How Boston Proper Automates 36% of Support Volume to Focus on Revenue-Generating Channels

Challenge: As Boston Proper grew, the team struggled to maintain a personalized shopping experience with siloed, outdated systems. They needed a platform to integrate its support channels and ecommerce apps, and drive operational efficiency with powerful automation.

Solution: With Gorgias Automate and AI Agent, Boston Proper reached a 36% automation rate and reduced first response times from days to seconds by automating routine tickets, centralizing customer profiles for omnichannel support, and integrating their tech into one primary CX hub.

About Boston Proper

Boston Proper is an apparel brand that has offered trendsetting styles for over 30 years, empowering women through fashion. As a direct-to-consumer brand, Boston Proper started as a catalog company and still uses phone support as a primary sales and customer service channel, providing personalized shopping experiences and top-notch support. 

"On a given day, we might be on the phone with a customer, looking up a past order, checking for recent reviews, and then processing a return. Gorgias brings all of that into a simple, efficient interface instead of making our team work out of 5 different tools."

—Tamara Dougherty, VP of Marketing, ECommerce, Call Center, and CX at Boston Proper

Challenge: A disconnected tech stack created more tab shuffling and less customer personalization 

With clothing styles for every occasion, Boston Proper’s loyal customers rely on personalized recommendations from the team. Without being able to see or feel the products in person, customers want to know how to pick the right size, color, or material based on their past purchases. 

Until recently, Boston Proper used a CX tool they compare to “an old-school video game with a black and green screen”, forcing agents to manually key in codes while on the phone and flip between screens to find relevant customer information. With the integration of Gorgias into their new tech stack, including Shopify, Yotpo, and Narvar, agents no longer had to search for order numbers, purchase history, and addresses to perform basic tasks like processing returns — adding unnecessary delays for customers.

As Boston Proper expanded to more customer service channels (including SMS and Chat), they struggled to maintain a consistent experience across each. This was especially difficult as the CX team fluctuated due to seasonal needs and turnover. 

“We were constantly training new people and started to lose consistency in the customer experience. We had people who answered phones, we had a group of people who answered emails, and a group of people who answered chat. We want that experience to be cohesive and consistent. That’s where Automate was able to come in to help reduce the inconsistencies.”

—Tamara Dougherty, VP of Marketing, ECommerce, Call Center, and CX at Boston Proper

Solution: Implementing Gorgias for centralized support

Boston Proper introduced Gorgias as the central hub for customer support, consolidating inquiries across all channels. This helped them to fulfill their goal of delivering the same fantastic experience by giving agents an all-in-one support inbox to organize, automate, and respond to customer tickets from every channel. 

Gorgias unlocked three main benefits for Boston Proper: 

1. Automation for operational efficiency
2. Revenue from phone call conversions
3. A cohesive, integrated tech stack 

Automating for a more consistent CX and time for high-impact conversations

Since implementing Automate and AI Agent, Boston Proper has been able to automate around 40% of its customer tickets across email and chat — all while maintaining the friendly and empathetic tone of voice that their customers have grown to know and love.

With self-serve Flows, customers can instantly find answers to common queries, such as picking the right size or joining the rewards program. 

Internally, pressure on Boston Proper’s customer support has been relieved, letting them spend more time where it counts. 

“Automate decreases the number of tickets we touch. We can focus on more complicated tickets, manage review sites, respond to social media comments, and introduce new projects without overwhelming our team. It’s a great experience both internally and externally.”

—Kathy Keroack, Senior Manager of the Customer Experience Call Center

Handling FAQs with empathy with AI Agent

Aside from creating consistency through automated responses, Boston Proper was intrigued by AI Agent’s ability to answer commonly asked questions without agent intervention. AI Agent is able to immediately answer routine customer questions like order tracking, price adjustments, or returns, cutting down on Boston Proper’s response times. 

Kathy explains how this creates a better impression with customers, “There's no delay there for customers having to wait for an agent, which has been a positive change in the customer experience. AI Agent has been consistent since we launched, and it's only gotten better. Because the tool is so intelligent, it really has adapted itself. It's quite amazing to read some of the responses.”

“I wasn't sure at first how customers would react to it, but the way that AI Agent responds is professional, empathetic, and customer friendly. Our customers honestly don't realize it's automated. They believe they're speaking to an agent.”

—Kathy Keroack, Senior Manager of the Customer Experience Call Center

AI Agent introduced standardized responses so that every customer receives the same level of support while maintaining the brand’s tone of voice. 

“If a customer is frustrated, AI Agent not only comes out with an apology, but a relatable comment about how it empathizes with their situation. It’s an amazing first impression because, by the time an agent speaks with the customer, they are more calm and appreciative of the support.”    

—Kathy Keroack, Senior Manager of the Customer Experience Call Center

Phone as a conversion tool

Boston Proper’s origin as a catalog-driven brand means that many customers still prefer placing orders over the phone. With time saved from AI Agent, the team has more time to focus on this higher-converting channel. Since implementing Gorgias, phone has become the main revenue driver within their Call Center with a 25% conversion rate on phone calls. 

