Shopify Makes Sendbird’s AI Chatbot Available in Its App Store

Shopify Inc. merchants looking for a way to add a chatbot with artificial-intelligence capabilities to their Web sites have a new option with the Sendbird Inc. chatbot.

San Mateo, Calif.-based Sendbird’s chatbot is used by 4,000 apps, including DoorDash, Noom, and Yahoo Sports. Ottawa, Ontario-based Shopify says the Sendbird AI chatbot is available now in the Shopify App Store.

Among the chatbot’s characteristics is the ability to connect to a merchant’s store data via Shopify’s APIs and automatically add that to its knowledge base, which can be used to answer e-commerce site visitor questions, make product recommendations, and offer additional support.

Shopify says merchants can customize and test their implementation of the Sendbird AI chatbot prior to deploying it on their Shopify Web sites.  “Our goal with the new AI chatbot for Shopify is to level the playing field so that all merchants, regardless of technical expertise, can compete for customers using the latest LLM technology – and with no-code integration and automated AI chatbot training on store data,” John S. Kim, Sendbird chief executive and cofounder, says in a statement. LLM refers to a large language model, a type of artificial intelligence.

Shopify says the AI chatbot can connect directly to detailed data, such as product listings, business information, delivery times, return policies, store hours, and shipping and payment methods. It also can connect a Web site visitor to a human customer-service agent.

Sendbird was founded in 2013 and has more than 300 million monthly active users and transmits more than 7 billion monthly messages.

Shopify, in its May earnings call, labeled AI as having “immense potential.”

“Currently, the most practical applications of AI are found in tools that simplify business operations and enhance productivity, all of which we’ve been developing deeper capabilities with our AI product suite, Shopify Magic,” said Harley Finkelstein, Shopify’s president, according to a SeekingAlpha.com transcript of the call. “However, we also firmly believe that we’re just scratching the surface of what’s possible as we’re still in the nascent stages of understanding the vast potential that AI holds for businesses and commerce.”