second pause can make AI responses seem more thoughtful.
Avoid generic phrases. Swap out formal responses for on-brand language that sounds like a real person on your team.
Mention customer context in replies. Referencing order history or previous conversations makes AI sound more human and builds trust.
Balance automation with human support. Let customers know when they are speaking to AI and escalate to a human when needed to avoid frustration.

Your AI sounds like a robot, and your customers can tell.

Sure, the answer is right, but something feels off. The tone of voice is stiff. The phrases are predictable and generic. At most, it sounds copy-pasted. This may not be a big deal from your side of support. In reality, it’s costing you more than you think.

Recent data shows that 45% of U.S. adults find customer service chatbots unfavorable, up from 43% in 2022. As awareness of chatbots has increased, so have negative opinions of them. Only 19% of people say chatbots are helpful or beneficial in addressing their queries. The gap isn't just about capability. It's about trust. When AI sounds impersonal, customers disengage or leave frustrated.

Luckily, you don't need to choose between automation and the human touch.

In this guide, we'll show you six practical ways to train your AI to sound natural, build trust, and deliver the kind of support your customers actually like.

1. Train your AI on your brand voice

The fastest way to make your AI sound more human is to teach it to sound like you. AI is only as good as the input you give it, so the more detailed your brand voice training, the more natural and on-brand your responses will be.

Start by building a brand voice guide. It doesn't need to be complicated, but it should clearly define how your brand communicates with customers. At minimum, include:

Tone: Is your brand warm and empathetic? Confident and cheeky? Straightforward and helpful?‍
Style: How does your brand write? What is your personality? Short or long sentences, contractions or not, punctuation choices, and overall rhythm.‍
Formality: Do you use slang? Emojis? Address customers as “you,” “y’all,” or something else?‍
Friendliness: How personable should your AI sound? Is it playful, or should responses stay neutral and professional?

Think of your AI as a character. Samantha Gagliardi, Associate Director of Customer Experience at Rhoback, described their approach as building an AI persona:

"I kind of treat it like breaking down an actor. I used to sing and perform for a living — how would I break down the character of Rhoback? How does Rhoback speak? What age are they? What makes the most sense?"

Next step

✅ Create a brand voice guide with tone, style, formality, and example phrases.

2. Delay responses to mimic human behavior

Humans associate short pauses with thinking, so when your AI responds too quickly, it instantly feels unnatural.

Adding small delays helps your AI feel more like a real teammate.

Where to add response delays:

Before sharing info that would realistically take a moment to look up, e.g., order history
Before confirming an action like issuing a refund or applying a discount
Transitioning or escalating between steps or agents
Emotional messages, like customer complaints and product quality issues

Even a one- to two-second pause can make a big difference in a robotic or human-sounding AI.

Next step

✅ Add instructions in your AI’s knowledge base to include short response delays during key moments.

3. Avoid generic phrasing and canned language

Generic phrases make your AI sound like... well, AI. Customers can spot a copy-pasted response immediately — especially when it's overly formal.

That doesn't mean you need to be extremely casual. It means being true to your brand. Whether your voice is professional or conversational, the goal is the same: sound like a real person on your team.

Here's how to replace robotic phrasing with more brand-aligned responses:

Generic Phrase	More Natural Alternative
“We apologize for the inconvenience.”	“Sorry about that, we’re working on it now.” (friendly) “Apologies for the trouble. We’re resolving this ASAP.” (professional)
“Your satisfaction is our top priority.”	“We want to make sure this works for you.” (friendly) “Let us know how we can make this right.” (professional)
“Please be advised…”	“Just a quick heads up…” (friendly) “For your reference…” (professional)
“Your request has been received.”	“Got it. Thanks for reaching out.” (friendly) “We’ve received your request and will follow up shortly.” (professional)
“I will now review your request.”	“Let me take a quick look.” (friendly) “I’m reviewing the details now.” (professional)

Next step

✅ Identify your five most common inquiries and give your AI a rewritten example response for each.

4. Use context to inform answers

One of the biggest tells that a response is AI-generated? It ignores what's already happened.

