Best 13 help desks for retail businesses

A retail help desk can help you recover lost sales, cut support costs, and boost customer satisfaction. According to Forbes, 70% of shoppers spend more after a positive service experience.

Not sure which help desk to choose or how much it costs? Here’s a comparison of the most popular retail help desk services in 2025.

What is a retail help desk?

A retail help desk is a platform that helps online and physical stores manage all customer support in one place. It allows retailers to answer questions, solve issues, and improve the shopping experience across all sales and communication channels.

Typical features include:

• Handle emails, chat, calls, and social media in one inbox
• View orders, delivery status, and tracking info instantly
• Turn customer issues into tickets with priority tags
• Let customers solve issues via help centers or return portals
• Automate replies and common tasks
• Assign tickets and leave internal notes for teammates
• See full customer history (orders + chats) in one view
• Track support performance with clear reports

Best 13 help desks for retail businesses

1. Outvio Desk

Outvio Desk is a help desk built specifically for retail. It combines customer support with full order management and logistics tools. Support agents can manage emails, chat, and social messages in one inbox while accessing real-time shipping info, returns, tracking numbers, and marketing features. AI classifies messages automatically and suggests actions based on the order status.

Main features:

• Unified inbox for all support channels
• Integrated order, shipping, and return management
• AI for ticket classification and automation
• Live chat, macros, bots, and customizable templates
• Social media and carrier integrations
• Full analytics dashboard built for retail

Pros:

• Built specifically for retail and eCommerce
• Combines support and logistics in one tool
• Powerful automations with order-level context
• Turn returns costs in new revenuew
• Unlimited agentes, tickets, automations and voice calls

Cons:

• Best suited for retail and eCommerce (not ideal for other industries)

2. Help Scout

Help Scout offers a clean, email-style interface for handling customer service. It supports email, chat, and social media through a shared inbox. AI-powered features like auto-replies and draft suggestions improve response time, while automation rules help teams stay organized.

Main features:

• Shared inbox for email, chat, Messenger, and Instagram
• AI drafts and reply suggestions
• Automation rules and workflows
• Help center and documentation tools
• Integrates with many CRM

Pros:

• Easy to use and set up
• Good automation options
• Great for smaller teams

Cons:

• Limited retail-specific features
• Some advanced features cost extra

3. Freshdesk

Freshdesk is a well-known help desk with strong omnichannel support. It allows teams to manage live chat, phone support, and customer tickets from a single dashboard. The platform includes ticket automation, chatbot features, and a knowledge base builder.

Main features:

• Ticketing system with automation rules
• Multichannel support (chat, phone, email, social)
• AI-powered chatbot and canned responses
• Help center with customer self-service tools
• SLA management and analytics

Pros:

• Very intuitive interface
• Free plan available
• Flexible for different use cases

Cons:

• Retail integrations not native
• Some tools require higher-tier plans

4. Qpien

Qpien is a help desk tailored for retail sellers. It unifies communication from marketplaces, websites, and social channels into a single screen. Teams can chat with customers, respond to issues, and handle all tickets in one place, with multilingual support included.

Main features:

• Centralized inbox and social platforms
• Live chat widget for websites
• Shopify and WooCommerce integrations
• Multilingual support
• Real-time communication tracking

Pros:

• Designed for online sellers
• Clean and efficient dashboard
• Strong marketplace integrations

Cons:

• Fewer automation tools than competitors
• Less known in the global market

5. Zendesk

Zendesk is a powerful, enterprise-grade help desk platform. It offers full omnichannel support and allows agents to manage tickets, chats, calls, and social messages in one workspace. The tool also includes automation, reporting, and a robust knowledge base builder.

Main features:

• Omnichannel messaging across web, mobile, chat, email
• Unified agent workspace
• AI bots and automation tools
• Knowledge base and help center
• Large integration ecosystem

Pros:

• Scalable for large support teams
• Rich feature set
• Widely trusted in retail

Cons:

• Expensive for small teams
• Complex setup and long onboarding

6. LiveChat

LiveChat is focused on real-time interactions with website visitors. It allows teams to answer questions, recommend products, and resolve issues instantly through a branded widget. It stores chat history and captures customer info during sessions.

Main features:

• Website live chat with customization options
• Chat archives and customer profiles
• Pre-chat surveys and feedback collection
• Integrations with Shopify, Mailchimp, Google Analytics

Pros:

• Great for sales-focused support
• Lightweight and fast
• Easy to install

Cons:

• Not a full ticketing system
• Limited to chat interactions

7. Kayoka

Kayoka is a retail help desk hat consolidates customer conversations into one place. It allows teams to manage messages from email, chat, and marketplaces, using a ticketing system with automation features.

