AI assistant, live chat or a contact form: what an online store should choose
A question appears for a shopper on a product page: “Do you have it in my size?”, “When will you deliver?”, “Will this suit…?” How the store answers decides whether the person buys now or goes off to look elsewhere. Below are four ways to answer, each with its strengths and weaknesses.
The four ways in brief
| Contact form | Live chat with an operator | Button bot | AI assistant | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Who answers | a manager, later | a manager, now | a pre-written script | a neural network using the store’s data |
| Response speed | hours, sometimes a day | minutes during working hours | instant | instant, at any time |
| What it can do | take the question | any conversation | answer the built-in questions | understand free wording, recommend products from the catalog |
| Main limit | the shopper waits and often leaves | needs people and a schedule | doesn’t understand off-script questions | may err if data is missing or stale |
| Preparation | minimal | train operators | write scripts by hand | provide the catalog and site, check the answers |
A contact form
It suits cases with few inquiries where speed doesn’t matter: B2B with a long sales cycle, made-to-order goods. The downside is obvious: the shopper leaves a question and waits, and meanwhile looks at competitors.
Live chat with an operator
The best option for conversation quality when the question is non-standard: a person grasps the context, negotiates, reassures. But it works only while an operator is present, and most of the questions asked repeat. In the evening and on weekends the chat is either silent or turns into a form.
A button bot
The shopper picks an option from a menu: “Shipping”, “Payment”, “Returns”. It is quick to launch, but scripts have to be written and maintained. As soon as the person writes in their own words or asks about a specific product, the bot says “I didn’t understand” and sends them back to the menu.
An AI assistant
It understands a question in free form, looks for the answer in the store’s data and can recommend products within a budget. For this it needs a full catalog, current prices and descriptions of shipping and payment. We wrote about what it can do and where it errs in An AI chatbot for an online store.
It is worth knowing the limits in advance:
- it states only what it found: if there is no price in the data, it says the price needs to be confirmed;
- mistakes are possible, so before launch it is important to check the answers on 10-20 typical questions (how to do it);
- it doesn’t place orders or settle disputes.
How to choose
- Look at which questions you get. If 70% are availability, price, shipping and payment, an AI assistant on the first line will do.
- Estimate when the questions arrive. If many come in the evening and at night, live chat during working hours won’t close them.
- Decide what happens when the bot doesn’t know the answer. You need a fallback: a lead form or an operator. Any good scheme has one.
- Start small. Connect one option, measure over two weeks the share of inquiries closed without a human and the share of leads answered the same day.
What BotNow does today
BotNow works as an AI assistant on the first line: it reads the catalog and the site, answers, recommends products, and when there is no answer or the shopper asks for a person, it calls an operator, who replies right in the chat window. If nobody is available, the bot offers to leave contacts, and the lead goes out with the last messages of the conversation. All leads and conversations are collected in the admin dashboard. How it all works: How it works.
Frequently asked questions
Can an AI assistant replace an operator completely?
No. The bot closes routine questions about availability, price, shipping and payment itself, but complaints, refunds and questions about specific orders should be handled by a person. A good setup: the bot answers the routine and hands the rest to a manager.
What is cheaper for a small store?
A contact form is free but loses those who won't wait for an answer. Live chat needs people during working hours. An AI assistant answers at any time but needs a full catalog and a check of its answers before launch. Compare by how many inquiries you lose now.
Do I have to pick just one?
No, the options combine. A common scheme: the AI assistant on the first line, a form or an operator for cases when the bot doesn't know the answer.
See also
- An AI chatbot for an online store: what it can do, where it goes wrong and how to judge its value
- A chat on your site or a bot in a messenger: what an online store should choose
- How it works
BotNow reads an online store, answers shoppers and recommends products within a budget. 7 days free, no card. How it works · Write to us