Customer expectations have increased significantly in recent years. People expect brands to instantly provide all the necessary information, accept orders, update on delivery, make appointments, and assist them in various processes. They also often contact customer support outside working hours. That’s why when an e-commerce business has a growing number of customers, it becomes challenging for a team to manage every request without having additional specialists. That leaves two options: hire more support staff or automate the repetitive chats. Customer service bot for online stores makes the second option easy.
With more than 3 billion active WhatsApp users and 2.99 billion Instagram users, it becomes clear that it’s more convenient for customers to connect with a brand through channels that are already in active use. When a company designs a chatbot well, it can resolve common problems fast, provide assistance despite working hours and time zones, and significantly boost customer satisfaction. An e-commerce store will only benefit from it.
This guide unveils the most effective chatbot use cases for e-commerce stores, shows how to automate support workflows, provides the most powerful chatbot builders, and uncovers how to create an e-commerce support bot.
Top E-commerce Support Queries That Can Be Automated
E-commerce brands might have a lot of prospects asking for information, and that can be time-consuming for agents to handle. For this purpose, businesses automate Shopify customer support. However, this applies only to those situations where no decision-making is necessary. This section is designed to unveil those scenarios.
- Order status request. One of the most popular customer questions is “Where is my order?” and brands can manage such requests easily. Although this might seem like a simple question, it often requires a significant number of support resources. Especially when talking about dozens or hundreds of customers asking this question. With an order tracking chatbot, clients can make sure that the order is in progress without having to wait for their turn to speak to a support agent. The bot can provide the following information to customers in seconds: payment status, order confirmation, shipping carrier, tracking number, fulfillment status, estimated delivery, etc.
- Return and refund questions. Every company faces return and refund requests — they’re unavoidable. Handling them manually is slow, especially since customers venting frustration takes more time to manage than a simple question. By automating answers to common questions — “Can I return this product?”, “When will I receive my refund?”, “Can I exchange this product?” — support teams can focus on more complex issues. However, in this case, the human handoff option is a must. If a chatbot doesn’t understand a question or can’t provide any relevant information, it’s always better to route this chat to a specialist.
- Product availability. A lot of questions arise before prospects even complete any orders. There are many of them related to product availability. Some people ask whether a particular size or color is available, while others want to know when a specific product will be back in stock. A chatbot can connect to a company’s inventory system and provide prospects with availability information in real time. When these items are out of stock, brands can notify leads once inventory is replenished.
- Shipping and delivery information. Shipping cost might vary depending on the distance and country (state) of delivery. This is especially true for companies selling internationally. That’s why the following questions arise: “How much does shipping cost?” “How long will shipping take?”Do you deliver to my country?” “Is express delivery available?,” etc. Rather than making customers dig for shipping details — and risk losing the sale — brands can set predefined rules to surface this information automatically. Chatbots can provide shipping information based on the users’ location, items in their shopping carts, and preferred delivery method.
- Account and order management. People often face issues with their accounts. With a chatbot, brands can automate the following requests: updating contact information, changing a delivery address, modifying payment details, resetting passwords, and managing subscriptions. Many of these tasks can be automated by integrating a chatbot with an e-commerce platform and CRM.
When order questions start piling up, an order tracking bot is the fix. Here’s how easy it is to build one, no technical skills needed.
Order Tracking Bot: Connecting Your Store to a Chatbot
The first thing each company should automate is order tracking. After checkout, customers will definitely need to ensure that everything goes properly. Even with confirmation emails and tracking pages, some customers still find it faster to ask a brand directly rather than log into their account. That’s why “Where is my order?” is one of the most common support questions. A chatbot answers it instantly, saving customers time and cutting the workload on your support team. Here’s how an order tracking bot works.
How an order tracking chatbot works
Nowadays, chatbot platforms usually integrate with e-commerce platforms, which include Shopify, BigCommerce, WooCommerce, Magento, native integrations, APIs, or automation services. After it’s connected, the bot can securely retrieve data. The workflow often looks like this:
- A user opens a chatbot using WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger, or a website’s live chat.
