TL;DR:

• Start with empathy, especially in high-stakes situations. Understanding the emotional weight of events helps agents respond with compassion and urgency.
• Choose your battles wisely. Obvi defuses tension by letting customers keep the product while still receiving a refund, boosting goodwill and lifetime value.
• Trust and empower your CX team. Glamnetic’s agents are given autonomy to resolve issues creatively to avoid bottlenecks.
• Ask customers what went wrong. Jaxxon finds that asking for feedback directly can defuse angry customers and turn complaints into insights.‍
• AI can help turn negative experiences around. Tools like Gorgias AI Agent support these strategies by delivering fast, thoughtful service at scale.

Strategies for handling difficult customers can sometimes feel like vague, generalized advice. If you’re dealing with these types of customer interactions daily, you need specifics.

At CX Connect 2024 in LA, four leaders in the ecommerce and customer experience space shared their tips for managing demanding customers with empathy, strategy, and a dash of creativity.

In this panel recap, learn how leaders at Princess Polly, Obvi, Glamnetic, and Jaxxon navigate complex customer interactions while maintaining high levels of customer satisfaction.

Watch the full panel discussion:

‎Start from a place of empathy

Customer experience agents: The baseline is empathy, says Alexandria Collis, Senior Director of Operations at fashion brand Princess Polly. Having a reset point — empathy and understanding — can be valuable for agents to remember, especially in the middle of heated exchanges.

In particular, Alexandria points out that significant life events can be tricky because customers expect a high level of service. These milestones are often sentimental, coming with more emotional investment from the customer’s end than your run of the mill WISMO requests.

Alexandria on empathetic customer experiences:

For example, if a customer receives a damaged graduation dress, Alexandria understands it would be best to replace their item as soon as possible. “Figuring out how to integrate empathetic responses into understanding the actual customer is so important,” Alexandria emphasizes. 

Bearing in mind the circumstances and emotions around a customer’s issue, mainly when the stakes are high, is the key to finding a sound resolution.

Don’t fight until you have to fight

Ronak Shah, CEO and co-founder of collagen supplement brand Obvi, advocates for a measured approach when dealing with difficult customers. His philosophy is simple: choose your battles wisely. Obvi’s CX team aims to avoid unnecessary conflict, especially when it comes to returns.

"We don’t make people ship the product back. Instead, we say, 'Hey, you can keep the product. We’ll give you the refund,'" Ron explains. This method defuses potential tension and turns a refund into the potential for better customer lifetime value.

Ron on returns:

Ron acknowledges that not all businesses have the budget to approach returns in this way, so they add a bonus: customers can receive a $10 discount if they share the product with a family member or friend.

However, there’s a limit. "When you have abuse, that’s where you have to fight," Ron adds. His team draws the line when repeat offenders try to exploit the system, ensuring fairness for all customers.

Trust your agents, give them autonomy

Kevin Gould, co-founder of beauty brand Glamnetic, believes in empowering his customer experience team with the freedom to make decisions. He understands that micromanaging can lead to inefficiencies, so he trusts his agents to delight customers in their own ways. 

"We try to be very lenient. We give our CX team lots of autonomy to operate because you need to give [them] a lot of leeway, or else everything just gets escalated up to the head of customer experience,” Kevin says. His approach ensures that issues are resolved quickly and effectively.

Kevin on trusting his support team:

For example, Glamnetic often resolves lost package issues by sending out new products or adding an extra "just because" item. They don’t view these as unnecessary expenses. Rather, they’re a way to build trust and improve overall customer satisfaction.

This strategy has paid off, especially in situations where offering a little extra can turn a negative experience into a positive one. Kevin’s trust in his team has proven to be a key component of Glamnetic’s customer service success.

Ask, ‘What did we do wrong?’

When facing unhappy customers, it’s easy to get defensive. But instead of pushing back, Jaxxon’s Director of Customer Experience, Caela Castillo, suggests a different approach: self-reflection. Her advice to the team is to always ask customers, “What did we do wrong?”

“There are customers who aren’t going to be happy with anything,” Caela says. “I try to ask, was there something we could have done that would have made this a better experience?” This basic question shifts the focus from blame to understanding, helping to diffuse tension.

In one case, a customer complained to Jaxxon’s support team because they missed a key detail on the website. Rather than dismissing the complaint, Caela’s team asked how they could make the information more visible. Listening may be a minor solve, but it shows customers that their input matters, which can often guide the interaction toward a peaceful outcome.

Caela on defusing angry customers by asking the right questions:

Turn their frown upside down with AI Agent

Every business faces the challenge of dealing with tough customers, but the strategies shared by these industry leaders offer clear paths for handling those thorny situations. Leading with empathy, picking your battles, trusting your team to make decisions, and reflecting on what could have been done better all lead to stronger customer relationships.

It’s time to level up your customer experience strategy. Explore how Gorgias AI Agent can help your team deliver exceptional service. Book a demo today to see the difference it can make to your support.

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TL;DR:

• AI is only as smart as your knowledge base. A rich, up-to-date Help Center is what powers accurate, fast, and helpful AI responses.
• A good knowledge base speeds up AI onboarding. The more info your AI has, the quicker it can handle customer questions.
• Keep your content current and on-brand. Regular updates and consistency in tone make AI more trustworthy and accurate.‍
• Gorgias AI Agent thrives with the right foundation. With strong Help Center content, AI Agent can autonomously resolve issues, boost automation, and save your team time.

According to our recent survey, 69.2% of respondents already use AI and automation in their roles, with support leaders and agents being the highest adopters.

However, in order to be successful, AI needs a robust knowledge base to learn from. The more knowledge and context, the smarter AI will be.

Below, find the tips you need to set up a great customer knowledge base in order to use AI most effectively.

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The role knowledge bases play for AI

Aside from acting as a self service resource for customers, knowledge bases now serve a dual purpose — they also act as a data source that provides AI with the training it needs to accurately answer questions from your customers. 

That’s the case for Gorgias AI Agent, a conversational AI team member who can resolve customer inquiries without the involvement of humans. While teams also provide the AI with Guidance during the setup process, your knowledge base is the primary source for AI Agent to be onboarded, have a consistent source of truth, and provided faster and complete resolutions.

‎Helps your AI get up and running quickly 

The more information you provide your AI with, the faster it will be able to deliver accurate responses — and the sooner your customer support team can move onto more important things than answering another WISMO request.

Building a quality knowledge base is essentially the first onboarding step for using AI in your customer service operations. It’s the main data source for AI, sort of like a handbook or manual. The more thorough the Help Center is, the less agents will have to tweak and guide AI at the start.

Provides a consistent source of answers

The more up-to-date and accurate your knowledge base is, the more accurate your AI’s responses to your customers will be. Errors or inconsistencies in knowledge bases can lead to flawed AI behavior. 

The benefit of that is that AI will consistently intake any new information you add as long as your Help Center articles are updated. For example, brands who have new or different policies won't have to worry about setting aside time for AI to digest the new info –– it will automatically pull them from the Help Center.

📚 Further reading: How your CX Team will evolve with AI

Allows it to better provide full resolutions 

An AI customer support rep can resolve tickets 99.4% faster than human agents –– and that’s full resolutions, not just first responses! But those full resolutions will only be as helpful as your knowledge base is.

Benefits of a high-quality knowledge base

• More accurate responses
• Improved learning and adaptation
• Increased trust and usability
• Effective self-service resource

More accurate responses 

Quality data improves AI accuracy and efficiency. For CX, that quality data comes from a robust knowledge base. 

For example, clothing brand Psycho Bunny was able to successfully implement AI Agent in part because of their thorough knowledge base. 

They have articles that cover: Shipping & Delivery, Order Status, Returns & Exchanges, Buy Online Pick Up in Store, products & FAQs, and Payment & Billing. 

“AI Agent helps immensely with data reporting and reducing human error, because it tags tickets accurately and follows processes consistently,” says Mary Mundy, Technical Support Specialist at Psycho Bunny.

