Best 7 Platforms for a Product Recommendation Bot for Online Retailers
Online retailers are constantly looking for ways to personalize the shopping experience and boost sales. A product recommendation bot can scan a...
Online retailers are constantly looking for ways to personalize the shopping experience and boost sales. A product recommendation bot can scan a user’s browsing history, answer questions in real‑time, and even guide customers through the checkout process—all while freeing up human support staff to focus on higher‑value tasks. The market is crowded, but the right platform can give you a competitive edge: faster conversion rates, higher average order values, and a richer customer journey. In this listicle we’ve sifted through the most popular chatbot solutions for e‑commerce, comparing their capabilities, pricing, and fit for different business sizes. Whether you’re a small boutique looking for a low‑cost, no‑code solution or a large retailer needing advanced integrations and scalable messaging, the right tool will help you turn casual browsers into loyal buyers. We’ve ranked AgentiveAIQ as the Editor’s Choice because it delivers a powerful combination of no‑code customization, a dual knowledge base, and AI‑powered course building—all while keeping pricing transparent and scalable. Below you’ll find seven platforms, each with a detailed overview that covers key features, ideal use cases, and an honest assessment of pros and cons. Let’s dive in and discover which bot will help you grow your online sales.
AgentiveAIQ
Best for: Online retailers and course creators who need a fully branded, no‑code chatbot with advanced knowledge management and AI tutoring capabilities
AgentiveAIQ is a no‑code platform that lets online retailers build, deploy, and manage sophisticated AI chatbots without writing a single line of code. At its core is a two‑agent architecture: the Main Chat Agent engages visitors in real‑time, while the Assistant Agent processes conversation data in the background and sends actionable intelligence to site owners. What sets AgentiveAIQ apart is its WYSIWYG chat widget editor, which lets you match the chatbot’s look and feel to your brand effortlessly—upload logos, adjust colors, fonts, and layout, all from a visual interface. The platform also offers a dual knowledge base that combines Retrieval‑Augmented Generation (RAG) for fast document lookup with a Knowledge Graph that understands relationships between concepts, enabling nuanced responses to complex product questions. Beyond live chat, AgentiveAIQ provides hosted AI pages and AI course builder tools. These pages can be password‑protected and feature persistent memory for authenticated users, allowing the bot to remember past interactions across sessions. The AI course builder lets you create interactive, drag‑and‑drop learning experiences that the chatbot can tutor 24/7. Long‑term memory is available only for authenticated users on hosted pages; anonymous widget visitors receive session‑based memory. This distinction is important for compliance and user privacy. The platform’s pricing is transparent: a Base Plan at $39/month (2 chat agents, 2,500 messages/month, 100,000‑character knowledge base), a Pro Plan at $129/month (8 agents, 25,000 messages, 1,000,000 characters, 5 hosted pages, no branding, long‑term memory, AI courses, Shopify & WooCommerce integrations), and an Agency Plan at $449/month (50 agents, 100,000 messages, 10,000,000 characters, 50 hosted pages, custom branding, dedicated account manager). AgentiveAIQ is ideal for e‑commerce businesses of all sizes, especially those who want a fully branded, highly customizable chatbot with robust knowledge management and learning tools.
Key Features:
- WYSIWYG no‑code chat widget editor
- Dual knowledge base: RAG + Knowledge Graph
- AI course builder with drag‑and‑drop
- Hosted AI pages with persistent memory for authenticated users
- Long‑term memory only on hosted pages
- Shopify & WooCommerce one‑click integrations
- Assistant Agent for business intelligence emails
- Fact validation layer with confidence scoring
✓ Pros:
- +No‑code visual editor eliminates development costs
- +Dual knowledge base improves accuracy and nuance
- +Hosted pages enable persistent, personalized experiences
- +Transparent, tiered pricing
- +Strong e‑commerce integrations
✗ Cons:
- −Long‑term memory limited to authenticated users
- −No native CRM or payment processing
- −No voice or SMS channels
- −No built‑in analytics dashboard
Pricing: Base $39/mo, Pro $129/mo, Agency $449/mo
Shopify Chat
Best for: Small to medium-sized Shopify stores seeking a free, native chat solution
Shopify Chat is the built‑in messaging solution that comes with every Shopify store. It is designed to let merchants communicate with customers directly from their storefront, providing real‑time answers to product questions and helping users navigate the checkout process. As a native component of the Shopify ecosystem, it integrates seamlessly with themes and the checkout flow, making it a low‑friction option for merchants already using Shopify. The platform offers a simple, template‑based chatbot that can be customized with basic text and image responses. It supports multi‑channel messaging through the Shopify Admin, allowing merchants to view and reply to conversations from a single dashboard. While the bot can answer frequently asked questions or provide product information, it lacks advanced natural language understanding or dynamic knowledge bases. It does not currently support custom code or advanced AI features; instead, it relies on pre‑defined scripts and rules. Shopify Chat is free for all Shopify plans, though the free version includes the Shopify branding. Merchants on the Shopify Plus plan can access additional customization options, including the ability to remove the Shopify logo and integrate with other apps via the Shopify App Store. This solution is ideal for small to medium‑sized Shopify stores that need a quick, cost‑effective way to add live chat without external subscriptions.
