Alexis Kestler
Customer service is the backbone of any successful ecommerce business. With online shopping, customers don‘t have in-person interactions so your customer service needs to be top-notch to keep customers happy and loyal.
Using a helpdesk software is the best way to provide stellar customer service at scale. A helpdesk organizes all your customer interactions in one place, automates repetitive tasks, and provides the tools your team needs to deliver quick, personalized support.
In this guide, we‘ll go over the key features to look for in ecommerce helpdesk software and review the top 9 platforms on the market.
What to Look for in Helpdesk Software for Ecommerce
When evaluating helpdesk software for your ecommerce business, there are several key capabilities you‘ll want to have:
Omnichannel Support
Today‘s customers want support whenever and however they choose to reach out – email, phone, live chat, social media, etc. Your helpdesk should consolidate all these channels into a single interface to streamline team workflow. Look for platforms that offer:
- Shared inbox for managing email
- Live chat
- Social media integration
- VOIP phone support
Customer Context
Your agents need access to customer data like order history and account details right within the ticket interface to provide personalized, effective support. Helpdesk software should pull this data from your ecommerce platform and CRM to create a complete view of each customer.
Automation
Answering common questions and executing routine tasks manually takes time away from solving more complex issues. Look for a helpdesk with features like:
- Canned responses
- Email automation
- Workflow rules
- Chatbots
Reporting
Insights on metrics like ticket volume, resolution time, CSAT scores, etc. help you continually refine support operations. Robust and customizable analytics are a must-have.
Flexible Integrations
Data flows between your helpdesk, ecommerce platform, CRM, accounting software and more are key for context and automation. The ability to integrate with the other tools you rely on through APIs, Zapier or custom plugins maximizes value.
Security
You‘ll be storing sensitive customer data so security features like role-based access, SSO, and encryption are critical.
With those key criteria in mind, let‘s look at some top helpdesk platforms purpose-built for ecommerce.
1. Freshdesk
Freshdesk is a popular helpdesk designed for scale, making it a great choice as your ecommerce business grows.
The platform consolidates emails, phone calls, chats and social messages into one centralized dashboard. You get a shared team inbox with collision detection to prevent duplicate responses.
Powerful automation like canned responses, triggers, and workflows streamline team workflows. Freshdesk makes it easy to create FAQs and knowledge base articles to deflect common questions.
Key features like SLA policies, ticket queues, and robust reporting help you provide VIP service and continually refine support ops.
And Freshdesk scales as you grow. You can add multiple brands, products, and global teams to the helpdesk as your business expands.
Pricing starts at $15 per agent/month for the basic plan.
Key Features:
- Omnichannel support
- Shared team inbox
- Knowledge base
- Automation
- SLA management
- Custom reporting
Integrations: Shopify, Magento, WooCommerce, eBay, Amazon, Zendesk, Slack
2. Zendesk
Zendesk is another highly flexible, enterprise-grade helpdesk solution designed to scale.
The platform brings in customer conversations from every channel and applies intelligent routing to match tickets with the right agents.
Robust collaboration tools like shared inboxes, @mentions, and private group messages help your team work together seamlessly.
You can empower customers to help themselves with an extensive knowledge base, community forum, and chatbot.
Zendesk offers advanced support like omni-channel communication, SLA agreements, custom reports, and more. And the Integration tools connect the helpdesk into your existing ecommerce and business software stack.
Pricing starts at $5/agent/month for the basic plan.
Key Features:
- Shared inboxes
- Knowledge base
- Community forum
- Advanced SLA and reporting
- Custom integration tools
Integrations: Shopify, BigCommerce, Magento, Salesforce, Slack
3. Gorgias
Gorgias is designed specifically for ecommerce businesses using Shopify and other major platforms.
The unified inbox allows you to respond to queries from all platforms in one place. Live chat lets you engage customers browsing your store.
Customer data like order info, account details, and browsing history appear alongside tickets so agents have full context. You can even edit order details directly within Gorgias.
The helpdesk integrates into your sales channels like social ads and syncs conversations for seamless hand-offs between teams.
AI capabilities help agents respond faster with auto-suggestions based on previous responses. And automation saves time on routine support tasks.
Gorgias offers a free plan for small stores as well as advanced paid plans for larger operations.
Key Features:
- Unified inbox
- Customer data integration
- AI-assisted responses
- Conversation syncing
- Automation
Integrations: Shopify, BigCommerce, Amazon, eBay, Facebook, Instagram
4. eDesk
eDesk provides powerful AI capabilities to streamline ecommerce support.
The helpdesk uses AI to suggest responses to customer questions based on previous tickets. This allows agents to simply verify the answers instead of responding manually.
eDesk brings in context from your ecommerce platform, online marketplaces, and other tools to arm agents with customer data. Agents can even modify order details without leaving the platform.
Features like canned responses, triggers, and macros further automate routine support tasks. Custom rules route tickets to the appropriate agents to resolve issues quickly.
eDesk enables collaboration with features like internal notes, @mentions, and the ability to add multiple agents to a ticket.
The helpdesk scales to accommodate large support teams and worldwide customer-bases.