Improved learning and adaptation

Knowledge bases also enable AI systems to learn and adapt over time, especially if they’re consistently edited and updated to reflect new or changing policies or product information.

Adaptability is crucial for a high-performing CX team, and your AI tool needs to be able to rise to that challenge. That was the case for premium sport and travel accessory brand Vessel. 

“I was a little bit hesitant about using AI Agent initially,” says Lauren Reams, their Customer Experience Manager. 

“We knew that we were interested in more automation because we have had more customers reaching out, but weren’t sure that it would be able to meet their growing needs.

“It’s been incredible to see how adaptable AI Agent is, and how it can quickly pick up on the small things — for example, if something is a hot topic for us, you can see AI Agent start talking about it, and knowing when it’s something that needs to be handed off to our team.”

Now, Vessel boasts a 20% automation rate and a resolution time of just 1.06 minutes. 

Increased trust and usability

A reliable knowledge base fosters trust in AI systems. It’s a cycle: the better the information in your knowledge base is, the better your AI Agent can speak on your behalf.

For example, fine jewelry brand Baby Gold has built trust with customers through a more personalized AI experience. 

“What I like about AI Agent is that the responses are so different, and it makes it sound like it's an actual agent,” says Sindi Melgar, Baby Gold’s Customer Service Manager. 

“We've gotten feedback from customers who say, Michelle, has been helping me, Michelle did this for me, Michelle did that for me — so that's awesome. We provide personalized items, so we should provide a personalized experience and journey for our customers.” 

Effective self-service resource

Aside from being AI’s most knowledgeable sidekick, your Help Center is a prime self-service hub for customers. 

They should be able to locate policies like shipping and returns and answers to product FAQs. If you want to go the extra mile like Baby Gold does, create a portal where shoppers can start a return, track or cancel an order, or report an issue. 

Best practices for developing a quality knowledge base

• Include your most important policies 
• Identify your FAQs
• Leverage pre-existing templates 
• Keep it consistent with your brand’s voice and tone
• Establish a regular cadence for maintenance 

Include your most important policies

This might go without saying, but customers won’t know your policies if you don’t clearly list them on your website. A policy section helps set expectations upfront and builds trust. 

Some common policies to include are: 

• Shipping times and costs
• Returns and exchanges 
• Defective or broken merchandise
• Support or in-store operating hours 
• Promotions 
• Warranty
• Order processing and fulfillment 

Identify your FAQs

🛑 Challenge: Identifying your frequently asked questions manually, especially if you have a ton of tickets that come in on the daily, a wide variety of questions, or topics that require super personalized responses. Yes, you can source your brand’s specific FAQs manually by speaking to your agents, but you might not cover everything. 

✅ Solution: Some frequently asked questions are pretty standard across ecommerce stores. Your shoppers will always need to know your shipping information, return and exchange policies, order cancellation windows, the status of their most recent order, and where they can reach out for 1:1 support. 

If you use a helpdesk, you’ll likely be able to see an aggregate of top questions. With Gorgias AI Agent, it's easy. You can find customers' most asked questions listed in your dashboard, with an option to automatically create a Help Center article for each, answer included.

📚 Further reading: FAQ Pages: Examples, Benefits, and When to Add a Help Center

Leverage pre-existing templates 

🛑 Challenge: Scaling your knowledge base to answer all relevant questions can be a daunting task, especially at the beginning. 

✅ Solution: You don’t have to create your knowledge base from scratch! You can use an AI tool like ChatGPT to create it or, check out the 50 Help Center templates in this article to establish a solid foundation.

Keep it consistent with your brand’s voice and tone 

🛑 Challenge: If your knowledge base doesn’t accurately reflect how your brand engages with customers or how it shows up online, your AI won’t sound like you either.

✅ Solution: If your brand is all about personalization, for example, include that in a “Who we are” article in your Help Center like Baby Gold does. 

“Sometimes agents forget personal details to call out when communicating with our customers, like birthdays or weddings,” says Sindi Melgar, Baby Gold’s Customer Service Manager, “But I noticed on a few different occasions where the AI Agent is highlighting these things and is saying, congratulations on your wedding! Just the tone of voice that our AI Michelle is able to adopt is definitely on brand for us.”

Establish a regular cadence for maintenance

🛑 Challenge: Continuously updating the knowledge base to ensure it remains relevant can be time-consuming, especially the longer you wait to review it. 

✅ Solution: Because AI is such a huge time saver, your team should have more time available to edit and maintain your knowledge base, as well as coach any AI tools you use. For example, Psycho Bunny sees 26% of all tickets resolved by AI Agent. 

Schedule time each month or quarter, depending on how often your policies or products change to keep your knowledge base current and relevant. If your knowledge base has outdated information, your AI most certainly will, too. 

📚 Further reading: The Gorgias AI Approach: Onboard, Automate, Observe, and Coach

How AI Agent can help

AI Agent learns your policies and brand voice to autonomously handle support queries via email –– just like a human agent. 

Our customers have found that it often doesn't matter if an agent or AI responds to a customer so long as a resolution is reached quickly. 

That was the case for Ron Shah, CEO of health and wellness brand Obvi:  

“People just want to know things fast; they want things quickly. As long as they're getting accurate responses, most people don't care how.”

Within the first four weeks of its launch, AI Agent supported 300 brands, 60 of which reached a 20% automation rate. It was able to process 10,000 messages in one week. 

“These might look like modest numbers on a screen, but they’re translating to significant benefits for the people who monitor, manage, and innovate on ways to deliver exceptional customer experiences — and we feel grateful to be able to facilitate this shift,” says Gorgias CEO and Co-founder Romain Lapeyre.

Investing in and prioritizing high-quality knowledge bases will support both your CX team and your customers. Give your team time back, create better customer experiences, and get on the cutting edge of AI for customer support.

See AI Agent in action and book a demo.

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TL;DR:

• Automating simple customer requests saves major time. AI Agent and automation features helped reduce response times by up to 69%.
• Obvi handled 27% of tickets with just two agents. Within two weeks of using AI Agent, their team saw major efficiency gains.
• Psycho Bunny resolved tickets 99.4% faster using AI Agent. The conversational AI tool boosted speed and reduced manual workload.
• ‍Kirby Allison saw 46% more sales with AI Agent. They used Flows to guide customers and drive purchases more effectively.

Guess what? Automating your customer support doesn’t mean you don't care about every customer interaction—it’s quite the opposite. 

Think about it… if someone wants to cancel an order, they simply want it done without any attempts at a personalized upsell. This type of response usually doesn’t require any additional flair.

Automation allows you to meet customers' needs promptly for straightforward requests. At the same time, it gives your team the bandwidth to invest more time and energy into solving intricate problems and building stronger customer relationships.

Many brands using Gorgias AI Agent are saving both time and money, reducing response times, and even increasing sales generated directly from support.

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First, who benefits from Gorgias AI Agent?

As a solopreneur, it’s pretty self-explanatory. You’re busy with all aspects of your business, so automating what you can is going to help you prioritize and focus on more important things. 

But what about those who have customer support teams? This might sound counterintuitive, but Gorgias AI Agent isn’t geared toward any specific type of brand. 

It benefits everyone at every stage of growth, whether you’re a single founder who wears many hats or lead a large CS team at an enterprise business.

Take Obvi—this mid-market health and wellness brand has a lean CX team of only two support agents. Although surprising, given their size and stage of growth, they’ve been able to automate the tedious and repetitive parts of CX.

For example, during BFCM 2023, Obvi’s CEO Ron Shah decided to use AI Agent to boost CX efficiency even further while still providing excellent customer support.

“I told our team we were going to onboard AI Agent for BFCM, so a good portion of tickets would be handled automatically. There was a huge sigh of relief knowing that customers were going to be taken care of.”