When your AI doesn't reference order history or past conversations, customers are forced to repeat themselves. Repetition can lead to frustration and can quickly turn a good customer experience into a bad one.

Great AI uses context to craft replies that feel personalized and genuinely helpful.

Here's what good context looks like in AI responses:

Order awareness: The AI knows the customer placed an order yesterday and provides an accurate delivery estimate without asking for the order number again.
‍Conversation continuity: If the customer reached out earlier that week from a different support channel, the AI references that interaction or picks up where things left off.‍
Customer type: First-time shopper? VIP? The AI adjusts tone and detail level accordingly.

Tools like Gorgias AI Agent automatically pull in customer and order data, so replies feel human and contextual without sacrificing speed.

Next step

✅ Add instructions that prompt your AI to reference order details and/or past conversations in its replies, so customers feel acknowledged.

5. Balance automation with human handoff

Customers just want help. They don't care whether it comes from a human or AI, as long as it's the right help. But if you try to trick them, it backfires fast. AI that pretend to be human often give customers the runaround, especially when the issue is complex or emotional.

A better approach is to be transparent. Solve what you can, and hand off anything else to an agent as needed.

When to disclose that the customer is talking to AI:

You can disclose it at the start of the conversation, or include a disclaimer in your chat widget, contact page, or help center to let customers know AI may assist
When the customer asks to speak to a human or expresses frustration
If the AI cannot fulfill the request and needs to escalate
Anytime the AI is making decisions, like issuing refunds or processing cancellations
When transitioning from AI to a human agent

For more on this topic, check out our article: Should You Tell Customers They're Talking to AI?

Next step

✅ Set clear rules for when your AI should escalate to a human and include handoff messaging that sets expectations and preserves context.

6. Add intentional imperfections to sound human

We're giving you permission to break the rules a little bit. The most human-sounding AI doesn't follow perfect grammar or structure. It reflects the messiness of real dialogue.

People don't speak in flawless sentences every time. We pause, rephrase, cut ourselves off, and throw in the occasional emoji or "uh." When AI has an unpredictable cadence, it feels more relatable and, in turn, more human.

What an imperfect AI could look like:

Vary sentence length and structure. Some short and choppy, others long.
Add subtle grammatical “mistakes” like sentence fragments or informal punctuation.
Mix in casual phrasing or idioms where appropriate.
Avoid mechanical-sounding transitions.
Occasionally use filler phrases like "kinda," "just checking," or "I think."

These imperfections give your AI a more believable voice.

Next step

✅ Add instructions for your AI that permit variation in grammar, tone, and sentence structure to mimic real human speech.

Natural-sounding AI is easier to set up than you think

Human-sounding AI doesn’t require complex prompts or endless fine-tuning. With the right voice guidelines, small tone adjustments, and a few smart instructions, your AI can sound like a real part of your team.

Book a demo of Gorgias AI Agent and see for yourself.

5 min read.

AI Chatbot Not Working? 7 Common Issues and How to Fix Them

If your AI chatbot is looping, escalating too fast, or giving wrong answers, here’s how to fix it.

By Christelle Agustin

0 min read . By Christelle Agustin

TL;DR:

If your AI is giving wrong answers or getting stuck, it’s likely due to missing or conflicting knowledge. Ensure your AI is trained with up-to-date documents and add guardrails to prevent off-topic replies.
Loops and escalations usually mean your escalation rules aren’t specific enough. Define when AI should step in, when it should hand over, and create “escape phrases” that trigger human takeover.
Customers still want human help. Always offer a path to a real person and make sure your agents get full conversation context when a handoff happens.
Inconsistent tone between AI and agents can make disjointed experiences. Align your brand voice across all support channels and choose tools that let you customize AI tone.
AI works best when its role is clearly defined. Decide which topics it can handle, train it using real conversations, and review performance regularly to fine-tune your setup.

You’ve chosen your AI tool and turned it on, hoping you won’t have to answer another WISMO question. But now you’re here. Why is AI going in circles? Why isn’t it answering simple questions? Why does it hand off every conversation to a human agent?

