80% less support work, across markets.
A dermatologist-backed skincare brand selling across the US and UK connected its store, couriers, stock and helpdesks to one assistant. It answers support around the clock, and sells a personalised routine before checkout.
What it was. What it is now.
- Every pre-sale and “where’s my order?” question landed on the support team
- Answers were inconsistent, because the brand’s own help documents contradicted each other
- Stock questions checked by hand against a shared sheet
- Refunds bounced between two helpdesks and a project tool
- Shoppers get a skin consultation in chat, ending in a subscription added to the cart
- Tracking, stock and refunds answered instantly, straight from the source system
- One rebuilt knowledge base, so every answer agrees
- Support runs 24/7, in every market
Premium skincare sells on trust and fit. A shopper wants to know if a product is right for their skin, and whether it will get the result they want. After they buy, the questions keep coming: where’s my order, can I get a refund, how do I use this.
At seven to eight figures a year, that’s a lot of questions landing on one human support team, and answers weren’t always consistent because the brand’s own help documents contradicted each other. Every pre-sale question left unanswered was a sale at risk. The brand wanted one assistant that could do both jobs: help shoppers choose, and take routine support off the team’s plate.
What we found first
We followed a year’s worth of customer contacts through the brand’s systems and asked, for each one, where the answer already lived.
| What we found | What it cost | What changed |
|---|---|---|
| Orders ship internationally through different couriers, and customs holds make “where’s my order?” the top question in every market | Est. 40–50% of all tickets | Automated: Live tracking in the chat, linked straight to the courier, answered in seconds |
| Customers in the US and UK message outside the team’s working hours | Overnight backlogs, and slower replies in the busiest market | Automated: 24/7 answers in every time zone |
| Support spread across two helpdesks and a project tool, and refunds land in the wrong one | Refunds bounce between teams before anyone acts | Automated: Each request routed to the right system automatically, with the details attached |
| Stock questions answered by checking a shared sheet by hand | Team time, and answers that go out of date | Automated: Live stock answered from the same sheet, automatically |
| The brand’s help documents contradict each other | Different answers to the same question, and eroding trust | Automated: One rebuilt, de-conflicted knowledge base |
| Pre-sale questions (“is this right for my skin?”) sit in the same queue as support | Shoppers leave before anyone answers | Automated: A skin consultation in chat, ending in a personalised subscription added to the cart |
| Late refunds and damaged parcels need judgment | Mistakes here cost customers | Kept human, by design |
| Duties, customs and returns policies differ by country | Inconsistent answers across markets | Parked: a policy decision for the brand, recommended as the next step |
Estimates are the working figures we used to rank the list, not numbers reported by the client.
Store, courier, stock and helpdesks, in one flow
For customers, and for the business
- Describe their skin and concerns, and get a personalised routine added to the cart, in the same chat
- “Where’s my order?” answered instantly, with a live tracking link from the courier
- Stock questions answered from live inventory
- Refunds and returns captured properly and routed to the right place, with no email ping-pong
- The same assistant answers support emails too
- 80% of the support workload gone. Only genuinely human cases reach the team
- One rebuilt knowledge base, so every answer is consistent
- The team works from its existing helpdesk
- Pre-sale consultation and checkout happen in the same conversation, turning support into a sales channel
Five steps, one assistant
- Greet every visitorThe moment they arrive on the site.
- Skin consultationShoppers describe their skin, and get a personalised subscription added to their cart.
- Answer in real timeOrders, stock or refunds, from the store, the courier and the inventory.
- Hand off when neededAnything that needs a person goes to the team’s helpdesk with the full conversation.
- Cover email tooAnswered or routed the same way.
Timeline: Jul → Oct 2023, build and launch · Founder-led: designed and built.
Support queue full of “where’s my order?” and pre-sale questions no one answers?
Thirty minutes with the founder. You’ll leave knowing where the hours go, and whether an audit makes sense.