—Ron Shah, CEO and Co-founder at Obvi

Obvi now handles 150+ tickets per day without adding any headcount, thanks to a 27% automation rate—which they achieved within two weeks of onboarding AI Agent. 

Even for enterprise brands with larger CX teams, AI Agent helps them deal with the huge influx of queries that don’t require a human response—things like, “Where’s my order?” or “Can you cancel my order?”

And it’s also more than the support teams who benefit. With more time given back to agents for strategic thinking, support teams can share helpful advice across the entire organization:

• For the product team: Report on which products are causing the most tickets to identify and address issues. When the product team can directly reference customer pain points, it becomes easier to improve product quality and reduce future support inquiries.
• For the marketing team: Analyze which campaigns may have been misleading by tracking customer complaints and dissatisfaction to improve future promotions. Customer insights can help refine messaging that resonates better with your audience.
• For the operations team: Identify big spikes in lost or delayed packages to streamline order fulfillment logistics and improve delivery processes.
• For the sales team: Provide insights on customer feedback related to pricing and product preferences to refine sales strategies.

This way, customer support becomes less about the speed of ticket resolution and more about providing high-quality customer service that returns the favor with higher CLTV. How? Let’s review a few stories from brands using AI Agent.

💡 Pro Tip: Deflect WISMO tickets and let customers track their order by activating Order Management in your AI Agent settings. Go to Settings > Productivity > Order Management and toggle Track Order on.

AI Agent resolves tickets 99.4% faster than human agents

Every brand eventually faces a common dilemma: how to scale efficiently while keeping customer experience high and costs low.

This was no different for Psycho Bunny, the vibrant menswear brand known for its edgy twist on classic styles and its iconic skull-and-crossbones rabbit logo. As the company grew, so did the challenge of maintaining top-notch customer support without skyrocketing overhead costs.

"As we continue to grow this multi-million dollar company, the most important thing is maintaining or improving our current KPIs and CSAT, but without raising our customer support overhead. And being able to maintain this for the next 5–10 years."

—Tosha Moyer, Senior Customer Experience Manager at Psycho Bunny

Recognizing the need for innovation, the team turned to AI for a solution, specifically through Gorgias. Quickly after setup, the team began trialing AI Agent and named it Lisa.

Gorgias’s conversational AI tool, AI Agent, is an extension of your team. Just like a new support agent, AI Agent can:

• Learn all your support processes and policies
• Answer tickets in your brand’s tone of voice
• Perform Actions in Shopify and other tools for full resolutions
• Escalate tickets it cannot confidently answer

For Psycho Bunny, AI Agent quickly became a vital member of the team, resolving 26% of customer tickets with lightning speed—99.4% faster than human agents. 

By handling repetitive questions like order status and returns, Lisa freed up human agents to tackle more complex and high-value customer interactions.

One of its standout features is its ability to respond with empathy and personalization, reflecting the specific information customers provide. 

"We love the empathy in AI Agent’s responses," said Mary Mundy, Technical Support Specialist at Psycho Bunny. "Replacing a generic automated reply with a response that identifies the issues and has empathy, while communicating the key information the customer needs, is awesome."

The impact was immediate and impressive. Lisa answered queries 10 times faster than the team average, typically resolving tickets in under 2 minutes compared to the 4+ hours it took human agents.

Within the first two months, AI Agent shot to the top of Psycho Bunny’s customer support leaderboard for first response and resolution times, all while generating higher CSAT scores (4.67) than the team average (4.6). 

💡 Pro Tip: Give your AI Agent some personality to match how your human agents speak. Go to AI Agent > Settings tab, and in the Tone of Voice menu, choose from Friendly, Professional, Sophisticated, or Custom tones.

Kirby Allison generated 46% more sales from answering pre-sales questions

Kirby Allison, the luxury shoe and garment care retailer, has been a staple for well-dressed customers since 2011. However, their growing success came with a hefty challenge: an overwhelming influx of customer support inquiries.

With just two dedicated team members handling a surge of repetitive questions and manual processes, Kirby Allison’s customer support team was stretched thin. 

The pressure was on Addison Debter, Head of Customer Service, who not only managed customer queries but also juggled inventory management, product information updates, and website development.

"We were inundated with simple, repetitive questions: 'Where is my order?' 'What kind of shoe polish do I need?' We had to keep repeating similar answers to similar questions. And we were doing the exchanges and returns manually, one by one. We were losing so much time. We couldn't follow up with customers as quickly as we wanted," Addison shared. 

The team wanted a better way to handle these tickets, so they switched from Zendesk to Gorgias, specifically for the automation features.

"Our favorite features are definitely Flows and Article Recommendations," Addison said. "They drive so much automation for us. Shoppers get answers to their questions by themselves: what's the right size hanger, where is my order, what shoe polish would you recommend, etc."

Flows allow you to display up to six commonly asked questions directly in your chat widget. If a customer clicks on one of those questions, they’re redirected to articles from your knowledge base where they get the answer quickly. It’s an entirely self-serve experience.

Auto responses have also been impactful for this team. These work by using Rules to automatically reply to emails and messages based on the context of the customer's message.

The results? Within just two months, Kirby Allison saw a 23% increase in conversions and a staggering 46% boost in sales from support. 

Automating responses to pre-sales questions freed up the team to engage in conversations that led to sales, improving both revenue and efficiency.

💡 Not sure which FAQs to include in your Chat? Check out our list of 50+ FAQ templates here.

Boost holiday efficiency with 69% faster resolution times

The holidays are always difficult for support teams. The stakes are high, and so is the influx of support tickets.

Thankfully, customers can get the answers and guidance they need faster and more easily via self-serve order management, Flows, and AI-driven Article Recommendations.

Shinesty, the brand that’s all about making the world take itself less seriously, started out selling wacky vintage suits. Nowadays, they’re best known for their men’s underwear range, including the signature Ball Hammocks, which promise booty bliss and scrotal serenity. 

Shinesty also offers a subscription service, delivering a fresh pair of underwear each month with exclusive prints and discounts.

As with many ecommerce brands, Shinesty’s peak sales period spans from Black Friday through Christmas. The year-round customer support team of three builds up to 20 agents during the holidays to handle this surge.

For the 2023 holiday season, Molly Kerrigan, Senior Director of Retention, aimed to boost efficiency through automation. The goal? Help the CX team work smarter, not harder, and maintain their stellar customer satisfaction without increasing headcount.

“We get a lot of praise from our customers, and they talk highly of our CX team after 1:1 interactions. We can’t lose that as we scale,” Molly emphasized.

The team was swamped with repetitive questions about order status, discounts, and account management—all important queries but ones that don’t necessarily build customer relationships. Self-service solutions seemed like the answer, but previous tools struggled with Shinesty’s subscription model complexities

“Other tools required a high level of customization to handle the subscription element. But Gorgias AI Agent has been straightforward,” said Molly. 

After seeing the impact early, Molly and her team doubled down on optimizing their use of AI Agent:

• One-step Flows offer customers instant answers to common questions. When customers ask questions in Chat, AI checks Shinesty’s Help Center for relevant articles and shares them, often resolving the query without agent interaction. 
• Multi-step Flows guide shoppers through a more interactive experience for picking the right undies, managing their subscriptions, and applying discounts.
• Self-serve order tracking and management have become extremely popular. Customers can get instant updates on their orders and report issues through the Help Center or Chat.

These automations are accessible via Chat, the Help Center, or the Contact Form, giving customers fast answers without needing to speak to an agent.

📚 Read more: Offer more self-serve options with flows: 10 use cases & best practices

Shinesty’s Flows are so effective that many have an automation rate of over 90%, meaning they resolve customer inquiries 90% of the time without human intervention. 

AI Agent helped Shinesty significantly save on recruitment, training, and overtime costs. Shinesty’s first response time has dropped by 65% and resolution time by 69%. This has resulted in the fastest resolution times Shinesty has ever seen, with the smallest CX team they’ve ever had—just five agents for the 2023 peak season, compared to 20 in 2021 and 12 in 2022.

