It’s tough to be a retail brand these days. Do you go with incredible software option A, or incredible software option B?

Ok, sure, perhaps this “embarrassment of riches” dilemma isn’t as dramatic as we’re making it out to be, but that doesn’t mean making the right choice isn’t important. In fact, the cost of choosing the wrong software can be major, according to a recent report by Capterra: 58% of businesses today regret a recent software purchase.

A bad software choice means wasted time and money sunk into its purchase and implementation, but the downsides go deeper than that. The report goes on to say that 41% of businesses said that bad software purchase made them less competitive, and 38% said that the decision led to productivity loss.

When it comes to your retail software platform, especially in the realm of customer support, it behooves you to make the right decision the first time. In this space, two platforms are popular choices: Gorgias and Endear. Which customer platform is the right one for your retail business?

Gorgias is a popular customer service platform in the retail space that excels at providing fast, accurate, and intelligent customer service to their online audience. Let’s rundown its main benefits:

In summary, the main reason why retail brands purchase Gorgias is to provide excellent customer service, in various different ways and via different channels. Whether someone is looking for a refund, tracking an order, or honing down on the exact item to purchase; Gorgias can connect customers with AI or a customer service rep in a live chat to get the answers they need.

While doing similar things for customers, Endear is just not focused on customer service but built from the ground up to help shoppers throughout the entire customer journey, from brand awareness to making a sale to nurturing them to be lifelong, loyal customers. The highlights:

To summarize, retail brands that are looking for a complete CRM platform to facilitate personalized customer interactions, drive omnichannel engagement, and provide data-driven insights to enhance the retail customer experience should consider Endear.

At the end of the day, the software you choose for your retail business should directly address your specific needs. So, if your brand 1) doesn’t have any brick & mortar locations, and 2) needs to focus on providing excellent customer support; then Gorgias is the perfect software for you.

However, if your brand 1) does encompass brick & mortar stores, 2) need a solution for target marketing campaigns through email & SMS, 3) and want to nurture customers not just at the point-of-online-sale but through their entire journey; Endear is the right platform for you.

To truly differentiate the philosophy of these two choices, let’s hone in on the live chat option for both.

Gorgias is focused on using their live chat to close out customer support tickets quickly. That’s why heavily leveraging AI chatbots makes complete sense: much of the basic customer questions can be answered instantly with AI support (eg. “what’s my tracking number?” “how do I return this item?”). And if needed, Gorgias can connect customers with more difficult questions to a customer service rep.

On the other hand, Endear’s live chat is called SalesChat because though it can be used for customer support, the real benefit is connecting current shoppers with a live sales associate in order to make the sale happen. It’s not just another chatbot, but a live chat with a knowledgeable human who can provide a virtual clienteling experience for the shopper through any channel.

Here at Endear, we don’t just support customers; we guide them. And ultimately, that’s the key difference between us and Gorgias. Both platforms are incredible at what they do, but clearly Endear is built for the holistic retail experience, not just one aspect of it.

Of course, why choose? Endear integrates with Gorgias so you can get the best of both worlds! The whole time, as it turns out, the best answer is use us both.