Industries
Ecommerce answering service for online stores
Short answer
An ecommerce answering service answers the phone number on your online store while you’re packing orders. Ours is a 100% AI receptionist: it tells callers it’s an AI, answers shipping and return questions from your policy, takes order problems with the order number already written down and flags the ones that can’t wait, like an address change before a parcel ships. It never issues a refund or promises a delivery date, and you get a summary of every call.
Free setup · No contract · Cancel anytime
Example call: a wrong address before shipping
Juniper and Thread · A wrong address before shipping
Urgent
- AI
- Juniper and Thread, this is AI Receptionist, the shop’s AI assistant. How can I help?
- Caller
- I just ordered sheets and put my old address.
- AI
- What’s the order number?
- Caller
- 4471.
- AI
- And the correct address?
- Caller
- 88 Laurel Street, apartment 3.
- AI
- Your name and best number?
- Caller
- Teodora Whitcomb, 555-0195.
- AI
- Thanks, Teodora. Order 4471, at 555-0195. I’ve marked it urgent for the team; the address stays as it is until they update it.
Summary sent to you
- Urgent
- change shipping address on order 4471 before it ships. New address: 88 Laurel Street, apt. 3.
- Caller
- Teodora Whitcomb, 555-0195.
- Done
- flagged before today’s pickup. No promise that the change will be made.
When store calls come at the wrong time
It’s 3:50 p.m. in Asheville and the carrier picks up at five. Forty orders are on the packing table, the printer is jammed and your phone number sits in the footer of every page of the store. The first call is “where’s my order?” The second is a customer who just noticed she typed her old address. The third is a boutique owner asking about wholesale. They all reach a voicemail greeting, and the address change ships to the wrong house at five.
How the call goes
-
Order or question
Someone who has already ordered gets asked for the order number first. Someone who hasn’t gets answers from your product and policy pages.
The AI says: “Do you have an order with us? If so, what’s the order number?”
-
What’s wrong with the order
Where it is, a change, a return, a charge, or something that arrived broken. Each one has its own short path in your protocol.
The AI says: “Is this about where your order is, changing it, or a problem with what arrived?”
-
Answered from your policy
Returns, exchanges, shipping times and sizing are answered in the words you approved; for a store with a 30-day return window, the line sounds like this. Order status is given only if your protocol gives it a way to look orders up; otherwise it takes the order number for your team.
The AI says: “Returns are accepted within 30 days, unused and with the tags on. I can text you the link to start one.”
-
Flag what can’t wait
An address change before shipping, a double charge or a product that caused a reaction reaches you right away, by email or as a transferred call, by your rules.
The AI says: “I’m marking this urgent for the team right now. Nothing on the order changes until they change it.”
-
Everything checked back
It repeats the order number and the phone number, so nobody on your team has to search.
The AI says: “That’s order 4471, and 555-0195 to reach you?”
A store’s protocol is built from the order questions above and, for calls after you close, from our after-hours triage protocol, which decides what reaches you tonight and what waits for the morning. Other examples are in the call protocol library.
What counts as urgent
For a small online store, these are the rules we start from. You set your own.
| Situation | What happens |
|---|---|
| Address or order change before it ships | Urgent: you’re alerted now, before the cutoff |
| Charged twice, or a charge the customer doesn’t recognize | Urgent: message for whoever handles payments |
| A product that caused a reaction or an injury | Urgent: your safety line, then you’re alerted. 911 if someone is in danger |
| Item arrived damaged or wrong | Order number and what happened taken; your team replies |
| Wholesale or bulk order | Taken as a lead with quantities and a deadline |
| “Where’s my order?”, returns, sizing | Answered from your policy, or a message with the order number |
What it never says on these calls
- That a refund has been issued, or will be.
- A delivery date the carrier hasn’t given, or “it’ll be there tomorrow.”
- An exception to your return policy, or a discount you didn’t approve.
- What to do about a reaction beyond your approved safety line. It gives no medical advice.
- A request for card numbers over the phone. Payments stay on your checkout.
What you decide
- Your policies: returns, exchanges, shipping times and what it reads word for word.
- Your urgent list: shipping cutoffs, payment problems and product safety.
- Order status: whether it looks orders up, or always takes a message.
- Wholesale and press: what it asks and who gets those leads.
- Links it can text: your returns page or tracking page, if a caller asks.
- Spanish: customers can speak Spanish with the AI on the same line.
We set it up the way you want and you approve the final version.
Why this works for online stores
Our call protocols come from nearly two decades of running phone reception for small businesses, and an online store has the same problem every small business has: one phone, nobody free to answer it. It asks what matters: the order number comes first, so every message is something your team can act on. It never promises what you don’t: no refunds, no delivery dates, no exceptions, because a promise made on the phone becomes a chargeback later. More on our method, and on what a full customer service line looks like on customer service answering.
What it costs
There’s no monthly fee on Pay As You Go: you pay $0.99 per answered call, which suits a store whose phone rings a few times a week. Once holiday season brings more calls than that, the 50-Call Plan includes 50 calls for $29 a month. All plans are on pricing.
Free setup · No contract · Cancel anytime
Your month, by plan
Best fit: 50-Call Plan, $29.00
- Pay As You Go Best fit $29.70
- 50-Call Plan Best fit $29.00
- 100-Call Plan Best fit $49.00
What the month would cost on each plan: the monthly fee plus each call past the ones included.
Questions online store owners ask
What does an e-commerce answering service do?
An ecommerce answering service answers the phone number on your store, gives customers answers from your shipping and return policies, takes order problems with the order number and contact details and alerts you to anything time-sensitive. You get a summary of every call, so you reply once, with everything you need.
Can it tell customers where their order is?
Only if your protocol includes a way to look orders up. By default it takes the order number, checks it back and tells the customer the status question is with your team. It doesn’t guess, and it doesn’t read out a tracking date the carrier hasn’t confirmed.
Can it process refunds or returns?
It explains your return policy and can text the customer the link to start a return, but it never issues or promises a refund. Refunds, exchanges and anything outside your policy stay with you, with the order number and the reason already in your inbox.
Do online stores even need to answer the phone?
The calls that come in are rarely casual: a shopper about to place a large order, or a customer with a problem. A phone that’s answered tells both that a real business stands behind the store. A full voicemail box tells them to dispute the charge instead.
Does it handle wholesale inquiries?
Yes, as leads. It asks what the buyer wants, roughly how many and by when, and sends you their details marked as wholesale, apart from customer service calls. See how leads are qualified on lead intake, and other businesses on industries.
Answer your store’s phone without leaving the packing table
Send us your return and shipping policies, your daily cutoff and what you want flagged. We turn them into your store’s protocol during the free setup; you read every answer it will give, and only then forward your number (how it works).
Free setup · No contract · Cancel anytime