Why you need a knowledge base for automation

Today, shoppers expect a high-quality shopping experience, and we know that they love having the power to solve problems on their own, on their schedule. In fact, 84% say a company's customer experience is as important as its products and services.

While we’ve seen how AI Agent can help you meet those expectations, a core component to making all of the flows work effectively is a customer knowledge base. This is crucial for any effective customer support automation strategy. Why? 

A few reasons:

• Customers get the answers they need quickly and easily, leading to a better overall experience.
• By deflecting common queries to the knowledge base, your support team can focus on more complex issues, improving efficiency.
• Providing detailed product information helps customers make informed purchase decisions, leading to higher conversion rates.
• Educated customers are less likely to make returns, saving your business time and money.

A knowledge base is an interactive portal that connects your customers to both sales and customer service. That means making it easy for them to find answers before making a purchase and helping them troubleshoot any possible issues afterward.

Here’s a helpful example from BrüMate 

This brand’s Help Center shines with its customer-focused design. 

At the top of the page, it addresses common questions like returns policy and product compatibility, allowing customers to find answers quickly without scrolling. To enhance the shopping experience, BrüMate offers an interactive quiz that guides customers to the perfect product, saving them the hassle of extensive research. 

The Help Center also includes easily accessible links for package tracking and returning to the main site, with a chat bubble for immediate assistance. When the customer service team is offline, customers can still access helpful articles.

💡 Did you know? You can teach AI Agent information from specific URLs. Simply go to AI Agent > Knowledge > Public URL sources.

“We’ve started pushing people towards resources that are in our Help Center. We're trying to help our customers self-solve.”

—Colin Waters, leading at The Feed & former Associate Director of Customer Experience at BrüMate

Automate 50% of support volume in 50 days

By integrating AI into your customer support strategy, you can significantly reduce your team's workload. Gorgias AI Agent is proven to be able to handle 30% of inquiries autonomously within just 30 days. 

Curious about how conversational AI can benefit your business? Book a demo to learn about the advantages of AI Agent and see firsthand how they can transform your customer support operations.

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While new customer acquisition is always going to be the most important driver of business growth, it’s important to keep existing customers coming back for more. Good customer retention helps brand reputation—which is itself important for new business growth—while making your overall marketing program more efficient. 

Paid social media advertising is one of the most powerful customer retention tools that brands have at their disposal. In this blog, we’ll break down: 

• Why social retention is essential 
• How to build social retention audiences 
• Ways to craft effective retention campaigns 
• How to validate retention success 
• What to avoid when targeting retention audiences 

Let’s get started. 

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The importance of social media in customer retention 

Put simply, if you don’t use social media to stay top-of-mind for your existing customers, your competitors will. Competitor conquesting is a very real part of paid social strategy, and competing brands will always try to woo your existing audience, often with an appealing deal or offer. Retention strategies, in part, are a way to defend your brand from those encroachments. 

On top of that, customers often need a reminder. Even if they love your brand and products, they aren’t going to be thinking about them all the time, so it’s on you to do a little of the lifting for them. It’s important to pop out every now and then to show them what new items you have in stock, or to encourage their next purchase with a great sales offer. 

Lastly, every person’s preferred communication style is different. Not all customers read emails or marketing texts, but social usage is pretty ubiquitous: More than 7 out of 10 American adults use at least one social media platform, with Facebook (68%) and Instagram (47%) being the most popular. That makes paid social a good way to ensure your customers remain aware of your latest and greatest offerings when they’re passively browsing their preferred social apps. 

How much of your budget should go to retention?

Generally speaking, prospecting should always get the majority of your paid social marketing budget. At ADM, we encourage no less than 60%, and often more depending on a brand’s business model. That means retention campaigns should always represent a minority of your budget. 

This is for a number of reasons: One, most businesses can’t survive without constantly restocking their pipeline of new customers. And since it’s much harder to convince an unfamiliar user to make a purchase if they haven’t heard of your brand or enjoyed your products yet, new customers will typically require more touchpoints to produce a conversion—which means more budget. 

Retention campaigns, on the other hand, often work more efficiently. If you’re properly nurturing existing customers by offering perks like exclusive deals and early access to sales, they will keep purchasing. So deciding how big of a majority share your prospecting efforts get compared to retention shouldn’t be solely based on the volume of purchases you can get from each bucket: The cost of driving a purchase from each segment is a deciding factor as well. 

Targeting retention audiences

The march towards a cookieless future has made traditional remarketing less effective on social media. Custom audiences are still useful on Meta and other social platforms, however, which means retention campaigns should rely on first-party data. Your CRM lists, which use first-party data willingly provided by your customers, will be your most important resource—though Pixel-based past purchaser audiences can also be useful for speaking to existing customers who may have purchased more recently. 

The rise of AI-powered campaign types, like Meta’s Advantage+ campaigns, have also changed how marketers approach these audiences. These campaigns use algorithmic insights to deploy different ad creative based on inferences about the user and its own learnings about how different creative performs for different purposes. That makes it possible to utilize “blended” targeting—running prospecting, remarketing, and retention audiences all under the same campaign, provided you have appropriate ad creative options for each audience type in the campaign. 

The most important part of this “new era” is staying on top of the spend allocated to these segments. A strong retention audience can help lift ROAS, but brands still need to monitor where spend is going within those campaigns to ensure it isn’t all gravitating to one customer type. Putting spend caps on a retention audience, or using an existing customer percentage cap in Advantage+, can be good ways to regain some control over your audiences.

Tips for retaining customers on social media

There is no one-size-fits-all strategy for making sure customers come back for more, but there are some best practices to follow to set your retention efforts up for maximum success. Here’s what ADM recommends: 

Upsells/Next step products:

Create targeted ads featuring “next step” products in the customer journey. For example, a running apparel brand might advertise running shoes specifically to existing customers, as these items typically have a higher price point and require more research compared to items like tights or a running bra. 

First looks/early access to new products or releases: 

Utilize custom lists to incentivize first-time purchasers to make a subsequent purchase with a small discount. Offer VIP early access to sales for existing customers with steeper discounts, making them feel valued and encouraging repeat business. 

Special deals for existing customers only:

Target existing customers with exclusive deals on their favorite products in new colors or offer early access to new releases related to previously purchased items. This approach can enhance customer loyalty by making them feel special and appreciated. 

Creative messaging specific to retention audiences:

If it’s a retention ad, users should get the impression you’re inviting them back to buy again. That’s why it’s important to differentiate retention messaging from prospecting, with ideas like: 

• Back In Stock: “We made more of your favorite, get it before it sells out again.” 
• You Asked, We Listened: “You asked for this polo in green, we made it.” 
• Most Requested Feature: “The feature/upsell you’ve all been asking for is now here.” 

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Validating success

Because retention campaigns typically use first-party data, there’s often less guesswork involved when it comes to your results. The user is verifiably tied to the action they undertake, so marketers feel confident that they are accurately reaching existing customers they intend to. 

In order to validate success, it’s best to look at the return on ad spend (ROAS) you’re getting from your retention audiences relative to your prospecting efforts. Since existing customers already have brand affinity, they should be expected to purchase more while requiring a shorter journey from impression to purchase.

That means your retention audience ROAS targets should be as much as double those of prospecting. For example, if a comfortable ROAS for one of our client’s prospecting audiences was 1.5, we would consider targeting a retention ROAS goal closer to 2.5 or 3. 

Customer retention mistakes to avoid 

The only thing as valuable as knowing what to do is knowing what not to do. Here are some of the common customer retention mistakes we have seen around the industry: 

Running Generic Ads: Creating generic ads is the easiest way to lose with any segment. If your messaging isn’t tailored to your audience, it will always fall flat. This is especially true with retention audiences who already loyal customers don’t want to be spoken to like they’re brand new. 

