We were delighted to welcome Dan Lenehan from Alloy Tech to speak at our first Magico Clinic of 2026. Dan delivered an engaging presentation on his AI Shop Assistant product, showcasing how AI can enhance the online shopping experience for retailers and customers alike.
To learn more about the solution and the key takeaways from the session, read below and don’t forget to check out our upcoming webinar for further insights.
There was a time when browsing an online store meant scrolling through categories, comparing product pages, and slowly narrowing down options. That experience has changed. Customers now operate in an instant-answer economy: attention is limited, patience is thin, and expectations are shaped by AI chatbots that deliver immediate,
conversational responses. When shoppers can’t find answers quickly, they don’t keep searching, they leave.
The AI Shop Assistant from Alloy Tech Labs is a conversational assistant embedded directly into your website, designed to help customers find answers, products, and solutions instantly. It understands your products, live inventory, and store policies, so shoppers can ask natural questions and receive clear, catalogue-backed answers in real time without ever
leaving the page. It can also surface relevant product images directly within the conversation, helping shoppers visualise options as they ask questions and bringing product discovery closer to the experience of in-store assistance.
Already, over 12,000 real customer conversations have flowed through the AI Shop Assistant, answering questions like:
● “Which product do I need for this use case?”
● “What’s the difference between these two options?”
● “Will this work with what I already have?”
● “When will this arrive and what’s the return policy?”
Instead of forcing shoppers to search harder, the assistant brings clarity at the moment they
need it most.
See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ec0vvcbCWxw
One assistant, two critical roles
Smarter product discovery
Not all shoppers arrive with the same intent. Some know exactly what they want. Others know the problem they’re trying to solve, but not the product that solves it. The assistant adapts to both behaviours by helping decisive customers find the right product faster and guiding uncertain customers with the right follow-up questions. By handling natural queries in real time regardless of a shopper’s technical knowledge or familiarity with your domain, it removes friction and hesitation, helping customers progress confidently through their journey and improving conversion. The assistant can also recommend relevant add-ons and additional products tailored to the customer’s specific problem or task in the moment, increasing basket size in a way that feels helpful, not forced.
Always-on customer service
The assistant also handles common service questions instantly, such as delivery times, returns, refunds, and policies, providing consistent answers 24/7. For customers, that means less waiting. For retailers, it means fewer repetitive support queries and a smoother overall experience.
A cross-industry problem product pages can’t solve
Traditional product pages rely on shoppers knowing exactly what to look for, or having the patience to navigate categories, filters, and specifications. In reality, customers often arrive with questions that static pages can’t anticipate and unanswered questions frequently lead to abandonment.
The AI Shop Assistant solves this cross-industry problem, from electronics to apparel to home goods, by offering instant conversational guidance that helps shoppers clarify their needs, discover relevant products, and make confident purchasing decisions.
Built for how customers shop today
The shift toward conversational shopping is already underway. AI chatbots have trained customers to expect instant answers, and that expectation now applies everywhere. For retailers using the AB Commerce platform, integration is seamless with no disruption to existing workflows. The AI Shop Assistant connects directly to live product data, so
customers get fast, relevant answers based on what’s actually available. It improves continuously through real customer interactions and becomes more helpful over time as it learns what shoppers ask most.
This is just the beginning. Upcoming features including the ability to add products to cart directly from the conversation, will reduce friction even further, shortening the path from question to checkout. In a market where attention is scarce and switching costs are low, the brands that win are the ones that make buying feel effortless.
