CUSTOMER STORYE-COMMERCE · SHOPIFY · CRAFT MATERIALS & WORKSHOPS
The craft storethat never closes.
How an online store selling craft materials and workshops answers every customer on its website, WhatsApp and Instagram within seconds. That includes the 4 in 10 who write after closing time.
- 40%
- of customer messages arrive outside business hours
- 9 sec
- median time to the first reply, day or night
- 2 in 3
- conversations handled start to finish by the AI agent
- ~500
- customer conversations a month in 2026
Measured on the store’s live AssistantLabs account, 27 Mar – 25 Sep 2026 (monthly figure: Jan – Sep 2026). Business name withheld.
THE STORY
Makers ask their questions at night.Now someone answers.
The business
An online store on Shopify that sells everything for home crafting: polymer concrete, silicone molds, sealers and starter kits. It also runs online and in-person workshops. Its customers are makers, and they’re usually in the middle of a project when they write.
The challenge
Craft questions are specific. Which material can hold water? How much powder does this mold need? Is the pomegranate mold in stock before the holiday? Customers ask them in the evening and on weekends, when the projects actually happen, and across three places at once: the website, WhatsApp and Instagram. A question that waits until morning leaves a customer waiting, and a waiting customer can buy somewhere else.
What AssistantLabs set up
- One AI agent on every channel: website chat, WhatsApp and Instagram DMs, all in a single inbox.
- Connected to the Shopify catalog, so it answers with real products, prices and links.
- Taught the store’s know-how: materials, mixing ratios, sealing, how-to videos and workshops.
- Tags buyers as leads and hands anything that needs a person to the team, with the conversation attached.
- Sorts every conversation by topic, so the team sees what customers ask about.
- A customer writeson the website, WhatsApp or Instagram, at any hour
- The AI agent answers in secondsusing the Shopify catalog and the store’s own know-how
- The team steps in only when neededwith the lead tagged and the context ready
WHEN CUSTOMERS WRITE
40% of questions arriveafter the store closes.
Each square is one hour of the week. The darker it is, the more customer messages came in at that hour. The outlined area is the store’s business hours. Look at Friday afternoon and Saturday, and at every evening after 6pm.
- 96%
- of after-hours messages answered within 5 minutes
- 3,774
- customer messages outside business hours in 6 months
When the after-hours messages come in
Share of the 3,774 after-hours messages
9,494 customer messages, 27 Mar – 25 Sep 2026, Israel time. Several quick lines from one customer count as one message. Business hours: Sun–Thu 9am–6pm, Fri 9am–1pm.
IN THEIR WORDS
Real conversations,real expertise.
The agent doesn’t just point to a product page. It answers the way the store’s best salesperson would, then sends the exact product.
Saturday
More questions it answered after closing
- “Is the pomegranate silicone mold in stock?”Monday, 9:12 pm · answered with the product, price and link
- “Does every Hanukkah menorah need 1.5 of material?”Saturday, 10:37 pm · answered in 15 sec, with the quantity calculator
- “Can I measure it with a scale?”Tuesday, 2:53 am · a customer making candles; answered in 8 sec with the exact mixing ratio
- “Do you have a mezuzah mold?”Monday, 9:12 pm · answered with a link to the molds, tagged as a lead
Real conversations from the store’s account, translated from Hebrew. Customer, staff and product brand names removed; lightly shortened.
WHERE AND WHAT
One agent, three channels,every kind of question.
Where customers write
Conversations by channel, last 6 months
What they ask about
Top topics, as labelled by the agent (WhatsApp + Instagram, May–Sep)
THE RESULTS
Hundreds of conversations a month.Most need no one from the team.
Customer conversations per month, 2026
Handled start to finish by the AI agent · A team member also replied · % = handled by the agent alone
*September: 1–25 Sep. In September so far, 95% of conversations were handled by the agent alone.
- 91%
- of customer messages answered first by the AI agent
- 9 sec
- median first reply. Every month of 2026 stayed between 7 and 10 seconds
- 26 sec
- 9 in 10 customers get a reply within this time
- 1,863
- conversations in 6 months handled with no one from the team
- 1,537
- conversations where the agent sent a product or store link
- 483
- conversations the agent tagged as sales leads
What generous service. Hats off 💚
Want this for your store?
In a free integration meeting we connect your store and your channels together with you, and train the agent on your products and know-how.
About the data
Measured on the store’s live AssistantLabs account, 27 Mar – 25 Sep 2026 unless noted; monthly chart 1 Jan – 25 Sep 2026. A conversation is one customer’s thread on one channel with at least one customer message. “Handled by the AI agent alone” means the agent replied and no team member sent a message in that conversation. Reply time runs from a customer’s message to the first reply. Business hours: Sun–Thu 9am–6pm, Fri 9am–1pm, Israel time.
More customer stories
- Custom car matsFrom first question to front door.~700 customers write in on WhatsApp every monthRead the story ›
- Healthy-dessert patisserieThe sweetest night shift.84% of after-hours messages answered within 5 minutesRead the story ›
- Lighting storeEvery phone call continues on WhatsApp.63% of new callers continue the conversation on WhatsAppRead the story ›
