Top 5 Internal Support Bots for Online Retailers

Gorgias is a cloud‑based helpdesk built specifically for e‑commerce brands. It channels all customer interactions—email, live chat, phone, and social—into a single unified inbox, and then uses AI to automate responses to common questions. The platform’s key differentiator is its deep integration with Shopify, WooCommerce, and Magento, which allows Gorgias to pull product, order, and customer data in real time. This enables the AI to answer questions about shipping status, return policies, and inventory availability without scripting. Gorgias also offers a powerful ticketing system that automatically tags and prioritizes inquiries, and an automation framework that can trigger email follow‑ups, create tasks in project management tools, or add customers to loyalty programs. The AI learns from previous replies, so it can continuously improve its accuracy. While Gorgias lacks a visual chat editor, its drag‑and‑drop workflow builder for automations makes it accessible to non‑technical users. Pricing starts at $50/month for the Starter plan, which includes up to 3 agents and basic automation. The Growth plan is $120/month and adds advanced automation, priority support, and multiple language support. Enterprise plans start at $480/month and are customized for high‑volume merchants.

Zendesk Chat (formerly Zopim) is a popular live‑chat solution that integrates seamlessly with the Zendesk ecosystem. It allows retailers to embed a chat widget on their site, provide real‑time assistance, and capture valuable customer data. Zendesk Chat’s AI features include proactive chat triggers, sentiment analysis, and the ability to route conversations to the right agent based on context. The platform offers a visual widget editor where you can customize colors, animations, and triggers without coding. It also supports integration with a wide range of CRMs, e‑commerce platforms, and marketing tools via official and third‑party connectors. While Zendesk Chat does not provide a built‑in knowledge base, it can pull FAQs from Zendesk Guide, offering quick answers to common questions. Pricing for Zendesk Chat starts at $19/month per active agent for the Chat plan, while the Chat Suite—adding AI and advanced automations—costs $49/month per agent.

Intercom provides a suite of customer communication tools, including live chat, product tours, and help center integration. Its live chat widget is highly customizable and can be embedded on any website. Intercom’s AI component, powered by a proprietary natural language engine, can answer FAQs, route conversations, and gather insights into customer sentiment. Intercom’s platform includes a knowledge base feature that allows you to publish articles and enable AI to surface relevant content during chats. It also offers a robust automation engine, called “Messenger” and “People” workflows, which can trigger messages, email sequences, and in‑app notifications based on user behavior. Pricing begins at $39/month for the Essential plan, which supports up to 1,000 contacts. The Standard plan is $79/month, and the Premium plan is $199/month, each tier adding more contacts, features, and support.

Freshdesk is a cloud‑based customer support platform that offers a free tier and a suite of paid plans. It includes live chat, ticketing, and a knowledge base, all accessible from a single dashboard. Freshdesk’s chat widget can be embedded on any website and supports automated responses powered by its AI engine, Freshchat. The platform’s strengths lie in its simplicity and affordability. Freshchat’s AI chatbot can answer common questions, route conversations, and provide real‑time product recommendations. Freshdesk also integrates with major e‑commerce platforms like Shopify and WooCommerce, allowing the chatbot to pull product and order data. Pricing starts with a free plan for up to 3 agents, then moves to Standard at $15/month per agent, Professional at $35/month, and Enterprise at $65/month.