Conversational AI and chatbots thrive on proper training and data. Like any other team member on your customer support team, AI needs guidance. This includes knowledge documents, policies, brand voice guidelines, and escalation rules. So, if your AI has gone rogue, you may have skipped a step.

In this article, we’ll show you the top seven AI issues, why they happen, how to fix them, and the best practices for AI setup.

1. AI sends the wrong answer — with confidence

AI can only be as accurate as the information you feed it. If your AI is confidently giving customers incorrect answers, it likely has a gap in its knowledge or a lack of guardrails.

Insufficient knowledge can cause AI to pull context from similar topics to create an answer, while the lack of guardrails gives it the green light to compose an answer, correct or not.

How to fix it:

Update the AI knowledge base. Create a new document that covers the affected topic in its entirety. To ensure AI follows every step, write your instructions in a when/if/then format.
Define topics that AI should not handle. As a preventive measure, specify the topics the AI should skip and hand over to a human agent. For example, add words such as ‘disappointed’, ‘bad’, and ‘unacceptable’ to your AI off-limit list, so that human agents automatically handle negative-intent tickets.

2. Customer is stuck in an AI loop

This is one of the most frustrating customer service issues out there. Left unfixed, you risk losing 29% of customers.

If your AI is putting customers through a never-ending loop, it’s time to review your knowledge docs and escalation rules.

How to fix it:

Double-check for conflicts in knowledge. You may have provided multiple resolutions for the same issue across different knowledge sources, such as uploaded documents, website pages, and in-app instructions.
Add “escape routes”. Choose a set of phrases that automatically escalate conversations from AI to your support team. For example, “it’s not working” or “I already tried that”.
Set a max number of failed interactions before escalation. Opt for a one-fail-and-escalate approach for every conversation, or specify the number of failed interactions for certain topics.

3. AI escalates too quickly, even for easy questions

It can be frustrating when AI can’t do the bare minimum, like automate WISMO tickets. This issue is likely due to missing knowledge or overly broad escalation rules.

How to fix it:

Train AI on your FAQs and common issues. Which customer questions do you repeatedly receive? Create a document that lists out every question and its answer.
Update vague escalation rules. AI works best with specificity. For example, if you told it to escalate conversations about “returns,” it may even escalate frequently asked questions about return eligibility.

4. Customers can’t find a way to reach a human

One in two customers still prefer talking to a human to an AI, according to Katana. Limiting them to AI-only support could risk a sale or their relationship.

The top live chat apps clearly display options to speak with AI or a human agent. If your tool doesn’t have this, refine your AI-to-human escalation rules.

How to fix it:

Set phrases to trigger escalation. In your knowledge docs, define which phrases should tell AI to hand a conversation over to your support team. For example, “I want to talk to someone” or “Can I talk to a human?”
Add a visible option to connect with a human. This can be a button in your chat widget, a note in your contact page, or even a link in your website footer. At minimum, give customers an easy-to-find way to reach a real person.

5. Handoff happens — but the agent gets no context

If your agents are asking customers to repeat themselves, you’ve already lost momentum. One of the fastest ways to break trust is by making someone explain their issue twice. This happens when AI escalates without passing the conversation history, customer profile, or even a summary of what’s already been attempted.

How to fix it:

Use rules to auto-tag conversations based on AI activity. Set up logic to tag tickets when certain conditions are met — like when AI attempted a specific action, couldn't resolve the issue, or triggered escalation.
Audit your escalated tickets. Look for patterns where context is missing, and adjust the AI-to-human transition logic accordingly.
Use an AI platform that provides automated ticket summaries. Choose a tool like Gorgias that provides a quick overview of every ticket.

6. The tone between AI and agent is jarring

Sure, conversational AI has near-perfect grammar, but if its tone is entirely different from your agents’, customers can be put off.

This mismatch usually comes from not settling on an official customer support tone of voice. AI might be pulling from marketing copy. Agents might be winging it. Either way, inconsistency breaks the flow.

