When a customer’s order is missing or delayed, they need attention. Not later, NOW.
That’s why voice still matters. Except now, those conversations don’t always need a human on the other end. 81% of businesses plan to use conversational AI in their customer service operations by 2026.[1]
Conversational AI resolves issues in real time by connecting directly to order management systems and processing requests on the spot. Customers can ask follow-up questions, change delivery details, and get immediate resolution to their queries without waiting on hold or pressing through endless menus.
One AI agent can handle dozens of manhours worth of simple customer service tasks: fielding hundreds of simultaneous customer interactions without the overhead.
But none of it works without the right infrastructure and a human-in-the-loop approach. AI handles the conversation, but it’s your carrier network that delivers it clearly, quickly, and reliably. Choppy connections result in garbled inputs and AI operates on the garbage in, garbage out paradigm. On the other hand, a low latency, high quality voice setup turns AI into a competitive advantage.
Meeting modern customer expectations through Conversational AI
According to McKinsey research, 71% of consumers expect companies to deliver personalized interactions, and 76% get frustrated when they don’t. When something goes wrong, they expect a conversation where their needs are understood, they can ask follow-up questions, and get immediate answers.
That’s where conversational AI changes the game. Instead of textback promises and unanswered calls, customers get an actual conversation. Conversational AI answers questions, updates orders, and resolves issues in real time with the contextual awareness of who the customer is, and what path will be the best fit for resolution.
Wyndham Hotels & Resorts saw this play out in real time. They rolled out Canary Technologies’ AI Voice technology across their global network, giving franchisees a powerful new way to manage guest communications. Canary’s AI Voice handles calls, supports bookings, and responds to guest questions instantly. And in an industry where up to 30% of inbound calls go unanswered, this kind of conversational AI helps teams effectively cover 100% of their call volume.[2]
Wyndham used Bandwidth’s Maestro platform to route calls seamlessly between their contact center platform (Five9) and Canary’s voice AI, onboarding 550+ properties to voice AI.
“Utilizing Maestro, we’ve been able to seamlessly route calls from our CCaaS platform (Five9) to Canary’s voice AI,” said Joe DeLuca, Director of Voice Contact Center Systems at Wyndham. “It’s provided a de facto DR where we’re able to maintain the continuity in our dial plan and ultimately mitigate vendor lock-in.”
Wyndham operates roughly 8,300 hotels across 100 countries, serving more than 130 million guests each year. With the global rollout of the AI Voice feature, this technology will soon be available to thousands of Wyndham locations.
The difference between this and older alternatives like IVR systems? Customers can interrupt, clarify, or change course mid-conversation, just like they would with a person. No “press 1 for billing, press 2 for shipping.” When a customer says, “I need to cancel my reservation,” it’s followed by a real answer.
Ecommerce brands know the pain: product launches, Black Friday, supply chain meltdowns. Inquiry volumes spike, and human teams scramble. Conversational AI doesn’t. It scales from 10 calls to 10,000 without the quality dropping.
Wyndham isn’t alone. Companies across industries, from pet services (Rover) to CRM platforms are using Conversational AI to service customers faster. For instance, Salesforce has deployed AI agents in web chats, automating nearly 85% of customer queries coming from 60 million customers, cutting down 65% on response times.
What are the benefits of using Conversational AI for Ecommerce
Conversational AI isn’t just a nice-to-have anymore. It’s how Ecommerce brands handle support spikes without blowing their budgets, and resolve issues on the spot. Most importantly, it reassures customers when things go wrong.
Handles the calls your team is tired of answering
“Where’s my order?” “How do I return this?” “Can I change my shipping address?”
Your support team has answered these questions thousands of times. Conversational AI answers thousands more, instantly, accurately, and without putting anyone on hold.
AI chatbots now handle 73.8% of customer interactions, up from 62.7% in 2023.[3] That doesn’t mean customers are stuck with robots. Instead, routine items are resolved immediately, and your human agents focus on the complex issues that actually require human intervention. Like that customer whose entire order arrived damaged, or someone trying to modify a bulk purchase.
53% consumers say they trust AI in retail. [4]
85% of retail leaders say customers will drop brands that miss first-contact resolution. [4]
48% consumers say slow responses is one of their top frustrations.[4]
64% of consumers are more likely to trust AI agents that demonstrate friendliness and empathy, showing that human-like traits matter in AI interactions. [5]
Resolves issues in real time without the runaround
Conversational AI doesn’t just answer questions—it can take action. A customer calls to modify their delivery address? AI can get it done. They want to pause their subscription for two months? Handled. They need to add an item to an order that hasn’t shipped yet? Conversational AI can process it on the spot.
