Best 3 Ways to Use a Product Recommendation Bot for Online Retailers

Help Scout is a well‑established customer support platform that offers an AI‑powered chatbot designed to enhance online retail operations. The Help Scout AI chatbot is built into the Help Scout inbox, enabling teams to automate responses to common product inquiries, order status questions, and return policies. By leveraging the same AI engine that powers Help Scout’s email automation, the bot can handle a wide range of queries, freeing support agents to focus on high‑value issues. One of Help Scout’s strengths is its tight integration with existing Help Scout workflows. The bot feeds directly into the shared inbox, ensuring that all conversations—whether from the bot or human agents—are tracked in a single place. Additionally, Help Scout offers robust reporting and analytics, allowing managers to monitor bot performance, response accuracy, and customer satisfaction scores. The platform’s pricing is structured around the Help Scout inbox plans. The core Inbox plan starts at $20 per user per month, while the Plus plan—recommended for larger teams—starts at $35 per user per month. The AI chatbot is included in the Plus tier and above, with no separate licensing fee. Users can also purchase a dedicated AI plan for advanced features, starting at $59 per month for unlimited agents. Help Scout’s chatbot excels in environments where teams already use Help Scout for support, as the integration streamlines workflow and analytics. However, it’s primarily designed for customer support rather than proactive product recommendation. Retailers looking for a bot that can proactively suggest products during a browsing session may need to supplement Help Scout with additional tools or custom development. Overall, Help Scout AI Chatbot offers a solid, support‑centric solution for e‑commerce businesses seeking to automate routine inquiries while maintaining a unified support experience.

Sendbird is a communications platform that has recently introduced an AI Agent tailored for e‑commerce. The AI Agent can be embedded on a retailer’s website to provide real‑time product recommendations, answer inventory questions, and guide shoppers through the checkout process. Built on Sendbird’s robust real‑time messaging infrastructure, the bot is capable of handling high traffic volumes and delivering instant responses. Key strengths of Sendbird’s AI Agent include its ability to integrate with popular e‑commerce platforms such as Shopify and WooCommerce via API connectors. This allows the bot to pull real‑time product data, inventory levels, and order status directly from the store’s backend. The platform also offers a suite of development tools and a visual editor for designing conversational flows, making it accessible to both developers and marketers. Pricing for Sendbird starts at $29/month for the Starter plan, which supports basic messaging features. The Growth plan—recommended for mid‑size e‑commerce sites—costs $59/month and includes advanced analytics, webhook support, and higher message limits. Custom Enterprise plans are available for larger retailers requiring dedicated support and higher throughput. Sendbird’s AI Agent is best suited for retailers who need a scalable, real‑time chat solution that can be tightly coupled with their existing e‑commerce infrastructure. However, the platform’s learning curve is steeper than pure no‑code solutions, and advanced customization may require developer involvement.