Main features:

• Unified inbox with ticket management
• AI-powered chatbot
• Integrations with retail platforms and marketplaces
• Customer view with history and context

Pros:

• Tailored to retail needs
• Simple and fast to deploy

Cons:

• Smaller feature set than big players
• Limited documentation

8. eDesk

eDesk is purpose-built for retail support teams, especially those selling on marketplaces. It automatically connects support tickets to orders from Amazon, eBay, Shopify, and more. Teams can resolve issues fast with relevant order data shown in every ticket.

Main features:

• Marketplace and shopping cart integrations
• Auto-response templates
• Order and tracking info in tickets
• Reporting and SLA tracking

Pros:

• Designed for multichannel sellers
• Fast issue resolution
• Very marketplace-friendly

Cons:

• Interface not as modern
• Limited chat features

9. Gorgias

Gorgias is a help desk optimized for Shopify stores. It combines ticketing, live chat, macros, bots, and retail data in a single interface. Teams can reply to customers with full order history, shipping status, and purchase details at hand.

Main features:

• Shopify integration with order and customer data
• Ticketing, macros, and automated replies
• Live chat and social channel integrations
• Customizable templates and workflows

Pros:

• Deep Shopify support
• Strong automation tools
• Fast to use for support teams

Cons:

• Usage-based pricing gets expensive
• Limited outside Shopify

10. Hiver

Hiver turns your Gmail inbox into a help desk. It’s perfect for small teams that don’t want a separate tool. You can assign tickets, leave notes, and track performance — all from your existing email setup.

Main features:

• Gmail-based shared inbox
• Auto-assignment and routing
• Internal notes and ticket statuses
• Reports and SLA tracking

Pros:

• No need to leave Gmail
• Minimal learning curve
• Good for small teams

Cons:

• Gmail only
• Not retail-specific

11. Front

Front is built for teams that want to manage all customer communication in one place. It organizes email, SMS, chat, and social into a single feed, with ticketing tools and collaboration features layered on top.

Main features:

• Central inbox with full customer context
• Assign and tag conversations
• Analytics and customer satisfaction tracking
• Real-time team collaboration

Pros:

• Strong collaboration tools
• Supports many communication channels
• Clean and flexible interface

Cons:

• Not retail-focused
• Advanced features cost extra

12. Dixa

Dixa is a customer service platform with intelligent routing, perfect for medium-volume retail teams. It creates a unified inbox for phone, email, chat, and messaging apps, then routes tickets to the right agent based on skills or availability.

Main features:

• Omnichannel support
• AI routing and assignment
• Unified workspace
• Ecommerce platform integrations

Pros:

• Smart automation
• Smooth agent experience
• Good for international teams

Cons:

• Requires onboarding
• Pricing may be high for small brands

13. Tidio

Tidio focuses on real-time chat and chatbot automation. It’s a good fit for online stores that want to boost sales and support through instant replies. Tidio connects to popular retail platforms and lets you track visitors in real time.

Main features:

• Live chat + chatbot builder
• Retail integrations
• Contact data collection
• Easy-to-use UI

Pros:

• Very chat-focused
• Good for lead generation and support
• Quick to install

Cons:

• Chat-heavy, limited ticketing
• Basic reporting

Pricing models: What seems cheap might not be

Many customer support tools use different pricing models. Some may look affordable at first, but they often hide costs that increase as your team, sales, or ticket volume grows.

These are the most common pricing models you’ll find in the market:

1. Subscription model

You pay a monthly or yearly fee to access the service. This is often combined with a per-agent cost, which means the more your team grows, the more you pay.

Example: $20/month per agent × 10 agents × 12 months = $2,400 per year Add more agents, and your bill increases proportionally.

Some platforms also charge extra for:

• Access to integrations
• Enabling the knowledge base
• Adding channels like WhatsApp or social media

2. Pay-as-you-go model

You only pay when you use the system. This may seem fair if you handle few tickets, but it becomes unpredictable with high volumes.

Common costs in this model:

• Per ticket: $2/ticket × 1,500 tickets = $3,000/year
• Automations: Some rules or workflows require additional payment
• Auto-translation: Charged per translated message
• Conversions: Fees if you generate sales from live chat
• AI usage: Fees per chatbot interaction
• Calls: Charged per minute or per handled call

To properly evaluate different pricing models, it’s key to compare the total cost of ownership (TCO) over time. A model that looks cheap upfront could become more expensive later due to hidden fees, scaling limits, or customization needs.

Retail help desk service price comparison 2025

Start with the Outvio retail help desk today

Outvio gives your retail team everything in one place—tickets, chat, automations, shipping tools, and customer data—without extra fees or limits. Save time, reduce costs, and deliver faster, smarter support.

Book a demo and see how Outvio can upgrade your retail support.