How to fix it:

Create shared brand voice guidelines. Align tone, formality, and language rules across both AI scripts and agent responses.
Define emojis and punctuation use. A consistent visual style helps conversations feel smoother and more human.
Use AI tools that allow tone control. Choose platforms that let you customize the voice and personality of your AI to match your brand.
Train your agents with examples of ideal tone. Give your team brand voice examples of how conversations should continue when handed off.

7. You haven’t defined what AI should actually handle

When AI is underperforming, the problem isn’t always the tool. Many teams launch AI without ever mapping out what it's actually supposed to do. So it tries to do everything (and fails), or it does nothing at all.

It’s important to remember that support automation isn’t “set it and forget it.” It needs to know its playing field and boundaries.

How to fix it:

AI should handle	AI should escalate to a human
Order tracking (“Where’s my package?”)	Upset, frustrated, or emotional customers
Return and refund policy questions	Billing problems or refund exceptions
Store hours, shipping rates, and FAQs	Technical product or troubleshooting issues
Simple product questions	Complex or edge‑case product questions
Password resets	Multi‑part or multi‑issue requests
Pre‑sale questions with clear, binary answers	Anything where a wrong answer risks churn

How to set up AI that actually works

Once you’ve addressed the obvious issues, it’s important to build a setup that works reliably. These best practices will help your AI deliver consistently helpful support.

1. Define clear AI boundaries

Start by deciding what AI should and shouldn’t handle. Let it take care of repetitive tasks like order tracking, return policies, and product questions. Anything complex or emotionally sensitive should go straight to your team.

2. Train it using real customer conversations

Use examples from actual tickets and messages your team handles every day. Help center articles are a good start, but real interactions are what help AI learn how customers actually ask questions.

3. Set up fallback triggers

Create rules that tell your AI when to escalate. These might include customer frustration, low confidence in the answer, or specific phrases like “talk to a person.” The goal is to avoid infinite loops and to hand things off before the experience breaks down.

4. Make sure agents receive full context

When a handoff happens, your agents should see everything the AI did. That includes the full conversation, relevant customer data, and any actions it has already attempted. This helps your team respond quickly and avoid repeating what the customer just went through.

An easy way to keep order history, customer data, and conversation history in one place is by using a conversational commerce tool like Gorgias.

5. Keep tone and voice consistent

A jarring shift in tone between AI and agent makes the experience feel disconnected. Align aspects such as formality, punctuation, and language style so the transition from AI to human feels natural.

6. Review handoffs regularly

Look at recent escalations each week. Identify where the AI struggled or handed off too early or too late. Use those insights to improve training, adjust boundaries, and strengthen your automation flows.

If your AI chatbot isn’t working the way you expected, it’s probably not because the technology is broken. It’s because it hasn’t been given the right rules.

AI that works your way and knows when to escalate

When you set AI up with clear responsibilities, it becomes a powerful extension of your team.

Want to see what it looks like when AI is set up the right way?

Try Gorgias AI Agent. It’s conversational AI built with smart automation, clean escalations, and ecommerce data in its core — so your customers get faster answers and your agents stay focused.

Get started with Gorgias AI Agent →

min read.

Create powerful self-service resources

Capture support-generated revenue

Automate repetitive tasks

Helpdesk	AI Features	Main Strength	Potential Limitation	Best For	Starting Price
Gorgias	AI Agent, Shopping Assistant, Auto QA	Multi-channel ecommerce support, AI shopping assistant	Ecommerce-focused	Scaling and enterprise ecommerce brands	$10/month per agent
Zendesk	Copilot, AI triage, Zendesk QA	Enterprise-grade omnichannel support	Can be complex for smaller teams	Large enterprises like banks and airlines	$25/month per agent
Intercom	Fin AI, Fin Tasks, Fin Insights	Conversational AI, proactive support	Higher learning curve for complex workflows	SaaS and mid-to-large businesses	$39/month per agent
Gladly	Gladly Hero, Sidekick Chat, Sidekick Voice	Conversation-centric support, loyalty focus	Complex implementation onboarding process	Customer-focused businesses that prioritize loyalty	Custom pricing
Kustomer	AI Agents for Reps, AI Agents for Customers	CRM-centric support	Unintuitive and laggy user interface	Mid-to-large enterprises	$89/month per agent
Tidio	Lyro AI Agent	Easy-to-use automation for small teams	May not scale for large enterprise workflows	Small to mid-sized ecommerce/service businesses	Free, $29/month per agent
Freshdesk	Freddy AI	Affordable multi-channel support	Advanced AI limited to higher tiers	SMBs and mid-market companies	$18/month per agent
Ada	Ada Voice, Ada Email	Self-service chat automation	Basic features cost extra	Large enterprise businesses	$499/month
Siena	Customer Service Agent, Reviews Agent, Siena Memory	Automated support	Lack of visibility into support and AI performance	Mid-market ecommerce and SaaS	$500/month
Yuma	Support AI, Sales AI, Social AI	Self-service & automation for growing teams	Limited integrations with broader sales stacks	Established ecommerce brands	$49/month per agent

