Flow chatbot or AI: what changes in your store’s customer service
A flow chatbot follows a script of options drawn up in advance. Andavor’s AI talks without a script, checks real data before answering and follows the rules your store sets. Both have their place: below, side by side, criterion by criterion, and when each one makes more sense.
Side by side
| Criterion | Flow chatbot | Andavor’s AI |
|---|---|---|
| How it answers | Follows a script of menus, buttons and replies written in advance. | Talks without menus: understands what the customer wrote, takes into account what was already said and asks when information is missing. |
| Price, stock and shipping | Shows what was written into the option; to bring in system data, each step of the flow has to be wired to it. | Checks before answering: price and stock come from your catalog, and shipping is quoted by ZIP code once your carrier is integrated. No figure is written off the top of its head. |
| Context | Keeps the choices made along the path; changing the subject usually leads back to the menu. | The chosen product, ZIP code and payment method stay organized; the customer can change the subject without repeating what they already said. |
| Off-script questions | Handles what was foreseen well; a question nobody foresaw falls into a default option or goes to a person. | Answers with what your store taught it and what it looks up in the system; if the information doesn’t exist, it doesn’t make it up. |
| Setup effort | Draw every path and change the flow when a new rule or topic comes up. | No flow to draw: you connect your channels and catalog, tell it how your store sells and approve what the AI learned; a new rule is a text you change. |
| When it doesn’t know | Goes back to the menu or asks the customer to wait for an agent. | Doesn’t make things up, and passes the conversation to your team in the cases you set in the Instructions. |
| When the conversation becomes an order | Sends the link someone set up; building the order and charging means wiring each step of the flow to the system. | Builds the order and, once your payment provider is integrated, creates the charge in your own account — on channels where the customer is identified; in the website chat, it guides the customer to finish the purchase on your store’s website. A payment below the total doesn’t complete the order. |
| Predictability | The same choice always leads to the same reply, which you wrote. | Each reply is put together for that conversation, within your store’s information, rules and instructions; each one records what was checked, and you can take over any conversation whenever you want. |
When a flow chatbot does the job
When customer service is a short, fixed menu — choosing a department, checking opening hours, getting a link —, a flow is predictable: you know exactly what it will say, because you wrote every reply. If almost every conversation at your store fits a menu like that, a flow may be enough.
When Andavor’s AI makes more sense
When the customer compares products, changes their mind, asks several questions, goes back to an earlier topic or needs guidance, and when the answer depends on real price, stock and shipping. It works best for niche stores with a high average order value, a catalog you can keep in your head and customers who already ask questions by message.
What stays with you
- You set the information, rules and instructions the AI follows.
- You take over any conversation whenever you want and hand it back to the AI later.
- Every answer keeps a record of what was checked to produce it: price, shipping, order status.
- When it passes the conversation to your team is up to you, in the Instructions.
Questions
Is Andavor a chatbot?
It’s not just a chatbot. Andavor provides AI and an app for sales and customer service management, with its own AI trained for sales across different levels of customer service. The attendant talks without a script and checks your store’s data before answering.
Do I need to draw a flow in Andavor?
No. You connect your channels and catalog, tell it how your store sells and approve what the AI learned. You don’t need to code.
Does the AI make up prices or delivery times?
No. Price, stock and shipping come from a lookup in the system.
Is a flow chatbot still worth it?
For a short, fixed menu, yes: it’s predictable and does the job. The AI makes the difference when the conversation leaves the menu.