Letting Ads Go Stale: An ad might work great the first time someone sees it. It might still make an impact the fifth or tenth time. But if your same existing customers are receiving the same message repeatedly—and not converting—then fatigue can have a negative impact on performance. Make sure you’re updating retention ads frequently enough that users don’t get annoyed by or immune to your message. 

Inappropriate Spend Split: As mentioned in the budgeting section, the wrong spend split and not tailoring goals to each audience can also be major hindrances to retention performance. It’s important to make sure you’re not neglecting your existing customers by putting too little budget towards them, but since existing customers are finite and new customers aren’t, it’s possible to reach oversaturation and diminishing returns if you put too much budget into those campaigns. 

Bad or Outdated Customer Data: Healthy, accurate customer data is key to ensuring you are reaching the right audiences. Using outdated customer lists for targeting can be a big mistake. When using CRM segments for retention campaigns, make sure you are updating those segments frequently (or using a third-party integration like Klaviyo) to ensure segments update automatically. 

Retaining customers is an art 

As we’ve laid out here, a lot goes into running effective customer retention campaigns on your paid social media. If you’re looking for an expert performance marketing agency that can assist in all facets of your online growth, reach out to our team at Accelerated Digital Media to set up an audit.

TL;DR:

• Gorgias views AI as an extension of CX teams, treating it like a human support agent by onboarding it with your policies, automating ticket handling, observing its response quality, and coaching it with continuous feedback.
• AI Agent uses a combination of GPT-4o, brand-owned data, and third-party integrations like Shopify to provide accurate responses while limiting hallucinations.
• AI Agent can fully resolve requests and perform actions to improve first response and resolution times without sacrificing support quality.‍
• Human feedback continuously refines AI Agent performance to keep it effective and on-brand.

Chances are, you’ve had at least one frustrating experience with AI in customer support. Even with 69.2% of customer support professionals using AI, you’re still skeptical about making AI a permanent part of your customer support operations.

At Gorgias, building AI has been a thoughtful process. We insist on only shipping AI features that improve customer experiences, not degrade them. 

To help you understand how we’re approaching AI, we’ll walk through the four pillars that ensure a positive AI experience for you and your customers: Onboard, Automate, Observe, and Coach.

• Onboard: Teach the AI your processes and brand voice.
• Automate: Let the AI start handling tickets in your inbox.
• Observe: Keep a close eye on the quality of the AI’s response.
• Coach: Give feedback to continually improve the AI’s accuracy.

Putting it all together: we view AI as the ultimate assistive tool for customer experience (CX) teams.

AI changes the way CX teams operate

Before diving into the four pillars, let’s set the stage. Two major changes have occurred in the past few years:

1. Customer expectations for instant answers across channels are growing.
2. We have the technology to answer hundreds of tickets simultaneously, each in <1 minute — without breaking the budget on uncapped hiring.

As AI removes the grunt work from support teams’ plates, repetitive tasks such as providing order status updates, processing returns, and answering frequently asked questions can be offloaded to AI.

AI can even handle the mental work of reading, summarizing, categorizing, prioritizing, and tagging, even when a human needs to step in.

Agents can then focus on higher-impact tasks, like speaking to VIP customers on the phone, offering new support channels, driving upsells and cross-sells, and much more. This is how CX teams evolve. 

Brands using Gorgias AI Agent in the alpha testing phase are already automating as much as 30% of email tickets. By the end of 2024, we envision over half of brands’ customer tickets to be handled by AI Agent.

The 4 pillars of AI at Gorgias

Our overall goal is to make CX tools, including AI, that are great for customers and their overall business goals. We follow four pillars when it comes to AI at Gorgias.

Onboard: Teach the AI your processes and brand voice

Bringing AI into your support team is like onboarding a new agent. Like any agent, AI should know:

• How to talk like your brand, using brand-specific voice and language
• Your policy, products, and FAQs
• How your helpdesk processes work, i.e. tagging tickets for organization
• Which topics should be handed over to a superior (in the case of AI, a human)

AI should model the most efficient support reps who know their brand inside and out — while being able to empathize with customers at lightning speed. That is the future of great customer service. 

How it looks in Gorgias

AI Agent’s main knowledge reference is your owned data, including your Shopify storefront and backend, Help Center articles, order data, brand voice, conversation history, and other URLs where your brand content is stored. 

When adding AI Agent to your Gorgias account, you can sync each of these resources to empower your AI Agent with the knowledge it needs to answer questions and resolve basic issues. 

To enhance AI Agent’s answering power, the Guidance feature allows you to provide detailed instructions on how AI Agent should interact with customers. 

While the prior resources are centered around brand knowledge, Guidance is more like team processes. You can instruct AI Agent to ask follow-up questions, confirm details, and treat customers one way or another depending on factors like whether:

• Their order was placed within the last XX days
• They have spent more than $XX with your brand
• They are domestic or international customers
• And so much more

Tosha Moyer, Senior Customer Experience Manager at menswear brand Psycho Bunny, highlights the value of our internal guidance feature. “Guidance is so important because we have a lot of internal processes that we do not need to be described in a customer-facing article, but we want AI Agent to be able to access that information and manage tickets accordingly.”

Last, you can instruct AI to speak in your brand’s voice. When setting up AI Agent, you can provide your team’s tone of voice guidelines, brand bible, and other resources to ensure your agent represents your brand identity. 

Automate: Let the AI start handling tickets in your inbox

AI can do so much more than restate your brand policies. At Gorgias, we believe AI should fully resolve inquiries — and that means taking action.

According to a report by Gartner, 82% of customers say quick resolutions influence their decision to stay loyal to a brand. When we empower AI to take action, customers have better experiences and are more likely to keep doing business with a brand.

How it looks in Gorgias

AI Agent uses the latest model of ChatGPT, 4o, combined with the content you already have to send human-like answers to customers.

But AI Agent doesn’t only regurgitate your Help Center content. It goes one step further by updating customers’ orders, changing addresses, sending order and return statuses, and more.

Native integrations with Shopify and other apps in the Gorgias ecosystem allow AI Agent to fully resolve basic inquiries by pulling customer-specific data and performing actions in other tools. 

Our goal is to make connecting these tools as simple as possible, minimizing the need for technical setups like configuring API calls. 

Of course, AI’s decisions on when to execute these Actions should come from your team. That’s why you can set up conditions for each Action, specifying when (and for whom) the Action can fire.

AI Agent includes a variety of pre-built Actions from popular ecommerce apps like Shopify, Recharge, and Loop Returns — with many more on the way. You can also build Custom Actions with any 3rd-party tool. 

Within two months, AI Agent outranked Psycho Bunny’s human agents’ resolution times. It resolved tickets in under 2 minutes, compared to the human average of 4+ hours. Customers even gave AI Agent a 4.67/5 CSAT score —  nearly 0.1 points higher than human agents’ average CSAT score.

Observe: Keep a close eye on the quality of the AI’s response

AI is a new technology — we humans are still building trust and comfort. In fact, only 3 in 10 Americans are able to identify AI use in digital use cases, according to the Pew Research Center. This suggests a lack of transparency in how companies use AI.

In a problem-solving service like customer support, AI’s role and decision-making should be transparent: Agents should know which tickets are handled by AI, what exactly the AI did, and why. 

How it looks in Gorgias

Agents can see the logic of AI Agent right in the ticket view.  This includes the knowledge source it used, the specific actions it took, and the exact responses it generated. All actions made by AI Agent are highlighted in purple or symbolized by the purple sparkle AI Agent icon.

Being able to discern AI responses from human ones allows brands to: 

• Ensure the accuracy of AI responses to provide speedy resolutions.
• Quickly correct AI missteps to maintain high standards of service.
• Build customer trust by being transparent about AI’s role in the customer support process.

We highly recommend nominating one human agent to review AI Agent’s responses. Set aside time each week to review to understand how it behaves, when it responds vs hands over, and the most common knowledge resources it pulls from.