How we evaluated the best AI helpdesks in 2025

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

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

Here’s how we approached the evaluation:

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

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

The best AI helpdesks of 2025

Gorgias

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

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

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

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

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

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

Main features:

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

AI features:

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

Zendesk

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

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

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

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

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

Main features:

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

AI features:

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

Intercom

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

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

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

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

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

Main features:

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

AI features:

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

Gladly

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

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

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

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

View customer details, relationships, and past conversations on Gladly.

Main features:

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

AI features:

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

Kustomer

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

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

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

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

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

Main features:

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

AI features:

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

Tidio

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

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

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

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

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

Main features:

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

AI features:

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

Freshdesk

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

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

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

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

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

Main features:

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

AI features:

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

Standalone AI tools you can integrate with existing helpdesks

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

Ada

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

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

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

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

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

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

Main features:

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

AI features:

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

Siena

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

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

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

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

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

Main features:

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

AI features:

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

Yuma

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

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

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

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

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

Main features:

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

AI features:

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

What features to look for in a good AI helpdesk

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

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

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

Feature	What It Is	Benefit to CX Team
Smart ticket management	AI that deflects repetitive tickets and routes complex issues to agents via macros, recommendations, and copilots	Frees up time for higher-value tasks like customer retention and streamlined experiences
Self-service workflows	Automated execution of order edits, address changes, refunds, and cancellations—whenever customers ask	Eliminates time spent on repetitive requests while offering 24/7 support
Multi-channel support	All-in-one platform consolidating email, chat, SMS, social media, and phone interactions	Eliminates the need to switch between platforms while giving customers a variety of contact options
Sales and upselling capabilities	AI that analyzes shopper behavior and delivers targeted assistance, product recommendations, and offers	Maximizes revenue impact for CX teams by directly influencing customer buying decisions
User-friendly AI controls	Intuitive tools and toggles for adjusting AI behavior through knowledge bases	Allows teams to test and deploy AI quickly without technical expertise
Performance insights	Dashboards displaying performance metrics, support KPIs, revenue impact, plus custom reporting	Maintains support quality while providing scalable insights that grow with your business
AI learning and improvement	Quality assurance features that improve AI through feedback, corrections, and knowledge updates	Enables accurate responses that lead to consistent support quality and increased customer satisfaction

Key takeaways from our review

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

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

Apps and Integrations

Automation and Self-Service

Customer Experience

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

min read.

0 min read . By

Customer Service Team Management

Ecommerce Customer Support

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

By Tina Donati

min read.

0 min read . By Tina Donati

TL;DR:

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

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

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

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

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

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

1. Think of AI as your sidekick

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

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

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

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

Gorgias AI Agent helps bareMinerals resolve questions about collaborations and PR requests within seconds.

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

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

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

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

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

2. Train your AI like a team member

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

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

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

Dos and don’ts for customer conversations
Approved Dutch-to-English translations
Example replies for nuanced, emotional questions
Pre-written macros for product recs and delivery issues

Each conversation is evaluated using an Auto QA Score to help train Wildride's AI Agent. — Wildride uses Gorgias Auto QA to train their AI Agent, Lisa, to improve its language, communication, and resolution skills.