These are full workflows that happen in a single conversation: order modifications, delivery coordination, subscription changes. When something gets too complex or requires a judgment call, the AI can hand off to a human agent with full context. So, when the human agent picks up, they already know what’s happening from the order number to problem details, and everything the customer just explained.
For Ecommerce brands, this translates directly to revenue: fewer abandoned calls, fewer refund requests, and customers who come back instead of switching to a competitor.
Scales through seasonal chaos without increasing headcount
Black Friday, Cyber Monday, or a product going viral on TikTok can triple your call volume overnight.
Conversational AI can absorb those spikes without you scrambling to hire seasonal staff or paying for overflow call center capacity. One AI agent handles hundreds of simultaneous calls with the same quality as the first one.
The impact:
- No staffing surge needed during launches or holiday rushes
- Predictable support costs instead of seasonal budget blowouts
- Consistent service quality, whether it’s 10 calls or 10,000
This is especially critical for Ecommerce brands with unpredictable demand. A surprise product restock, or a shipping delay, can trigger thousands of calls in a single day. Voice AI handles it without breaking a sweat.
Lowers costs and increases efficiency with scalable voice infrastructure
Most Ecommerce brands don’t think about this until it’s too late: as your voice AI usage grows, you’re suddenly routing millions of voice minutes per month.
If your infrastructure can’t scale efficiently, those costs spiral fast. You need:
- Efficient routing that doesn’t add latency as volume increases
- Global coverage if you’re serving customers across time zones or countries
- Flexible pricing that scales with your success
This is where telecom expertise matters. Voice AI is only as good as the network delivering it. A conversation that drops mid-sentence or offers irrelevant support defeats the entire purpose.
Bandwidth’s Voice API solves this by providing the voice infrastructure without requiring your team to become telecom experts. With a global network spanning 65+ countries and direct carrier connections, you get the call quality and reliability AI conversations demand, whether you’re handling 100 calls or 100,000.
Bring Your Own AI to your contact center
No more settling—find out how you can plug in any Conversational AI platform into your contact center.
What are the Conversational AI use cases in Ecommerce
Conversational AI in Ecommerce breaks down into three categories: cutting costs, driving revenue, and keeping customers from leaving. Here’s what that looks like in practice.
Reduce support costs without sacrificing quality
Most Ecommerce support tickets are repetitive: order status, return policies, shipping questions. Conversational AI handles these automatically across chat, email, and voice.
Customer support automation: AI answers common questions about products, policies, shipping, and returns without hold times or queues. Companies using AI-powered customer service report a 30% reduction in operational costs.[6]
Order tracking and updates: Instead of customers digging through emails or calling support, AI pulls their order status in real time.
Automated returns and exchanges: AI walks customers through return eligibility, generates labels, and processes exchanges. For straightforward returns (wrong size, changed mind), customers never need a human agent.
Issues that need immediate action: AI agents are available 24/7/365 for handling customer queries, especially high-priority asks that can’t wait until opening hours the next morning. Consider this scenario: a customer’s credit card just expired and their subscription renewal is processing tomorrow. Conversational AI can collect the updated payment info securely over the phone or send a link for them to update it online.
What if a customer realizes they won’t be home when their package arrives and needs it held or rescheduled for Friday? Voice AI connects to your shipping system and reschedules the delivery on the spot.
Calls outside business hours: Your Ecommerce site is always open, so your phone line shouldn’t close at 5 PM. Voice AI handles after-hours calls for password resets, account access issues, and basic product questions. If a customer calls at 11 PM because they can’t log in to track their order, AI can handle it. Someone needs to know if a product is back in stock? AI’s got you covered.
The result is that support teams handle fewer routine tickets and can focus on complex issues like damaged goods, billing disputes, and VIP customers.
Drive revenue through the customer journey
Conversational AI doesn’t just answer questions; it guides customers toward purchase and increases order value.
Personalized product recommendations: AI can suggest products based on browsing history, past purchases, and preferences. Looking at running shoes? You’ll get recommendations for moisture-wicking socks.
Guided shopping and product discovery: Instead of browsing 50 product pages, customers describe what they need. AI can ask clarifying questions, filters options, and narrows choices. “I need wireless headphones under $150 for running” becomes a curated list in seconds.
