Gladly Editorial

Gen Z is rewriting the rules of loyalty for CX leaders

Gen Z shops social-first, expects AI that actually works, and walks after one bad experience. What CX leaders need to know to serve them and earn lasting loyalty.

Best knowledge base software for customer support in 2026

Comparing knowledge base software for customer support? Here's what to look for, the mistake most teams make, and the tools worth evaluating.

How to reduce support ticket volume in ecommerce

Reduce ecommerce support ticket volume: find what drives conversations, prevent order status questions, fix returns, and let AI resolve the routine ones.

15 best Shopify apps to help small businesses scale in 2026

The 15 best Shopify apps for small businesses, sorted by category, with the best free apps, Shopify Plus notes, and what to set up before Black Friday.

How to build a single customer view for ecommerce personalization

A guide to building a single customer view for ecommerce, from data sources and identity resolution to a live record your team and AI use mid-conversation.

AI benchmarks in ecommerce — why conversational assistants are becoming essential

Discover ecommerce benchmarks that prove why AI shopping assistants boost conversions, increase order value, reduce cart abandonment, and build loyalty.

Ecommerce replatforming checklist: 9 phases from audit to post-launch

A phase-by-phase ecommerce replatforming checklist covering data, SEO, integrations, launch, and the customer service work most migration plans miss.

Faceted search best practices for ecommerce

How to choose, order, and maintain ecommerce facets, keep filters working on mobile, prevent zero results, and help shoppers when filters run out.

Best AI customer service software in 2026: 8 tools compared

We compared eight AI customer service platforms on what matters to retail and ecommerce teams: order actions, customer history, handoffs, and who can set it up.

How to increase average order value, a practical playbook for ecommerce teams

A practical AOV playbook for ecommerce teams, covering upsells, cross-sells, free shipping thresholds, bundles, mobile fixes, and how to measure lift with RPV.

Help desk migration: how to switch platforms without losing customer history

A step-by-step help desk migration guide for mid-sized ecommerce support teams: when to switch, what history to keep, and how to cut over cleanly.

Composable commerce explained: a practical primer for ecommerce leaders

What composable commerce is, how it compares to headless and monolithic platforms, what it asks of your team, and where Shopify and AI fit.

10 product bundling examples that increase AOV

Ten real ecommerce bundles from brands like Caraway, Brooklinen, and Bombas, with prices, bundle types, placement, and what to borrow from each.

How AI shopping agents are changing the ecommerce funnel

AI shopping agents are already researching, comparing, and buying on ecommerce sites. Here's what that means for your product pages, pricing, and reviews.

Preparing your product feed for AI agents

A practical guide to preparing your product feed for AI shopping agents: attribute audits, schema markup, real-time sync, and feed-quality ownership.

AI product discovery: how AI is changing the way shoppers find products

AI now shapes product discovery in search, recommendations, on-site assistants, and agents like ChatGPT. Here’s what changes and where to start.

Agentic checkout, explained for ecommerce teams

What happens when an AI agent completes a purchase: the protocols, payment verification, and merchandising questions ecommerce teams need to answer first.

Loyalty program ROI: how to calculate it without fooling yourself

Calculate loyalty program ROI on margin, not revenue. A worked ecommerce example shows why the same program can report 295% or 30%.

How to reduce cart abandonment, step by step

Current cart abandonment benchmarks, the real reasons shoppers leave, and step-by-step fixes for ecommerce teams of any size.

How to increase business revenue with your ecommerce website

Website revenue is traffic × conversion × order value × repeat purchase. Find the weak lever, fix the cheapest one first, and watch small lifts multiply.

What an AI shopping assistant does and how to choose one for your store

How AI shopping assistants work, what Smith Optics, Tecovas and KÜHL saw, and how to choose and measure one for your store.

How to build a product bundling strategy that moves the AOV needle

Pick the right products, price bundles without giving away margin, merchandise them on PLP, PDP, and cart, and measure what they really earn.

Ecommerce conversion rate and what actually counts as good

See the latest ecommerce conversion rate benchmarks by industry and traffic source, why the average can mislead you, and what a good rate looks like for your store.

Best enterprise help desk software in 2026

Most enterprise help desks win RFPs but miss on outcomes. Here's how to evaluate for customer loyalty, not just deflection rate.

Customer success manager job description and salary

The CSM role without the fluff. What they own, how they differ from support and account management, verified 2026 salary data, and how to get hired.

Customer data platform vs. CRM: what’s the difference?

How a CDP and a CRM differ, when an ecommerce brand needs a CDP alongside its CRM, and how to connect them so every team sees the same customer.

Agentic commerce risks retailers should be thinking about now

AI shopping agents compare prices instantly and describe your products for you. Here's how that squeezes margin and brand control, and what to do now.

Ecommerce site search best practices, a practitioner's checklist

A practitioner's checklist for ecommerce site search: a 30-minute audit, autocomplete and typo fixes, zero-results triage, mobile search, and GA4 measurement.

WebMCP for ecommerce sites, explained without the jargon

What WebMCP is, how it differs from your existing APIs, and what to prioritize first as an ecommerce team, honestly framed for how early the standard still is.

An AI agent readiness checklist for ecommerce teams

A practical checklist covering the product data, checkout, and policy decisions ecommerce teams need before AI shopping agents start acting on a customer’s behalf.

