Customer support overwhelmed by technical product compatibility questions across 20,000+ SKUs
A hardware retailer operating both physical stores and an online shop with over 20,000 SKUs — power tools, cutting equipment, accessories, consumables, and spare parts — faced a persistent bottleneck in customer support. Customers regularly asked highly specific technical questions: "Will this diamond cutting disc fit my Makita GA5030 angle grinder?" or "What's the compatible battery for this DeWalt impact driver model?" Support agents needed 5-15 minutes per inquiry to research specifications, cross-reference product databases, and verify compatibility — often getting it wrong, leading to returns and customer frustration.
AI-powered product compatibility engine with natural language consultation
AITENCY developed an AI product consultant that ingested the entire product catalogue — specifications, compatibility matrices, manufacturer data sheets, and cross-reference tables — into a structured knowledge base. Customers could ask natural language questions through the website chat, WhatsApp, or in-store kiosks, and receive instant, accurate answers about product compatibility, recommended accessories, and suitable alternatives. The system understood technical specifications, model numbers, and brand-specific naming conventions, and could reason about compatibility even when exact matches weren't in the database by analysing dimensional specifications and interface standards.
The project ran over 4 weeks: 1 week of catalogue data extraction, normalisation, and knowledge base construction from multiple supplier feeds; 1 week of AI model fine-tuning and compatibility logic development; 1 week of multi-channel integration (website, WhatsApp, in-store); and 1 week of testing with real customer queries pulled from historical support tickets.
Results
Average response time for product compatibility queries, down from 5-15 minutes
Compatibility recommendations verified correct, exceeding human agent accuracy of ~82%
Reduction in product returns attributed to incorrect compatibility purchases
The knowledge base automatically updates as new products are added to the catalogue. The system has become the primary pre-sales tool, handling over 400 compatibility queries daily and freeing the support team to focus on complex after-sales issues. Customer satisfaction scores for the online store increased measurably within the first quarter.