How Bauhof cut support emails by 50% and calls by 45%

Compared with 2021, Bauhof’s support emails fell by 50% and its phone calls by 45%. Over the same period, chat contacts grew by 300%.

In early 2023, Bauhof, one of Estonia’s largest DIY stores, replaced the Zendesk chat on its online store with Askly. It also gave its support team an AI agent.

Askly’s AI agent answers repeat and simpler questions in seconds, 24/7, in the customer’s language. Bauhof’s support team still answers the more complex and personal questions.

Why the old chat frustrated shoppers

In 2021 and 2022, Bauhof used Zendesk, one of the biggest names in the market. For Bauhof, though, the customer experience and features often fell short.

Many companies have no idea how frustrating their chat window can be for shoppers. These were the main complaints about the Zendesk chat:

• Support was only available at certain hours and in certain languages.
• After hours, customers got no replies in chat, and new requests went to email.
• Customers often had to start the conversation over.
• Chats broke off on mobile, even though mobile is many people’s first choice.
• Trust in the chat window was low.

Priit Vao, Bauhof’s director of B2B sales and e-commerce, says the support channels had become too much to manage.

“2021 was our first full year with live chat on the online store. But we had to switch it off in peak season. We couldn’t keep up with 3 channels: phone, email and chat. With Askly, we were able to save our team time and improve the customer experience.”

Priit Vao, director of B2B sales and e-commerce at Bauhof

Why Bauhof chose Askly

Bauhof made the switch in February 2023. The deciding factors were:

• good usability on mobile
• a better customer experience
• simple, convenient automation
• built-in multilingual support and real-time translation

For Bauhof, the chat window is the most important tool for talking to customers. The team can answer shoppers right on the website and automate some replies.

Sharing information there is also more efficient than on other channels. With AI, the chat stays open around the clock, all year.

The results after almost 2 years

At the time of writing, Bauhof had been using Askly for almost 2 years. Compared with 2021, when the company used Zendesk, the difference is clear:

• Chat contacts are up 300%, a sign that the chat experience matters.
• Emails are down 50%.
• Phone calls are down 45%. Good support right on the website cuts contacts in the channels that cost more to run.

Customers also came to trust the chat window.

Priit Vao adds that other changes may also have played a part. During this period, Bauhof also invested in making its online store more customer-friendly.

It also sped up order picking across Estonia. That reduced the number of late orders and, with it, the load on customer support.

Why the drop in phone calls matters most

“I’m happiest about the drop in phone calls. On the phone, you can only deal with one customer at a time, so it’s the most time-consuming channel. The goal of customer support is to understand customers’ problems, solve them quickly and improve their shopping experience. Askly is a big help to us with that.”

Priit Vao, director of B2B sales and e-commerce at Bauhof

Which channel takes up most of your team’s time today?

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