- The bot asks for details, including email address, order number, or phone number connected to the purchase.
- The bot verifies the user’s identity and collects order information from the store.
- It provides the current order status, shipping carrier, tracking number, and estimated delivery date to this customer.
- After that, the chatbot asks whether this customer needs some additional assistance or maybe other requests.
As one can see, with a chatbot, there’s no need for a customer support agent’s involvement, and it takes minutes to accomplish. This is far more productive than a human agent managing all these repetitive tasks manually.
Go beyond basic tracking
When creating a chatbot, businesses should provide more than just shipping information. It helps proactively answer customers’ follow-up questions. These might include questions about changing the delivery address, whether the order is already shipped, how to contact a courier, etc. When e-commerce companies provide this information in one chat, it prevents clients from opening more support tickets. Besides, the experience feels more conversational.
Turn support into another sales opportunity
An order tracking chatbot helps not only improve relationships with customers but also sell some additional products. After providing all the necessary information, e-commerce stores can offer complementary products, invite customers to join loyalty programs, offer a coupon for the next order, etc. This is a great opportunity to boost customer retention and encourage repeat purchases.
Next up is return and refund automation, another area where a quick, automated fix pays off.
Return and Refund Flow Automation
No matter how well a brand sells online, some customers will still be unhappy with their orders. The reasons vary: wrong size or color, damaged items, or a simple change of mind. Having a complex return process isn’t an option because it negatively affects customer trust.
An e-commerce store with a transparent and smooth experience encourages more purchases because customers are no longer afraid of getting the wrong item. Customers can return or exchange products worry-free. This process becomes simple with automation. The following steps are necessary for great return and refund flow automation.
Build a guided return journey
Instead of making customers read policy pages and email support, businesses should let a chatbot guide them through each step of this process. When designing an automated return workflow, e-commerce stores usually need to verify the customer’s order, ensure that the return period is valid, confirm that the item meets return requirements, ask for a reason to return the product, offer solutions, and update on the return progress. A predefined structure keeps customer support consistent and reliable.
Reduce unnecessary returns
Return automation is more than just handling refunds. When customers want a refund, it’s not only about customers returning products. Some of them expect to change the wrong size, color, or model. In such cases, businesses need to set up their chatbots so that customers can choose whether they want to get a return or the right item. It helps reduce return rates. If the needed product is out of stock at that moment, the bot asks whether customers want to store credit, find a similar product, make a preorder, or receive a notification once it’s back in stock. With such proactive suggestions, brands can prevent themselves from losing revenue.
Keep customers informed throughout the process
The biggest source of dissatisfaction with online returns is uncertainty: after sending a product back, customers are left wondering if it arrived, whether the return was approved, and when their refund will land. Businesses that want fewer repeat support inquiries should automate this process. Chatbots can send updates as soon as the return status changes without involving a human agent. Everything works independently after it’s all set up. As a result, brands increase customer trust and reduce the number of customers reaching out for return information.
Sometimes, brands can come across edge cases and might wonder what the best way is to manage them correctly. The next section will unveil this information and prevent stores from losing clients.
How to handle edge cases without losing the customer
Although chatbots are good at handling repetitive questions, it doesn’t mean that they can fully replace human agents. For the best customer experience, there should be a balance of automation and human expertise. Brands can let bots manage different inquiries fast, while human agents need to step in once necessary. Judgment, flexibility, and empathy are the things only customer support agents can provide.
Understand when automation needs to stop
E-commerce companies should outline situations in which automation isn’t possible, and support agents should step in. Human intervention is 100% necessary when customers complain about damaged or defective products, missing deliveries, incorrect shipments, suspected fraud, warranty claims, wrong payments, etc. Automating such requests isn’t an option because it will only cause frustration and a poor experience with a brand.