Cart recovery: Data shows chatbots that proactively engage customers can recover 35% of abandoned carts. AI sends reminders, answers last-minute questions, or offers limited-time discounts to close the sale.
Upselling and cross-selling: AI recommends complementary products at the right moment (eg, A phone case when buying a phone). Done well, this increases average order value without feeling pushy.
Keep customers engaged and coming back
The brands with the highest customer lifetime value use AI to stay connected after the purchase.
Post-purchase engagement: AI sends shipping updates, delivery confirmations, and product tips. It keeps customers informed without them having to ask.
Customer feedback collection: Email surveys typically yield response rates of 2-5%. To improve response rate, AI can send quick, conversational questions via SMS or chat right after delivery. The casual tone and convenient channel get customers to respond, giving brands real feedback on what’s working and what needs fixing.The thread connecting all of these is that conversational AI works across channels. Chat, SMS, email, or voice, conversational AI meets customers where they already are. The brands using it well are building systems that scale with growth, reduce friction, and keep customers engaged from first click to repeat purchase.
Why flexibility matters when you’re scaling Conversational AI
You’ve been running voice AI for six months. It can handle basic order status calls fine, but it keeps fumbling on product questions. Meanwhile, your bill is climbing faster than your call volume, and your competitor just launched with an AI that actually understands context.
Now what?
You’re stuck. Ripping out and replacing the AI means rebuilding your entire contact center stack.
Bandwidth’s Bring-Your-Own (BYO) AI approach solves this. You’re not locked into a single AI provider. You can connect any AI platform (a major player like Google or OpenAI, or a specialized Ecommerce AI) to Bandwidth’s voice infrastructure without rebuilding everything.
Two ways to connect your AI
Bandwidth offers two integration paths depending on how much control you need:
1. SIP integration: Straightforward and standards-based
If you already have a conversational AI provider, SIP integration connects it directly to Bandwidth’s network. Inbound calls are routed to your AI platform first, before ever reaching your contact center. This works well if your AI vendor supports SIP and you want a simple setup.
Best for: Brands with an established AI vendor that handles the AI logic internally.
2. Programmable Voice with Media Streaming: Maximum flexibility
For brands that need deeper customization, Bandwidth’s Programmable Voice APIs stream the full call audio to your application in real time. You can send that audio to any AI engine or multiple engines at once. Want to use one AI for product questions and another for order tracking? You can.
Best for: Brands building custom voice experiences or running multiple AI providers simultaneously
Why should Ecommerce care about BYO AI
Ecommerce moves fast. A voice AI that works great for order tracking might struggle with product recommendations. Customer expectations change. New AI platforms launch with better capabilities or lower costs.
With BYO AI, you don’t bet your voice strategy on a single vendor. You can:
- Test new AI platforms without a full migration
- Run different AIs for different customer segments or use cases
- Switch providers if pricing or performance changes
- Keep your contact center and voice infrastructure stable while experimenting with AI
The infrastructure stays constant, the AI layer stays flexible, and you scale voice AI without painting yourself into a corner.
What’s next for Conversational AI in Ecommerce: Baking in scalability
Ecommerce brands are learning that voice AI performance depends heavily on what’s underneath it. Strong infrastructure, like reliable routing and quality connectivity, matters just as much as the conversational AI on top.
Gartner research indicates 80% of companies have adopted or plan to adopt AI-powered chatbots to support their customer service operations. This means the competitive advantage of being an early adopter is shrinking fast. What used to differentiate you—having voice AI at all—will soon be table stakes.
The next advantage will belong to brands that bake AI into their contact center stacks right from the start. You need three things from your voice infrastructure: the freedom to change AI providers, pricing that scales with your success, and call quality that doesn’t make customers hang up.
Voice AI handles the problems that cost you money. Like Black Friday call spikes, routine questions your team answers 50 times a day, and customers calling outside business hours. But only if the infrastructure underneath can deliver.
Simplify. Automate. Scale.
Defy stack compromises with the carrier offering the most direct-to-carrier integrations in the world to industry-leading tools across UCaaS, CCaaS, conversational AI, and voice authentication.
[1] Nextlevel AI, 2026 Voice AI Trends: How Businesses Are Scaling Conversational Agents for Enterprise Impact
[2] Hotel Management Network, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts adopts Canary’s AI Voice technology
[3] The Comm100 AI Live Chat Benchmark Report 2025
[4] Zendesk CX trends industry report 2026
[5] Zendesk CX trends industry report 2025
[6] AI in Customer Service 2026