Coach: Give feedback to continually improve the AI’s accuracy

Inevitably, AI won’t be perfect from day 1. Just like a new agent, AI needs coaching. That’s why the final pillar of our AI philosophy is improving AI’s knowledge and performance through coaching. 

When AI makes a mistake, you should have the power to correct it so that future errors are avoided. When AI acts correctly, you should also be able to encourage and reinforce its positive behavior. 

A continuous cycle of coaching helps AI become more aligned with your brand’s standards.

How it looks in Gorgias

Feedback is built into AI Agent. Every decision AI Agent makes can be rated with a thumbs-up/down system. Encourage AI Agent to continue making the same actions with a thumbs up, and change behavior with a thumbs down. 

You can see how AI handles every situation in detail, giving you full transparency. Reviewing these decisions leads AI to better align with your brand’s standards.

In addition, you can easily instruct AI Agent to pull from different Guidance instructions and Help Center articles or execute different Actions — with the easy ability to create or edit those resources in just a few clicks.

Empower your team with AI

At Gorgias, we designed AI to enhance your customer support experience. By leveraging the pillars of Onboard, Automate, Observe, and Coach, we ensure that AI Agent is an effective and reliable partner for your team.

With AI handling low-priority repetitive questions, your team can focus on creating more meaningful connections. This includes prioritizing VIP customers and escalated tickets, upselling, and engaging in higher-impact activities.

The future of AI at Gorgias is bright, with continuous improvements and new features on the horizon. Embrace the power of AI and see how it can transform your customer service team.

Book a demo today to experience the benefits of AI Agent for yourself.

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TL;DR:

• Revisit your data: Use data from historical support tickets and customer feedback to identify common concerns.
• Encourage real-time conversations: Use live chat support with specific CTAs to entice customers and provide personalized assistance.
• Optimize timely messaging: Deliver campaign messages at the right moment based on browsing patterns.
• Educate to reduce returns: Clear and thorough product information helps set accurate expectations, leading to fewer misunderstandings and returns.

In the competitive ecommerce landscape, turning browsers into buyers is like… trying to get a cat to take a bath (if you know, you know). You can activate various website campaigns until something sticks, but without relying on concrete data, you may never see the conversions you want.

This is where addressing pre-sales friction points comes into play. In other words, resolving concerns that customers face before making a purchase.

Once you’ve determined the problem areas, you can use Convert campaigns to lead customers to the checkout. These onsite campaigns have proven to enhance customer engagement, drive conversions, and significantly reduce return rates. 

Ready to gain new customers? Let’s deep dive into identifying pre-sales friction points and resolving them with Convert campaigns.

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How to identify pre-sales friction points

Creating campaigns that convert requires identifying your top pre-sales barriers. These are obstacles in the buying journey that prevent customers from proceeding with a purchase.

Some sale-preventing questions could be:

• How do I know which size will fit me best?
• What are the shipping costs and delivery times for my location?
• What is your return policy if the product doesn't meet my expectations?
• What are other customers saying about this product?

Proactively addressing these friction points can remove customers' hesitation when purchasing.

Take a look at three data sources to identify your brand’s specific friction points.

1. Historical Tickets: Review your past customer support tickets, especially those in the product or pre-sale categories, to find valuable insights into customer concerns. For instance, TUSHY, a leading bidet brand, discovered that many shoppers had questions about toilet compatibility. After they targeted this concern with a campaign, they reduced customer hesitation and boosted the conversion rate by 10%.
2. Customer Feedback: Surveys, reviews, and customer interactions are rich sources of data. Collecting and analyzing customer feedback can help identify recurring issues and areas where additional information or support is needed. 
3. Website Analytics: Use tools like Google Analytics to determine when visitors drop off or spend excessive time on certain pages. For example, if many visitors exit on the product detail page, they might need more information or reassurance before making a purchase.

3 solutions to reduce friction points using Convert

After you’ve identified the obstacles in customers’ buying journeys, the next step is to resolve them.

Targeted onsite campaigns with Convert are an excellent way to tackle these issues. 

Here are three effective strategies to address common pre-sales friction points and enhance the shopping experience for your customers.

Solution #1: Use real-time messaging on the cart page

As of 2024, 70% of customers worldwide end up abandoning their online shopping carts. Price, value, competitors — there are many reasons why customers choose not to checkout. The solution is to engage with customers in real time while deep in shopping mode.

Conversational campaigns are among the highest-performing Convert campaign strategies, allowing brands to address customer questions and provide personalized assistance instantly.

TUSHY enhances product education by launching an educational campaign for shoppers browsing their product pages. The campaign features a video demonstrating how easy it is to install their bidets, reassuring customers about the simplicity of using their products.

Tips for Effective Real-Time Engagement:

• Compelling Call to Action (CTA): A generic CTA like “Let us know if you have any questions” is good, but specificity can resonate more with shoppers. For example, if you sell linen pants, try a CTA such as: “Ask our team below if you have any questions on linen care instructions or how you can expect the fit to adjust after washing.”
• Bandwidth Management: If 24/7 live chat support isn’t feasible, consider implementing different versions of the campaign for business hours and off-hours. Offer options for future scheduling or provide offline resources like quizzes, guides, or FAQs to keep customers engaged and informed. Brands can also leverage AI Agent to handle email conversations.

Solution #2: Capture customer attention at the right time using historical data

Timing is a critical factor in the success of onsite campaigns. Messages should be delivered at the right moment to ensure visitor attention without interrupting their browsing experience.

Fortunately, with Convert, you can target an audience based on the time spent on a visit or specific page. 

Check out how cosmetics brand Glamnetic appeals to browsing customers who spend more than a minute on their page:

Strategies for Timely Messaging:

• Analyze Browsing Patterns: Study the typical browsing time on your target pages. Campaign messages should appear after the visitor has had enough time to process the content but before they move on to another page. This balance is essential to maximize engagement without causing frustration.
• A/B Testing: Experiment with different delay times and message formats to identify what works best for your audience. Continuous testing and optimization can refine your approach and improve overall campaign performance.

Solution #3: Proactively assist shoppers in the product page

Educating customers is about providing information and empowering them to make confident purchasing decisions.

If customers are hesitant to buy from you, consider creating educational campaigns for:

• Product installation
• Product use 
• Sizing/fitting guide
• Product comparison guide

Glamnetic runs focused educational campaigns to provide customers with helpful product info and tutorials, like how to apply lash extensions. These campaigns make shopping easier and answer customers' specific questions, helping them make better buying choices. 

The results? +27% higher conversation rate and +12% AOV. 

Convert campaigns success: compelling data

Numbers don’t lie, and these impressive data points highlight the impact of well-crafted educational campaigns:

• 6%+ Engagement Rate: Convert educational campaigns have an average engagement rate of 9.09%, compared to the 1-3% benchmark. This means customers are more engaged with relevant and informative content.
• 11%+ More Conversions: 31% of tickets in these campaigns are converted, far exceeding the industry benchmark of 5-20%. Educational content helps resolve customer queries and moves them closer to making a purchase.
• 3%+ Boost in Conversion Rate: Convert campaigns have an overall conversion rate of 12.52%, compared to the 3-9% benchmark. Educated customers are more likely to complete their purchases, boosting sales.

Experience the true meaning of conversions with Gorgias Convert

Making the leap from browser to buyer is no easy feat. By addressing the friction points in the buyer journey, brands can smooth the path for their customers. These strategies not only enhance the shopping experience but also build customer confidence and trust. 

The data speaks for itself: well-crafted educational campaigns drive higher engagement, better conversion rates, and significantly reduce returns. Remember, you're not just selling a product — you're providing a solution, building relationships, and fostering long-term success in your brand.

Let the campaigns do all the work, and book a demo with Gorgias if you’re not leveraging Convert campaigns already.

