PetStore Direct, one of North America’s fastest-growing grooming supply retailers, faced a challenge familiar to most high-volume ecommerce brands: phone calls were increasing, but staff availability wasn’t. Customers were calling for recommendations, product comparisons, and help choosing the right clippers, dryers, and shampoos — but the sales team couldn’t scale with demand.
TIN built a fully autonomous, natural-sounding AI Sales Agent capable of understanding grooming terminology, guiding product choices, creating draft carts in Shopify, and sending instant checkout links. The solution now handles a significant portion of sales calls end-to-end.
The Challenge
PetStore Direct’s call volume was growing due to:
- Complex product categories (clippers, blades, dryers, shampoos)
- Customers wanting expert recommendations
- High price-point decisions requiring reassurance
- Groomers calling during work hours, making live assistance hard
The internal team struggled with:
- Slow manual product lookups
- Inconsistent advice between staff members
- Abandoned calls during peak hours
- Cart abandonment after phone inquiries
The goal was clear:
help customers buy faster, with consistent expertise, without relying on additional staff.
The Solution
TIN developed an AI Sales Agent that acts like a knowledgeable employee who:
- Understands grooming equipment and terminology
- Asks qualifying questions (coat type, breed, usage needs)
- Recommends products based on brand priority + inventory + quality
- Adds items to a Shopify draft basket
- Sends checkout links via SMS or email
- Escalates to humans when needed
The system is designed to feel personal — callers don’t feel like they’re speaking to a bot.
What We Delivered
Intelligent Product Recommendation Engine
- Trained on grooming categories (clippers, blades, shampoos, tables, dryers)
- Embedded brand priority logic (e.g., “If customer wants cordless, recommend X first”)
- Conversational upselling (“If you're grooming daily, consider model Y because it has…”)
Real-Time Shopify Product Connector
- Live availability
- Variant selection (speed, color, size)
- Price + discount visibility
- Hidden/archived product filtering
Custom Draft Cart & Checkout Link Workflow
- AI creates draft orders in Shopify
- Populates cart from conversation cues
- Sends checkout link via SMS/email
- Tracks whether the customer opens the link
- Minimizes abandoned phone orders
Conversational Flow Design
- Personality and tone tailored for groomers
- Handling of indecision, objections, and comparisons
- Fail-safe escalation if the customer asks for a non-recommended product
Results
Even without formal A/B testing, early indicators showed:
- Faster ordering: Customers moved through product selection 3–4x faster
- Reduced staff burden: Team avoided repetitive recommendation calls
- More consistent advice: Same high-quality recommendations every time
- Higher checkout completion: Checkout link flow reduced friction significantly
- Better utilization of staff time: Humans focused on high-value interactions
Client Impact
PetStore Direct now treats incoming calls as an automated sales pipeline, not an operational burden.
The AI Sales Agent brings consistency, speed, and expertise to every interaction — at scale.
.svg)