Key Features:
- AI-powered automation
- Customer data integration
- Macros and canned responses
- Custom rules and SLAs
- Collaboration tools
Integrations: Shopify, Amazon, eBay, Etsy, Walmart
5. Kayako
Kayako provides an intuitive, unified inbox for managing customer conversations across every channel.
The platform makes it easy to collaborate with team members and stakeholders by allowing you to share, forward, and re-assign tickets with ease.
Kayako‘s Messenger chatbot engages website visitors to boost conversions. Customer data integration allows agents to incorporate purchase history and browsing behavior to personalize service.
The helpdesk streamlines resolving common issues with features like canned responses, knowledge base articles, and automation workflows.
Customizable dashboards provide visibility into performance metrics to help you deliver more efficient, effective support.
Kayako offers scalable plans to fit the needs of small shops to enterprise organizations.
Key Features:
- Shared inbox
- Live chat
- Knowledge base
- Canned responses
- Reporting dashboard
Integrations: Shopify, BigCommerce, Magento, Amazon, eBay, Facebook
6. Re:amaze
Re:amaze provides an all-in-one customer support platform with shared inbox, helpdesk, live chat, and more.
The helpdesk consolidates conversations from email, social media, SMS, chat, and voice support channels. Collaboration tools like notes and @mentions simplify teamwork.
Re:amaze offers advanced live chat capabilities like real-time visitor tracking, automated triggers, and chat queues.
The helpdesk makes self-service easy with knowledge base articles and embeddable widgets for your online store. Surveys help track customer satisfaction over time.
Custom roles and permissions allow you to configure the interface for each team member‘s responsibilities. Robust reports provide visibility into performance.
The platform is mobile-optimized and integrates with popular ecommerce and business apps.
Key Features:
- Shared inbox
- Live chat
- Knowledge base
- Surveys
- Reporting
Integrations: Shopify, WooCommerce, Slack, MailChimp, Zapier
7. UVdesk
UVdesk is an open-source helpdesk solution made for ecommerce businesses.
The platform centralizes customer conversations from email, social media, web forms, and other channels into a shared inbox. Features like canned responses help agents quickly resolve common issues.
UVdesk enables collaboration with @mentions, private notes, the ability to forward tickets, and more. You can prioritize tickets based on your SLA policies.
Knowledge base integration provides self-service support. Customizable forms allow customers to submit inquiries, feedback, and more directly from your online store.
Detailed analytics provide visibility into team performance. Role-based access allows you to configure each team member‘s interface accordingly.
UVdesk is free for the first 3 agents. Paid plans start at $7/agent/month.
Key Features:
- Shared inbox
- Knowledge base integration
- Canned responses
- Custom forms
- Detailed analytics
Integrations: Shopify, Magento, Amazon, eBay, Etsy, WooCommerce
8. Replyco
Replyco provides an efficient helpdesk optimized for ecommerce sellers on platforms like Amazon and eBay.
The shared inbox allows you to easily route, filter, and organize customer emails at scale. Replyco automates support by creating smart auto-responders triggered by specific keywords.
Handy features like templates, tags, and order snapshots help agents craft faster, personalized responses. You can also add internal notes visible only to staff.
Replyco enables agents to take actions like issuing refunds directly within tickets to streamline workflows.
Performance analytics help you track and improve metrics like response times, CSAT, and agent productivity.
Plans are priced per seats starting at $30/mo.
Key Features:
- Shared inbox
- Auto-responders
- Templates and tags
- Analytics
Integrations: Amazon, eBay, Etsy, Walmart, Shopify, BigCommerce, WooCommerce
9. HappyFox
HappyFox provides an affordable, easy-to-use helpdesk for small ecommerce businesses.
The platform lets you monitor and manage customer requests from email, social media, chat, and voice support in one centralized dashboard.
Features like canned responses, knowledge base integration, and multi-channel workflows streamline resolving common inquiries.
You can gauge the performance of your support team through HappyFox‘s reports on satisfaction, resolution time, workload, and more.
The helpdesk also provides capabilities to build self-service support with options like an AI-powered chatbot, community forum, and feedback surveys.
Pricing starts at just $7.50 per agent/month for the starter plan.
Key Features:
- Centralized inbox
- Knowledge base
- Canned responses
- Performance reporting
- Live chat & chatbot
Integrations: Shopify, Wix, WooCommerce, Zapier
Key Takeaways
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Helpdesk software consolidates all customer conversations into a single centralized dashboard to streamline support workflows.
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Look for platforms with omnichannel support, customer data integration, automation, and strong reporting.
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Leading solutions like Freshdesk, Zendesk, and Gorgias provide enterprise-grade helpdesks that scale with your ecommerce business.
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More affordable options like HappyFox offer intuitive helpdesks for early-stage ecommerce businesses.
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Integrations with your ecommerce platform, CRM, and other apps maximize the value of your helpdesk software.
Delivering fast, effective customer support is vital for any ecommerce business. A helpdesk software that brings all your customer interactions into one place and arms your agents with the right tools is essential. Hopefully this overview gives you a starting point for evaluating solutions to fit your business needs and budget.