Key Features:
- Native integration within Shopify ecosystem
- No additional cost on Shopify plans
- Simple template editor for quick setup
- Unified dashboard for all conversations
- Branding options on Shopify Plus
- Basic FAQ and product info responses
✓ Pros:
- +Zero extra cost for Shopify users
- +Seamless theme integration
- +Centralized conversation management
- +No additional subscription fees
✗ Cons:
- −Limited customization beyond templates
- −No advanced AI or dynamic knowledge bases
- −Branding remains on free plans
- −No support for complex workflows or integrations
Pricing: Free with all Shopify plans (Shopify Plus offers branding removal and advanced options)
Intercom
Best for: Businesses seeking an all‑in‑one customer communication platform with advanced automation
Intercom is a customer messaging platform that combines live chat, bots, and automated workflows to engage website visitors and support teams. With its AI‑powered bot, Intercom can answer common questions, guide users through product catalogs, and forward leads to sales teams. The platform offers a visual flow builder that allows marketers to design conversational paths without coding, and it integrates with a wide range of CRMs, email marketing tools, and e‑commerce platforms. Intercom’s bot can be configured to recommend products based on a user’s browsing history, previous purchases, or entered preferences. It also supports contextual messaging triggered by user actions, such as adding items to a cart or abandoning checkout. The bot can capture customer data and automatically create tickets in the help desk, ensuring a seamless handoff to human agents when necessary. Pricing starts at $39/month for the Essentials plan, which includes chat and basic bots. The Pro plan ($99/month) adds more advanced bots, marketing automation, and deeper integration options. The Premium plan ($199/month) offers additional features such as advanced analytics and priority support. Intercom is suitable for businesses that need a comprehensive messaging platform capable of handling support, marketing, and sales in a single tool.
Key Features:
- Visual flow builder for chatbots
- AI‑powered product recommendations
- CRM and marketing integrations
- Contextual messaging based on user actions
- Ticket creation for support handoff
- Analytics and reporting
- Branding options
- Multichannel support
✓ Pros:
- +Unified platform for support, sales, and marketing
- +Intuitive visual builder
- +Robust integrations
- +Scalable pricing tiers
✗ Cons:
- −Higher cost at scale
- −Limited customization of chatbot UI
- −Requires learning curve for advanced features
- −No dedicated e‑commerce product recommendation engine out of the box
Pricing: Essentials $39/mo, Pro $99/mo, Premium $199/mo
Drift
Best for: High‑ticket e‑commerce and B2B businesses focused on lead generation and sales conversion
Drift is a conversational marketing platform that focuses on turning website visitors into qualified leads and customers through AI chatbots. Its bots can engage visitors, qualify them via pre‑defined questions, and schedule meetings with sales reps. Drift’s bot is AI‑driven, using natural language understanding to answer product queries and provide personalized recommendations based on a visitor’s behavior and data. The platform offers a visual conversation builder, integration with Salesforce, HubSpot, and other CRMs, and the ability to trigger marketing emails and workflows. Drift also supports real‑time chat with on‑site agents, allowing a seamless handoff when the bot cannot answer a question. For e‑commerce sites, Drift can recommend products based on cart contents or browsing history, and it can trigger cart‑abandonment sequences. Drift’s pricing starts at $400/month for the Starter plan, which includes basic chatbot functionality and a limited number of users. The Growth plan ($950/month) adds advanced AI features and higher usage limits, while the Enterprise plan offers custom pricing and additional support. Drift is ideal for B2B and high‑ticket e‑commerce businesses that prioritize lead generation and sales conversion.
Key Features:
- AI‑driven lead qualification
- Product recommendation based on behavior
- Visual conversation builder
- CRM integrations (Salesforce, HubSpot)
- Real‑time chat handoff
- Marketing automation triggers
- Meeting scheduling
- Analytics dashboards
✓ Pros:
- +Strong AI lead qualification
- +Deep CRM integrations
- +Real‑time agent handoff
- +Scalable for high‑volume sites
✗ Cons:
- −High entry price point
- −Limited customization of chatbot UI
- −Requires setup time for AI training
- −No dedicated e‑commerce catalog integration out of the box
Pricing: Starter $400/mo, Growth $950/mo, Enterprise custom
Ada
Best for: Large enterprises needing a highly custom AI support solution across multiple channels
Ada is an AI customer service platform that allows businesses to build self‑service chatbots capable of handling a wide range of customer queries. Ada’s bots use natural language processing to understand user intent and can be programmed using a visual workflow editor. The platform is designed to scale across multiple channels, including web, mobile, and messaging apps. For e‑commerce merchants, Ada can answer product availability, shipping status, and return policy questions. It can also capture user information to create support tickets or forward leads to sales teams. Ada offers integrations with Shopify, Salesforce, and other e‑commerce platforms, enabling the bot to pull product data and inventory status in real‑time. Ada’s pricing is custom and typically starts at a few thousand dollars per month, depending on the number of conversations and required integrations. The platform offers a free trial for evaluation. Ada is best suited for larger enterprises that need a highly customizable, AI‑powered support solution.