TL;DR:

• Ecommerce sales are expected to rise by 8.8% in 2024, presenting new growth opportunities.
• Longer consideration times mean businesses need to engage customers at every stage of their buying journey.
• SEO remains crucial for growth, with over half of consumers using search for pre-purchase information.
• Ethical AI and well-managed returns can boost customer trust and loyalty while driving sales.

Let’s stop with the doom and gloom ecommerce trends and talk about what’s really up: growth.

Yep, you read that right. 

Ecommerce sales are set to soar by 8.8% in 2024, and the digital marketplace is ripe with opportunity.

Sure, we’ve all been budget-conscious for the past year or more—businesses and consumers alike. And we’re not saying you shouldn’t be.

Despite that, there is a ton of opportunity to grow your sales this year. It’s just time to understand how consumer behavior is shifting and how you should adapt to it.

So, what’s changing? We shared six trends to know about below.

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1. Consideration times are longer

There’s no denying that the more budget-conscious mindset is creating longer consideration times.

According to a 2023 consumer behavior report from Knocommerce, only 23.4% of shoppers reported discovering a brand and making a purchase on the same day. 

Meanwhile, 15.3% reported buying in the first week, and 61.3% of people reported taking longer than a week to make their first purchase.

What this data tells us

It's imperative to adopt a full-funnel approach and strategically engage customers at every stage of their buying journey. 

How? First, you must understand what they need to learn about your products, when they need to learn it, and which customer service channels and content formats they prefer for learning about your products.

Part of the issue is knowing how to simply be available for your customers. They shouldn’t feel like they’re on a scavenger hunt on your website, trying to track down your product FAQs and contact information.

Helpdesks are a great way to solve both issues. For example, with Gorgias onsite campaigns, you can recommend products to shoppers in a subtle way, typically at various stages of their buying cycle like:

1. Personalized messages on product pages that resonate with individual shopper preferences and browsing history.
2. Recommending complementary products or upgrades based on the customer's current cart selection.
3. Capitalizing on the excitement of new product launches to capture the attention of browsers.
4. Implementing winback campaigns targeted at customers who have previously engaged with your brand but haven't made a purchase recently.
5. Using browse and cart abandonment strategies to re-engage customers who have shown interest in your products but haven't completed the purchase process.
6. Providing valuable educational content that addresses common pain points, showcases product benefits, and guides customers towards informed purchasing decisions.
7. Sending targeted holiday campaigns around seasonal trends and shopper preferences to drive conversions.

2. Search still matters

Over half of consumers (55% to be exact) rank search as their top source for pre-purchase information. 

Despite what some marketing gurus share online, SEO is still an essential part of any brand’s growth strategy. Don’t sleep on SEO as an acquisition channel.

What to do about this 

Don’t forget the basics of SEO. 

We know it’s easy to forget when to set up an internal link or use a specific keyword, but there are a few best practices you should use to make sure your SEO engine is chugging alone:

• Conduct keyword research to identify high-value keywords related to your products or services and integrate them strategically into your website content, meta tags, and headings. 
• Focus on creating high-quality, relevant content that addresses user queries and provides valuable information to enhance your search visibility and rankings. I.e. don’t try to “game” the system.
• Use customer knowledge bases to improve your website's visibility in search engine results and attract organic traffic. Incorporate targeted keywords and search-friendly formatting into your knowledge-base articles to maximize their SEO impact.
• Keep your website content fresh, relevant, and up-to-date to maintain search visibility and engage users effectively. 
• Track and analyze key SEO metrics, such as keyword rankings, organic traffic, and conversion rates, to measure the effectiveness of your SEO efforts. If possible, do this at least every few months (we know you’re busy!).

Remember, SEO takes time to build. Two things you should know:

1. Traffic reflects past efforts (often taking at least 6 months to show results).
2. Your success 6 months from now depends on your work from 6 months ago.

Essentially, what you do today will shape your results next year, which is why it’s worth investing ASAP.

3. Customers expect AI safeguards. Prioritize an ethical AI strategy

According to a report by Salesforce, 74% of customers express concerns about the unethical use of AI. Additionally, 80% emphasize the importance of human validation of AI output.

Can shoppers be any more clear about the fact that we need a human-centered approach to AI implementation?

AI is impacting how customers trust businesses. Plain and simple, you need to implement an ethical strategy and make sure it’s managed by humans.

What this data tells us

There’s a fine balance between speed to resolution and adding a human element to every customer message. And you can have both automation and humans running the show.

Businesses that take this approach meet customer expectations for AI safeguards while driving operational efficiency and delivering exceptional customer experiences.

The proof is in the pudding: According to Gorgias data, within just 28 days, merchants who automated up to 20% of tickets experienced an impressive 8-point increase in repeat purchase rates. 

Automation goes beyond keyboard shortcuts or macros; it serves as a hands-off assistant capable of engaging customers and impacting revenue significantly—while making it easy for a human to jump in at any point for more specific customer inquiries.

TL;DR: Don’t be afraid to embrace automation as a strategic tool for customer engagement and growth. 

4. Returns are becoming a profit driver, not a cost center

Returns are an inevitable part of ecommerce, with up to 30% of sales potentially resulting in returns. 

Contrary to common belief, returns are not a cost center—they can be transformed into a profit driver and a valuable touchpoint for enhancing customer loyalty and retention.

In fact, 91% of consumers actively track their packages, indicating a high level of interest and engagement in the returns process.

By making it easy for customers to track returns and exchanges directly from the order tracking page, you reduce return-related support tickets while providing a transparent experience for buyers.

TL;DR: A well-handled return can start a new chapter in the customer's relationship with a brand, not the final page.

What to do about this

At the end of the day, returns can be costly… Unless you customize the returns experience based on shopper segments and save time to re-allocate to other growth-related initiatives. 

Some tips:

1. Customize the returns experience: Only offer free returns exclusively to VIP customers to incentivize loyalty and increase customer satisfaction.
2. Understand return reasons: Collect data on return reasons to gain insights into areas for improvement. For example, customers will tell you how to improve product quality, refine the buying experience, and tailor messaging to better meet expectations.
3. Empower customers: Provide customers with the autonomy to initiate returns independently. By enabling self-service returns, businesses can streamline operations, reduce resource-intensive support tickets, and enhance overall efficiency.
4. Use integration solutions: Leverage integrated platforms such as Gorgias and Loop Returns to streamline returns management and customer support processes. With two-way integration, merchants can access comprehensive returns data directly within their Gorgias admin interface, enabling faster ticket resolution and improved customer service.

Read more: Ecommerce returns: 10 best practices for taking your online store to the next level

5. Customers expect connected journeys: Break down your business silos

A staggering 79% of customers expect consistent interactions across different departments. Unfortunately, only 45% of customers feel that companies currently provide such consistency. 

Additionally, 56% of customers report the frustration of having to repeat or re-explain information to different representatives, highlighting the disconnect between departments within organizations.

PwC states that 44% of consumers are willing to engage with chatbots to seek product information before making a purchase, making it even more important to have consistency across departments.

Today, customer support teams play a dual role as both problem solvers for post-purchase inquiries and guides for customers exploring products before buying.

What this data tells us

Your support team must understand how to provide consistent support, pre-sale and post-sale. No matter where a buyer is in their journey, every message should feel consistent with the rest of the brand’s ethos.

Our recommendation? 

First, develop templates and macros for customer communication to ensure consistency in tone of voice. By providing standardized responses, businesses can maintain a cohesive brand identity and deliver a seamless experience to customers.

Second, keep all customer information in one centralized location to avoid the need for repetitive inquiries and ensure a holistic view of each customer's interaction history with the brand. No one should have to repeat themselves when trying to get support.

Last, promote a customer-first mindset across the entire organization by prioritizing the needs and preferences of customers in all decision-making processes. For a real-life example of what this looks like, Amanda Kwasniewicz, VP of Customer Experience, shares the strategies she uses at Love Wellness in this article here.

(Teaser: the team shares customer feedback directly in Slack for the whole company to see.)