Create intelligent escalation paths
When designing chatbots, businesses should think of escalation. If a bot can’t solve an issue or doesn’t understand the request, this chat should be routed to a human agent. Escalation is a must when the bot fails to understand user intent after several attempts, manual approval is necessary, and the customer asks to communicate with a human agent. In these cases, chatbots should route the chat to prevent dissatisfaction among customers.
Preserve conversation context
When customers are connected to human agents after the bot fails to provide the necessary answers, it’s necessary to save the conversation. It’s needed for a specialist to understand the situation without having to ask the same questions all over again. Businesses should set their chatbots so that they pass all the relevant details to agents. This should include customer information, order number, conversation history, supporting documents, and photos. By being aware of the context, agents can start solving the issues instantly.
Ensure that users have access to human agents in complex situations.
Automation isn’t about replacing human agents; it’s about reducing the workload they have with routine questions and letting them get fully involved in complex issues. This is how they can provide value. When chatbots handle order tracking, FAQs, shipping questions, account management, and refund inquiries, specialists focus on more complex issues and better relationships with customers. E-commerce brands should understand that bots serve as assistants to their customer support specialists for higher productivity and efficiency.
Making your e-commerce support more efficient starts with the right chatbot builder. Here are three worth considering.
3 Customer Support Chatbot Builders for E-commerce
You can’t automate repetitive support tasks without the right chatbot builder. The trick is picking one that matches the support queries you want to put on autopilot. Here are a few solid options, weighed by features, usability, and budget.
SendPulse
SendPulse is a Meta-approved chatbot builder for scaling e-commerce businesses, enabling the creation of customer service bots for online stores on WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Telegram. With the platform, brands can help online shoppers without slowing down the purchasing process. These chatbots allow businesses to provide support around the clock, guide orders, and handle doubts. Whether customers ask questions through DMs, story replies, or comment threads, e-commerce stores can answer them automatically in seconds.
A customer support chatbot routes all incoming chats into one shared workspace. That’s how teams can seamlessly access full order context, assign tickets, and reply without switching apps. This way, brands reply with no delays and relevant messages. It positively influences conversions. Besides, the platform is powered by AI, meaning that its chatbots provide answers that match brands’ tone of voice, include full order history, and update the CRM system in real time.
Pricing:
- free plan: 3 chatbots, 500 subscribers, 10,000 messages, 10 variables, 10 chatbot triggers, and unlimited flows;
- paid plans: start from $9.60/month (paid annually) for 500 subscribers, unlimited chatbots and live chats, advanced features, unlimited messages, triggers, flows, and variables, contact tags, teamwork tools, and accepting payments.
Tidio
Tidio is a platform enabling companies to build e-commerce chatbots for customer support. The service provides its users with access to live chat and AI-powered automation, making it a good fit for small and medium businesses. It helps business owners effectively solve customer problems without relying on human agents and working hours. Since Tidio is AI-supported, it means that workflows can be created within minutes, but communication still feels natural and relevant.
By automating common questions, highlighting key offers, and providing assistance to customers around-the-clock, e-commerce stores significantly improve customer experience. With the platform, brands can effortlessly trigger discounts and reminders at the right moment and increase conversions. It also allows them to show personalized offers to capture more qualified prospects. A human-handoff option is available so that human agents can help solve more serious problems. Lyro AI Agent manages all questions using the company’s support content, ensuring consistency and relevant answers.
Pricing:
- free plan: 50 billable conversations, 50 Lyro AI conversations, and 100 visitors;
- paid plans: start from $24.17/month (paid annually) for 50 Lyro AI Agent conversations (one-off), 100 Flows visitors reached, live chat and ticketing, operating hours, and basic analytics.
ManyChat
ManyChat is a service enabling businesses to design chatbots for Instagram, WhatsApp, TikTok, and Messenger. The service allows e-commerce stores to grow their businesses while chatbots handle FAQs. With this Meta Business Partner platform, brands can answer all common questions in seconds and sell without sounding too pushy. This refers to messages in WhatsApp, DMs, Story replies, and comments under posts on Instagram, or users’ messages on Facebook or TikTok. Businesses can send product details, suggest similar items when a product is out of stock, or provide a discount for the first purchase. All of these actions are done without human agents involved, regardless of time zones and working hours.