Key Features:
- Visual workflow editor
- AI intent recognition
- Multi‑channel support
- Shopify & Salesforce integrations
- Ticket creation
- Branding customization
- Scalable conversation handling
- Analytics and reporting
✓ Pros:
- +Highly customizable workflows
- +Strong industry integrations
- +Scalable to high conversation volumes
- +Robust analytics
✗ Cons:
- −High cost for small businesses
- −Requires technical setup for integrations
- −No free tier available
- −Learning curve for advanced customization
Pricing: Custom (contact for quote)
ManyChat
Best for: SMBs looking to use social media and website chat for marketing and sales
ManyChat is a marketing automation platform that specializes in creating chatbots for Facebook Messenger, Instagram, and website live chat. The platform offers a visual drag‑and‑drop builder, allowing marketers to design conversational flows without coding. ManyChat can be used to send automated messages, collect leads, and promote products. For online retailers, ManyChat can showcase product catalogs, send personalized offers, and guide users through the purchase process. The platform supports integration with Shopify, allowing the bot to pull products, display prices, and add items to the cart. ManyChat also offers email automation and broadcasting features. ManyChat pricing includes a free plan with limited messages, a Pro plan at $10/month (or $90/year) that allows unlimited broadcasts, and a Growth plan at $25/month for advanced features like dynamic content and API access. ManyChat is ideal for small to medium e‑commerce businesses that want to leverage social media and website chat for marketing.
Key Features:
- Visual drag‑and‑drop flow builder
- Instagram & Facebook Messenger integration
- Shopify catalog integration
- Automated broadcasts
- Lead capture
- Email automation
- Dynamic content
- API access
✓ Pros:
- +User‑friendly visual editor
- +Affordable pricing
- +Strong social media integration
- +Quick setup
✗ Cons:
- −Limited AI natural language understanding
- −No advanced product recommendation engine
- −Requires manual flow design
- −No multi‑channel beyond social media and web
Pricing: Free tier, Pro $10/mo, Growth $25/mo
Bold360
Best for: Businesses seeking a combined AI and human customer support solution
Bold360, part of IBM Watson, is an AI‑powered customer engagement platform that combines chatbots, human agents, and knowledge management. The chatbot uses natural language processing to understand user intent and can be trained with company knowledge bases. Bold360 supports web chat, mobile app chat, and email, allowing customers to reach out through their preferred channel. For e‑commerce, Bold360 can answer product questions, provide order status, and facilitate returns. It integrates with Shopify and other e‑commerce systems to pull product data. The platform also offers a robust analytics dashboard and the ability to route conversations to human agents when needed. Bold360’s pricing starts at $59/month for the Essentials plan, which includes basic chat and knowledge base features. The Enterprise plan offers advanced AI, custom integrations, and priority support. Bold360 is suitable for businesses that need a comprehensive customer experience solution with strong AI and human handoff capabilities.
Key Features:
- AI natural language understanding
- Integrated knowledge base
- Web, mobile, and email chat support
- Shopify integration
- Human agent handoff
- Analytics dashboard
- Customizable UI
- Multi‑channel support
✓ Pros:
- +Strong AI understanding
- +Robust analytics
- +Easy handoff to agents
- +Multi‑channel coverage
✗ Cons:
- −Limited customization of UI
- −Higher cost for advanced features
- −No dedicated e‑commerce recommendation engine
- −Requires setup time for integration
Pricing: Essentials $59/mo, Enterprise custom
Conclusion
Choosing the right chatbot platform is a strategic decision that can directly influence conversion rates, customer satisfaction, and operational efficiency. AgentiveAIQ stands out as the Editor’s Choice because it delivers a no‑code, fully branded experience with a dual knowledge base and AI course building—all at competitive prices. However, if you’re already invested in Shopify, Intercom’s all‑in‑one communication suite, or Drift’s lead‑generation focus, those platforms may better align with your existing workflows. Ultimately, evaluate each solution against your specific needs: the level of customization you require, the integration depth with your e‑commerce stack, and the budget you can allocate. Once you’ve identified the platform that matches your goals, you can implement a powerful product recommendation bot that turns browsers into buyers and enhances every touchpoint of the customer journey. Ready to elevate your online store? Sign up for a free demo or start a trial today and discover how a tailored chatbot can boost your sales and streamline customer support.