5 best ecommerce customer service software in 2026

Compare ecommerce customer service software and see why Gladly ranks first for personalized CX and customer lifetime value.

Best customer support software for small Shopify stores: Top 5 for 2026

Compare the top 5 customer support platforms for small Shopify stores and see why Gladly ranks first for personalized, multi-channel service.

Conversational AI for ecommerce use cases, results & how to start

Where conversational AI fits from product discovery to exchanges, what KÜHL and Rothy's saw, and how to start with one use case and expand.

How to calculate customer acquisition cost (and know if it paid off)

Learn how to calculate CAC with a worked retail example, then check it against LTV and payback in orders to see if your acquisition spend is paying off.

What a customer engagement platform actually does for a retail brand

What a customer engagement platform actually does beyond email and SMS, how it differs from a CRM, and how to evaluate one without over-buying.

7 best customer support platforms for small businesses in 2026

Compare seven top customer support platforms for small businesses, with Gladly ranked #1 for people-centered service.

Customer service phrases that build loyalty in 2026

Customer service phrases that build loyalty, by scenario, plus the lines to avoid and what to say instead.

Ecommerce trends worth planning around in 2026

Social commerce, BNPL, livestream shopping, and other trends reshaping ecommerce in 2026, with what each means for smaller online stores too.

Customer service automation best practices

How leading brands automate support without losing the human touch, with real examples and pros and cons.

What Shoptalk Spring 2026 revealed about retail's AI moment

Gladly was at Shoptalk Spring 2026. Here's what the AI conversation in retail looks like — and what's next at Gladly Connect Live.

Gladly wins VIP Award for Best Unified Customer Experience

Gladly won the 2026 VIP Award for Best Unified Customer Experience. Learn how customer experience AI built for engagement drives devotion and value.

How to use WhatsApp for customer service without losing the personal touch

WhatsApp is where your customers already are. Here's how to add it to your support mix without turning it into another disconnected inbox.

Millennials hold the biggest wallet, and their loyalty is still up for grabs

Millennials outspend every other generation and shop across every channel, yet only one in five rarely switch brands. What CX leaders need to know to earn and keep them.

The customer experience roles worth hiring for

The CX and support roles a growing team hires as it scales, what each one does, the skills to look for, and when you actually need one.

Agentic AI in customer service for CTOs

A deep-dive interview for CTOs on the architecture, ROI, and rollout strategy required to make agentic AI work across voice and digital channels.

Does your business need Whatsapp customer service?

Many customer service teams around the world are asking themselves the same question

Best Zendesk alternatives for enterprise CX teams

Compare Zendesk alternatives for enterprise CX teams on architecture, AI, and predictable pricing. See how Gladly and others stack up.

What a help desk manager actually does in 2026

A clear guide to the help desk manager role: responsibilities, skills, salary, how to become one, and how AI is reshaping the job.

Customer service AI agent vs. chatbot: the question nobody asks

Chatbots resolve 30–40% of conversations; true AI agents 65–85%. But the handoff to a human is where loyalty is won or lost. Here's how to evaluate both.

What Freshdesk actually costs, a 2026 pricing breakdown

Freshdesk's $19 headline is real, but AI and omnichannel push the true cost to $55–$119 per agent before add-ons. Full math at 50, 100, and 200 agents.

Do more AI integrations lead to better performance?

In Gladly's 2026 data, companies with more integrations often achieved lower AI coverage than those with fewer. The metric that actually matters isn't count — it's coverage.

The best Kustomer alternatives for customer service in 2026

Compare six Kustomer alternatives for 2026, from Gladly to Zendesk, with honest notes on pricing, setup, AI, and where each platform fits best.

Help Scout alternatives for growing teams

Compare the top Help Scout alternatives by use case.

AI customer service for ecommerce brands: what it is & what good looks like

How AI customer service works for ecommerce brands, what separates resolution-first AI from deflection bots, and what to look for when evaluating options.

Live chat agent job description & hiring guide

Everything CX leaders need to hire a live chat agent: responsibilities, skills, salary, KPIs, and a copy-paste job description template.

Customer service response templates that actually work

The highest-value response templates in 2026 are for the moments AI hands to a human: escalations, bad news, de-escalation. Lead with what you know.

VP and Head of customer experience career guide

What a VP or Head of customer experience actually does, what it pays in 2026, the skills you need, and how to land the role. A candidate's guide.

7 signs of bad customer service and how to fix them

The seven patterns behind bad customer service, from the ticket trap to the dead-end bot, and what customer devotion looks like instead.

How to tell if your AI is actually working

Why reopen rate, addressable resolution rate, topic coverage, and workflow update frequency tell you more than deflection rate when measuring AI performance in customer experience.

Who Should Own AI in a Customer Experience Team?

Why the most successful CX AI programs have a single, named owner inside the customer experience team — and what that role actually does.

The best Gorgias alternatives for ecommerce customer service in 2026

Compare six Gorgias alternatives for 2026, from Gladly to Zendesk, with honest notes on pricing, AI, reporting, and where each platform fits best.

Best Freshdesk alternatives for teams ready to scale

Compare Freshdesk alternatives for growing teams on AI pricing, unified customer context, and reporting depth. See the cost-at-scale math.

Free help desk software for growing teams

Compare the best free and cheap help desk software.