ManyChat helps e-commerce stores nudge prospects about new products and remind them about viewed items. With a chatbot and the right strategy, companies can effectively guide leads towards a purchase. The platform is intuitive, meaning that it takes minutes for beginners to set everything up.
Pricing:
- free plan: 1,000 contacts, unlimited custom flows, basic growth tools, and 10 customer tags;
- paid plans: start from $15/month for unlimited growth tools and keywords, unlimited tags, custom fields, advanced segments, analytics, and integrations.
If Tidio or ManyChat aren’t quite hitting the mark, it’s worth browsing through some Tidio alternatives and ManyChat alternatives to find a better fit.Once you’ve picked a chatbot builder, here’s how to set up your e-commerce support bot.
Setting Up Your E-commerce Support Bot
After exploring solutions and choosing the right one, brands still need to set up the e-commerce support bot. The process is simple with a short guide. Let’s take SendPulse as an example.
1. Connect your messaging channels
Create an account or log in to the existing one. Proceed to the “Chatbots” section and click “Manage bots.” There, you can connect the necessary channels by clicking the “Connect” button and configuring it.
2. Connect your online store
The next step implies integrating your Shopify store or another e-commerce platform supported by SendPulse. By doing it, you enable your chatbot to access all the necessary information about customers and provide them with personalized experiences.
3. Create an order tracking workflow
Use the platform’s visual chatbot builder to seamlessly design your order tracking workflow. All the elements are available on the side panel; you can simply drag and drop them into the editor’s field.
4. Automate return and refund requests
Use decision trees to guide users through the process of refund or return. You can add the necessary elements to create a structured flow, helping customers make refunds worry-free. It prevents loading your customer support team with additional work.
5. Build FAQ automation
Use messages, flows, and actions to design an FAQ automation. It significantly improves the experience with your brand by instantly providing all the details. Buttons help route customers to the information they need. Consider including shipping policies, payment methods, product specifications, sizing, warranties, business hours, etc.
6. Configure human handoff
Use SendPulse to define rules that help route conversations to support agents when chatbots are unable to solve the issue or when customers want it. Damaged products, payment disputes, and warranty claims refer to problems that shouldn’t be left aside without human involvement. Just set up conditions so your chatbot works properly.
Conclusion
Seamless customer support is a must in a highly competitive e-commerce environment. Now that there are a lot of complementary tools available, customers expect fast and relevant answers, 24/7 availability, real-time order updates, and transparent return processes. Brands that can’t provide clients won’t be able to retain existing customers and generate new ones. Customers can easily prefer competitors when they aren’t satisfied.
Automation prevents businesses from that happening. The majority of these requests can be automated with WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger, or TikTok chatbots. Order tracking, shipping questions, return and refund inquiries, and account management issues can be handled by bots. It results in fewer support tickets, faster response time, and higher customer satisfaction. At the same time, customer support specialists focus on really complex issues to meet customer needs.
To achieve measurable results, e-commerce companies need to think of automation strategically. Start by choosing the right platform that meets requirements, then proceed to building workflows, clear escalation paths, and optimizing the chatbot regularly. That’s how it brings real value. Chatbots in combination with the expertise of human agents are a powerful tool for improving the quality of customer service while keeping up with a seamless customer experience.
Whether it’s a Shopify store or a large e-commerce company, choosing the right service is a big deal. When a brand plans to scale, it’s important to keep that in mind while committing to a specific platform. Besides, e-commerce chatbots for customer support should have all the necessary features. Business goals also matter a lot. There are many chatbot builders to choose from. Tidio is a good choice for small and medium online stores searching for an easy-to-use live chat and chatbot powered by AI. ManyChat is a perfect match for companies that heavily rely on communication through Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp. SendPulse is a powerful multichannel solution well-suited for growing marketing channels without having to change platforms.