6. Email is harder, time to diversify

You’re likely already aware that Gmail, Yahoo, and others are imposing stricter rules for inbox placement, making it harder for marketing emails to reach their intended recipients.

Not only that, but according to Klaviyo's benchmark report, email-placed order rates have remained stagnant, with only a minimal increase from Q1-Q3, reaching just 0.8%, and a slight rise to 0.9% in Q4. 

PWC also shares that TV and social ads remain highly influential in customers’ purchase decisions, whereas email is closer to the bottom. This doesn’t mean you should stop investing in email marketing, but connecting with customers in other ways is a good idea to supplement your email efforts.

What to do about this

You can explore many other channels—SMS, direct mail, mobile apps. Even voice marketing is a super unique and niche way to connect with audiences today.

Here at Gorgias, we’re experts at customer experience marketing, and using conversational customer service is a great way to engage with customers directly and personally—without hoping the message hits their inbox and not the spam folder.

This communication style engages customers using various channels, including live chat, messaging apps, chatbots, and even voice support. 

For example, skincare brand Topicals increased sales by 78% using conversational customer support. Specifically, the brand uses Flows to automate answers to common questions, such as: 

• How should I use the Faded Serum?
• Where do you ship?
• How do I apply to the Ambassador Program?
• How do I find the right products for my skin type?

All of this takes place within a self-service chat. These chat flows also guide shoppers to additional helpful resources in Topicals' Help Center or product pages. If a customer still has unanswered questions, a customer support agent can take over the conversation and chat with them directly.

Change can be good — embrace it

If there’s one thing we’ll leave you with, it’s this: 

Embrace the shifts, leverage the trends, and explore new avenues of engagement. 

You don’t have to be scared of new customer expectations, and thankfully, there are a ton of awesome tools out there now that make it easier than ever before to connect with your buyers.

With Gorgias, you can set up conversational marketing across your website, connecting with customers in ways that resonate and drive results. You can try it out for yourself here.

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TL;DR:

• Automation increases repeat purchase rates, boosts response times, improves resolution times, and allows brands to scale faster while saving time and money.
• 94% of ecommerce experts agree that automation is going to be more important in ecommerce.
• Brands saw an 8-point increase in repeat purchase rates in 28 days by handling repetitive inquiries with automation.
• Gorgias users report 52% faster resolutions, reducing response and resolution times, making customers happier.

For most CX teams, budgets are getting tighter, but tickets are on the rise. 

With strapped teams and incoming customer issues, automation is becoming an ideal tool. 

94% of Gorgias customers agree, according to our recent survey. 

Supporting automation in your workflow now is a surefire way to set your team up for success. Let’s explore why we’ll see an AI and automation-driven future within CX. 

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Automation increases repeat purchase rates 

Happy customers are the best fuel for growth. Why? 

Happy customers want to come back to shop with you, and we know that repeat customers give long-term value to your brand. 

Findings from 12,000+ Gorgias merchants show that repeat customers: 

• Account for only 21% of customers but generate 44% of revenue
• Make up 46% of orders
• Generate 300% more revenue than first-time customers

Our research also found that it is five times less expensive for a brand to retain an existing customer than it is to source a new one. 

If you want to see improvement in your repeat purchase rates, automation is the way to go. Automation can handle repetitive inquiries from customers, like “Where’s my order?” so your team can focus on high-touch problems. 

Brands that use Gorgias to fuel automation see improved repeat purchase rates. Within 28 days, merchants who automated up to 20% of tickets increased their repeat purchase rate by 8 points.

Automation boosts response times

Gorgias's research found that 90% of U.S. customers expect an immediate customer service response. Of those customers, 60% want that response in 10 minutes or less.

A significant advantage of automation is that it effectively gives you a zero-second response time. When you trust automation to handle even a tiny percentage of your incoming tickets, you will see a decrease in your first-response time (FRT). 

After Shinesty implemented Gorgias AI Agent, the company saw a 65% boost in its first response time. This change in FRT made a monumental impact on the support team's workload.

Thanks to AI Agent, Shinesty is able to deflect 55% of incoming tickets with automation, giving CX agents more time to deliver personalized and proactive support to customers. 

On this improvement, Molly Kerrigan, Senior Director of Retention at Shinesty, says: 

“AI Agent has allowed us to focus on improving customer experience from the ground up, because we're not so deep in ‘ticket town.’”

Thanks to automation features from Gorgias, Shinesty gained the best of both worlds, providing excellent customer service while saving the budget. 

Automation improves resolution times

An added benefit of lightning-fast response times is getting to a resolution faster. This is more than just a nice-to-have — it makes your customers happier. 

As we said earlier, happy customers are more likely to shop again and cite an overall more positive experience with your brand. This is a full-circle moment that shows how a slight change in workflow can lead to significantly positive results. 

In 2022, Gorgias studied over 10,000 ecommerce brands to understand the connection between customer experience and growth. We found that lowering the average resolution time to under 6 hours gave companies a 2% boost in revenue. 

With Gorgias, customers see resolution times improve dramatically, with automatically handled tickets resolving issues 52% faster than those handled without.

That happened at Psycho Bunny, where the customer support team saw resolution times improve by a staggering 99.4% after implementing Gorgias AI Agent to automate 26% of customer tickets.  

With AI Agent to support the team, Psycho Bunny’s human customer support agents were free to spend more time on higher-value tasks beyond answering FAQs.

“Our customer support KPIs are already fantastic: we're already leading in the industry,” says Tosha Moyer, Senior Customer Experience Manager at Psycho Bunny. “To improve on that, we need AI — it’s not physically or financially possible with human agents alone.”

Automation allows brands to scale faster

Growth is always the goal, and incorporating automation into your existing CX workflow is a tool for achieving that growth. 

Brands that use Gorgias's automation tools can successfully scale their customer service operations quickly.  

For example, just 30 days after deploying Gorgias's automation features, brands see an average 1% increase in CSAT. 

It's a small move in the meter that has a long-lasting impact on team morale, improved customer interactions, and a more positive experience for shoppers. 

Obvi relies on Gorgias’s automation features to efficiently handle 150+ tickets each day with a slim team. 

AI Agent manages about 27% of Obvi’s incoming tickets — which consist of low-priority, simple, or repetitive customer inquiries. This frees up the support team to answer complex tickets and drive sales, leading to an astonishing 10x boost in revenue over BFCM. 

Even better, Obvi was able to achieve all of this after onboarding Gorgias in just two weeks. 

“AI is going to help us transform ourselves into deeper thinkers by taking over simple, standardized functions,” says Ron Shah, CEO and Co-founder at Obvi. “In the ecommerce world, Gorgias is getting ahead with doing that for customer support — they’re the center of the AI revolution, and that is the standard customers are expecting.”

Automation saves time & money

Your team can focus on more meaningful work by automating responses to repetitive questions or low-priority tickets. 

Quickly solving a customer's problem also means they can get back to checkout faster. 

But remember, automation is a tool, not a replacement for human agents. Automation helps teams of all sizes drive value, gaining extra support without spending more overhead.

‎July turns to AI Agent to tackle 30% of incoming tickets, taking on the workload of three extra agents. 

In this case, the company has the demand to support a bigger team but not the budget. Automation helps July fill this gap to provide a seamless customer experience without overextending their human teammates. 

“We immediately deflected 450 tickets a month just by setting up some automated Flows,” says Alex Naoumidis, Head of Operations and CX at July. 

“Now, we don’t waste the customer or the agent’s time with basic questions that probably don’t require any human interaction.”

Gorgias AI Agent: Your solution to an automated future

Gorgias is leading the revolution in conversational AI for ecommerce.

Features like our AI-generated Help Center, AI Agent, Flows, and Quick Responses allow brands to autonomously answer customer questions and track and measure AI-customer interactions to create more meaningful customer experiences and transform how support is delivered. 

Start a free trial to see Gorgias AI Agent and automation features in action.

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