7 Must-Have LLM‑Powered AI Chatbots for Online Retailers

Drift has established itself as a conversational marketing platform that blends chat, email, and video into a single experience. Unlike some bots that focus purely on support, Drift positions itself as a sales accelerator, using AI to qualify leads and schedule meetings directly within the chat window. Its conversational approach is powered by a sophisticated natural‑language model that can handle complex queries about product features, pricing, and even negotiate terms. Drift’s AI is integrated with its scheduling engine, allowing visitors to book a demo or a call with minimal friction. Key strengths include a robust set of pre‑built workflows for e‑commerce, a visual bot builder that lets marketers set up intents and triggers without coding, and deep integrations with Salesforce, HubSpot, and Marketo. Drift also offers a “Smart Inbox,” which aggregates chat, email, and social messages into a single view for the sales team. Pricing starts with a free plan that includes basic chat and email, while paid tiers—Pro ($49/month) and Enterprise (custom)—add advanced AI features, unlimited seats, and priority support. For online retailers, Drift excels at qualifying high‑value prospects and routing them to the right sales representative. Its AI can ask qualifying questions about budget or timeline, and then automatically schedule a follow‑up call. However, its focus on sales means the bot may feel less natural for general customer support inquiries.

Intercom is a widely adopted customer messaging platform that blends live chat, help desk, and marketing automation. The platform offers a conversational AI that can automatically answer FAQs, route tickets, and send targeted messages based on visitor behavior. Intercom’s Bot Builder allows users to create a sequence of questions and responses with a drag‑and‑drop interface, making it accessible to non‑technical staff. Intercom’s strengths include a comprehensive knowledge base that syncs with the bot, real‑time product recommendations, and a robust set of integrations with Shopify, WooCommerce, and Zapier. The platform also provides a powerful product tours feature, letting retailers guide new visitors through key pages. Pricing is tiered: Essential ($39/month), Pro ($79/month), and Premium ($159/month), each adding more seats, automation, and advanced reporting. Retailers benefit from Intercom’s ability to convert visitors into customers by offering instant answers and personalized product suggestions. The platform’s omnichannel support—email, chat, in‑app, and mobile—ensures coverage across the customer journey.

ManyChat positions itself primarily as a marketing automation platform for Facebook Messenger, but it has expanded to include web chat and SMS. The platform uses a visual flow builder to design conversations, and it integrates with a variety of e‑commerce platforms like Shopify, BigCommerce, and WooCommerce. ManyChat’s AI is built around keyword matching and simple rule‑based logic, which works well for basic product inquiries and order status checks. Key features include broadcast messaging, drip campaigns, and the ability to trigger actions such as adding products to cart or sending a coupon code. ManyChat also offers a chatbot that can answer FAQs and collect leads. Pricing tiers: Free (limited to 1,000 subscribers), Pro ($10/month), and Pro Plus ($30/month) for larger audiences. ManyChat’s strengths are its ease of use for marketers and its deep tie‑in with social media. However, its AI capabilities are less advanced than pure LLM solutions, and it lacks a robust knowledge‑graph or RAG layer.

Tidio combines live chat with an AI chatbot in a single dashboard. The platform offers a visual editor to build conversation flows and uses a lightweight LLM to answer queries about products, shipping, and returns. Tidio’s AI can be trained with FAQ documents and integrates with popular e‑commerce platforms such as Shopify, WooCommerce, and BigCommerce. It also supports email capture and offers a widget that can be embedded on any website. Strengths of Tidio include its dual mode—live chat and AI bot—allowing businesses to start with automated answers and gradually hand off to human agents. The platform offers a free plan with basic features, and paid plans range from $18/month to $49/month, adding more agents, chat history, and integration options. Tidio’s knowledge base can be populated via CSV uploads, and the AI can pull data from the connected store. Retailers appreciate Tidio’s simplicity and the ability to monetize the chat widget with pop‑ups and email sign‑ups. However, the AI’s language model is not as powerful as newer LLMs, and the platform lacks advanced analytics.

Zendesk Chat (formerly Zopim) is part of the Zendesk customer service suite. It offers real‑time chat with AI capabilities that can answer FAQs, route tickets, and provide product recommendations. The platform integrates natively with Zendesk Support, making it a natural fit for organizations already using Zendesk for help desks. Zendesk Chat’s key features include a drag‑and‑drop chatbot builder, pre‑built templates for e‑commerce, and the ability to trigger Zendesk tickets from chat interactions. It also offers a knowledge base that syncs with the bot, and the ability to embed the chat widget on any website. Pricing starts at $15/month for a single agent, with higher tiers adding chat limits and advanced features. For retailers already invested in Zendesk, this solution offers tight integration and a single UI for support and sales. However, the AI is rule‑based and does not use a full LLM, which can limit conversational depth.

Freshchat, part of the Freshworks suite, is a modern messaging platform that supports live chat, bots, and in‑app messaging. The AI component, known as Freshchat Bot, uses a natural‑language model to answer product questions, provide order status, and offer personalized recommendations. Freshchat’s visual bot builder lets users design conversation flows without coding. Freshchat excels with its omnichannel approach, supporting web, mobile, Facebook Messenger, and WhatsApp (via integration). The platform also offers a knowledge base that can be queried by the bot, live transfer to agents, and real‑time analytics. Freshchat’s pricing is tiered: Free, Growth at $15/month, Pro at $30/month, and Enterprise at $50/month. Retailers benefit from Freshchat’s ability to handle multiple channels in one place and from the AI’s capacity to learn from past conversations. However, the AI’s sophistication is moderate compared to dedicated LLM platforms, and the free tier is limited.