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

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

3. Let AI mirror the pacing of real conversations

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

4. Use AI to drive sales—not just support

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

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

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

5. CX insights should power the rest of your business

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

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

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

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

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

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

6. Don’t overthink it, start small

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

How do you measure the impact of AI in CX?

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

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

Metrics Tracked Before AI	Metrics Tracked After AI
Total ticket volume	% of tickets resolved by AI
Average first response time	Response time by channel (AI vs. human)
CSAT (overall)	CSAT + sentiment on AI-resolved tickets
Tickets per agent/hour	Time saved per agent + resolution quality
Burnout rate or turnover	Agent satisfaction or eNPS

The best use of AI makes space for human touch

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

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

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

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

Automation and Self-Service

Expert Insights

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

By Holly Stanley

min read.

0 min read . By Holly Stanley

Apps and Integrations

Ecommerce Customer Support

You’re Missing Out on Sales Without an AI Shopping Assistant—Here’s Why

By Alexa Hertel

min read.

0 min read . By Alexa Hertel

TL;DR:

Shoppers won’t wait for help—so they leave. Without instant answers, you’re losing sales to hesitation and unanswered questions.
AI shopping assistants step in right away. They guide, recommend, and resolve concerns in real time, 24/7.
They boost conversions and AOV. Brands like Pepper and TUSHY saw up to 62% more conversions after adding one.
They go beyond chatbots. AI assistants proactively sell, using browsing behavior to tailor messages and close more carts.
Gorgias Shopping Assistant is built for Shopify brands. It starts conversations, mirrors your brand voice, uses browsing data, suggests products, and sends dynamic discounts.

Shoppers aren’t always going to reach out and ask the questions they have, especially if they’re going to have to wait for a response from a CX team.

That means you’re losing sales to friction, indecision, or information gaps.

In 2025, the average cart abandonment rate is 70.19%. But if you can find an AI tool that doubles as a support and sales agent, it could make all the difference.

Gorgias’s Shopping Assistant, for example, has brought a 62% uplift in conversion rate for brands that implement it.

Ahead, learn where you can leverage an AI shopping assistant to increase conversions and craft better purchase experiences.

What is an AI shopping assistant?

An AI shopping assistant is a chat tool powered by AI to provide pre-sales support for shoppers. It can answer questions, make product recommendations, and help guide shoppers in the right direction if they’re stuck.

Gorgias's Shopping Assistant is a powerful, hyper-personalized AI tool built for Shopify brands. Unlike other AI tools, Shopping Assistant starts conversations with customers, not the other way around. It’s uniquely tailored for each customer by tracking browsing behavior during each session and remembering what shoppers say, keeping conversations natural and recommendations relevant.

It’ll also chat with shoppers in your own brand voice, as its responses are pulled right from the knowledge you feed it.

At which point do brands lose sales in the customer journey?

The stages of the customer journey where common drop-off points occur for brands that lack proactive support include:

Discovery (casual browsing)
Interested (considering making a purchase)
Ready to buy (strong purchase intent)

1) Discovery (casual browsing)

There’s a big chance that shoppers—especially first-timers—have questions, but aren’t willing to wait for a human to get back to them. And when your CX team is off the clock? Customers will likely leave altogether.

An AI shopping assistant can help you engage customers right away, even outside your business hours.

Bra brand Pepper uses Gorgias Shopping Assistant to help shoppers find their perfect size. When it detects hesitation, Shopping Assistant points customers to the sizing guide.

This proactive approach creates an easy path for conversation and sets the precedent that any questions will be answered immediately, providing a better––and less confusing––experience.

“With Shopping Assistant, we’re not just putting information in our customers’ hands; we’re putting bras in their hands,” says Gabrielle McWhirter, CX Operations Lead at Pepper.

Pepper's underwire bra collection with AI chat asking for size, style, and fit preferences. — Customers can ask Pepper's AI Agent anything to help inform their purchase. *Pepper*

Impact these metrics 📈

For shoppers in the Discovery stage, using a Shopping Assistant boosts clicks and time on site and reduces bounce rate. It does this by surfacing specific questions on relevant product pages. Pepper boosted their conversion rate by 19% with Gorgias Shopping Assistant.