Boston Proper leverages its phone channel effectively by: 

• Training agents on new collections: With extra capacity from AI Agent, Boston Proper’s team receives training from merchandisers for each monthly collection drop, equipping them with product knowledge to drive sales. 
• Leveraging cross-selling and upselling opportunities: When customers call in, agents can place orders directly from the website on their behalf. While talking customers through this process, the personalized service gives them a chance to drive cross-sells and upsells, driving higher conversion and AOV. 

Integrating Dialpad for phone support

Boston Proper introduced Dialpad as its call center software because of its ease of use and features, including AI-driven customer satisfaction surveys, call monitoring, and recording. The seamless integration with Gorgias means that notifications from Dialpad automatically create tickets, allowing agents to view customer profiles in real-time. 

Boston Proper transitioned to Dialpad as part of a larger infrastructure overhaul, moving away from “archaic systems managed separately.” Integrating Dialpad with Gorgias, Shopify, and other platforms allows Boston Proper to access order history, reviews, and return or exchange data while on the call, letting agents enhance the customer experience. 

“It's a seamless process in our customers’ eyes. We don't have to jump from system to system, making it easier to house everything in one spot for the agent.” 

—Kathy Keroack, Senior Manager of the Customer Experience Call Center

Dialing in on personalized shopping experiences over the phone

Boston Proper’s target demographic sometimes prefers a customized shopping experience with a human touch compared to a fully digital one. While Boston Proper has successfully introduced digital communication channels, the phone remains the preference for many shoppers (aside from placing an order directly on the website). 

“Phone isn't just to call and place your order. It's a shopping experience where you get to talk to a personal stylist,” Tamara explains. “If a customer wants to talk to somebody, we have stylists that can help her. If it's an occasion she's trying to find something for or a trip she's going on, or it's just work attire, we have a team of people prepared to answer those calls.”

Boston Proper tracks call center sales performance with UTM parameters, allowing visibility into phone-driven revenue through platforms like Google Analytics. For customer experience-related calls, Boston Proper leverages Dialpad’s AI-powered CSAT scores. 

A streamlined tech stack through deep integrations

Leveraging Gorgias’s integration network allows Boston Proper to centralize its tech stack in one place for its sales and support teams. 

Each integration within Gorgias fulfills a unique need for Boston Proper: 

• Shopify: Agents can view order history, process refunds, and manage customer details without switching platforms. 
• Klaviyo: Agents can respond to customers’ SMS inquiries, as well as view key profile information stored in the Klaviyo platform. 
• Yotpo: Tickets will display any reviews the customer has made, allowing agents to respond directly, either publicly or privately. It also notifies agents of a customer’s Proper Insider Loyalty status and points balance, allowing agents to use that as a speaking point in the conversation. 
• Narvar: The team can process real-time returns or exchanges in Gorgias.
• Dialpad: Agents can view relevant customer information in their Gorgias profile while on the phone with a customer. 
• Social media: Any mentions, comments, or messages from Facebook or Instagram will also be visible in Gorgias, letting agents manage them directly.  

With these integrations, agents can handle complex, multi-channel customer interactions from one interface, eliminating the need to switch between multiple tabs.

Below, we put together a collage of the kinds of information agents can see at a glance, which are customizable for even more control:  

Results: A 36% automation rate, shorter wait times, and improved CSAT scores

Since implementing Automate and AI Agent, Boston Proper has seen significant improvements in its support efficiency: 

• 36% automation rate from self-service flows and AI Agent
• 98% improvement in First Response Time: From 45 minutes to 49 seconds
• Resolution time decreased by 17 hours
• Driving phone conversions to 25% 

In addition to shorter response times, Boston Proper noticed improvements in overall customer experience: 

• Agent Capacity: With routine tasks automated, agents can concentrate more on complex customer inquiries and proactive outreach, such as monitoring review sites and social media. 
• Increased customer satisfaction: Reduced wait times and more consistent service have led to higher customer satisfaction (CSAT) scores. 
• Customer sentiment detection: Since AI Agent picks up on customers’ tones and responds accordingly, agents have spent less time de-escalating frustrated customers.

“Automate reduces the inconsistencies that we were experiencing and quickly answers commonly asked questions. There’s no delay for customers waiting for an agent, which has positively changed the customer experience.”

—Tamara Dougherty, VP of Marketing, ECommerce, Call Center, and CX at Boston Proper

Looking forward: Further integrations with Gorgias

Boston Proper plans to continue leveraging Gorgias' automation capabilities to enhance customer experience and operational efficiency. 

“The ability to automate routine inquiries has transformed our approach to customer service. We’re excited to continue working with Gorgias to improve our processes and deliver the best experience possible,” Tamara shares.

Ready to see how Gorgias can help your brand automate customer interactions and improve CX?