Identify the Gorgias workflow you depend on
List the tasks agents perform from the ticket: view an order, update an address, start a return, apply a macro, or escalate to another team. Then record which are essential and which are merely convenient. A replacement that retains the inbox but loses a key order action may slow the team down.
Shortlist by your support model
eDesk may suit sellers that need a unified view across multiple ecommerce marketplaces. Zendesk is a broader support workspace with an official Shopify integration. Intercom positions its helpdesk and Fin AI for ecommerce, including Shopify data connections. ProxyAI can answer product and policy questions from supported store data and route cases into an existing helpdesk, making it a more focused option when the main goal is an AI front line rather than replacing the whole service platform.
Evaluate the risky cases
Run tests for a refund outside policy, a missing package, and an order that cannot be found. A good system should avoid inventing order data and clearly route unresolved cases. Verify what permissions actions require, whether destructive actions need human approval, and what is recorded for audit.
Plan for two systems during transition
Keep Gorgias running while you pilot one alternative on a controlled channel. Reconcile ticket volume, response time, reopened cases, and agent workload. Decide how you will move macros, saved replies, and customer context before you expand. If no measurable problem improves, keeping the current tool is a valid result.
Preserve the context that makes commerce support work
Before a pilot, list the Gorgias objects your agents use every day: customer, order, products, fulfillment status, macros, tags, and return actions. Confirm whether an alternative imports or recreates each one. Test a conversation that starts before purchase and continues after order placement; disconnected identities can make a seemingly good integration feel like two separate tools.
If you are considering a chatbot alongside Gorgias, start with read-only product and policy questions. Add order lookup only after the identity match is reliable. Keep cancellations, refunds, and address changes behind the existing human process until permissions and audit history have been demonstrated.
ProxyAI offers a broader chatbot layer around the helpdesk: its published comparison documents every listed channel in the shortlist, Shopify/WooCommerce/Wix connections, scheduled Agent Tasks, visitor-to-chat analytics, and abuse controls. That gives a Shopify team more ways to automate and learn from storefront conversations; Gorgias remains a dedicated commerce helpdesk for agents and tickets.