2) Interested (considering making a purchase)

In a retail environment, a salesperson can give shoppers recommendations by asking a few questions, especially if they’re unsure of what to buy.

AI shopping assistants have the ability to mirror those in-person shopping experiences by interacting with customers in real-time to help them find their perfect match.

Shoppers can give as much (e.g., “Help! What dress is suitable for a wedding reception?”) or as little information as they’d like, and the AI shopping assistant will do the rest.

It’s possible even for questions that are slightly vague, like a customer who types in “how to make up” without any other context:

AI Agent suggests a starter makeup kit after customer confirms interest in learning makeup. — Gorgias’s AI Shopping Assistant is ready to assist shoppers, regardless of the amount of context they provide.

For example, jewelry shop Caitlyn Minimalist uses Shopping Assistant to recommend products, engaging interested customers and bringing them closer to a purchase.

Gorgias Shopping Assistant recommended a customer with a pre-sale question about allergens, jewelry care, and shipping time.

“As a result of Shopping Assistant, we've seen a measurable lift in AOV through more meaningful customer interactions,” says Anthony Ponce, Head of Customer Experience at Caitlyn Minimalist.

“Our clients are provided the right information at the right time, creating a seamless experience that builds trust and drives confident purchases."

Impact these metrics 📈

According to data from Gorgias, email is the highest volume support channel, with ~25% of that tied to pre-sales. AI shopping assistants tackle these pre-sales asks and also upsell by recommending complementary products. This can lead to a boost in average order value (AOV) and conversion rate.

3) Ready to buy (strong purchase intent)

The main reasons customers abandoned a cart in 2025 include:

Extra costs (like shipping, fees, taxes) - 39%
Delivery times were too slow - 21%
Checkout was too complicated or long - 18%
Didn’t like return policy - 15%

An AI shopping assistant can mitigate or resolve these issues. They resolve crucial questions—like delivery time or return policies—that need in-the-moment answers. By alleviating pre-sale concerns, they give customers the confidence to make a purchase.

For example, bidet brand TUSHY leverages Shopping Assistant to answer questions about toilet compatibility that might flush a pending sale.

AI Agent explains toilet fit, asks for more info, and links to a toilet compatibility quiz. — TUSHY uses AI Agent to automatically resolve concerns like toilet compatibility.

Aside from quelling customer concerns, Shopping Assistant can also send discount codes to close deals. Unlike general discount codes you find across the internet, these discounts are uniquely generated for each customer, keeping them engaged and on your site.

Impact these metrics 📈

AI shopping assistants can reduce cart abandonment rate and increase conversion rate. Gorgias Shopping Assistant adjusts to your sales strategy by sending customers discount codes that can be the final nudge to checkout.

Why traditional chatbots don’t cut it anymore

Most AI tools are built just for support. They deflect tickets and answer FAQs, but they’re not built to sell.

Shopping Assistant proves that support teams can also drive revenue by upselling, suggesting exchanges, and giving shoppers the confidence to try a brand for the first time (or to give it another shot).

Gorgias’s AI Shopping Assistant uses context-based decision making and looks for specific behavioral signals:

Products viewed - Which product pages have they visited?
Pages views - What pages have they explored, like FAQs, reviews or categories?
Current page - Which page are they currently browsing?
Purchase history – What have they bought from this brand before?
Cart data - What items are currently in their cart?

Feature	Traditional Chatbot	AI Shopping Assistant
Deflect tickets	✅	✅
Answer frequently asked questions	✅	✅
Upselling	❌	✅
Proactively reaching out to offer support	❌	✅
Use context-based signals to guide shoppers to checkout	❌	✅

Improve conversions with Gorgias Shopping Assistant

Ultimately, the cost of not adopting AI can be higher than the investment of implementing it. 77.2% of ecommerce professionals use AI to improve their work. Why not extend those benefits to your customers?

AI Shopping Assistants help you create better customer experiences overall. These tools help reduce customer effort, increase average order value, save would-be-lost sales, and create more customer touchpoints.

Hire the always-on Shopping Assistant that never misses a sale.

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