AI in commerce is the future — and ticketing systems will hold you back

Tickets in customer service have long been the foundation of support operations, but it's time to face an uncomfortable truth: they're holding you back. Ticketing systems frustrate both customers and agents alike, creating a cycle of inefficiency that hampers genuine problem-solving.

What’s worse? Ticketing systems only do one thing — ticket.

The good thing is that a better, more versatile solution exists. And it exists in the form of building relationships with customers through AI across the entire customer lifecycle.

But before we get into all of that, let’s dive back into why so many companies (perhaps even yours) believe in the false promise of ticket-based support — and what a true customer-first, commerce-ready solution really is.

The false promise of ticketing systems

Companies falsely believe that ticket-based support systems work because they offer what surface-level advantages like these:

Organization

Many organizations think that ticketing systems centralize support requests from different channels into a single, searchable workspace. In reality, agents are left chasing conversations that started in different places without having all the context.

Collaboration

Ticketing system allow easier communication between teams. In truth, that’s not common. It would be nice to think that other teams are as well integrated into a CX team’s ticketing system. But they are usually unable to drop their work, learn a CX team’s software, and supply CX teams with on demand information.

Metrics and reporting

Ticket-based systems have reporting capabilities that include channel utilization, ticket volume, and resolution time. While metrics make sense, tickets themselves create very transactional measurements that don’t help your CX team glean much more than the number of closed tickets.

These systems fail to deliver the seamless customer experience they promise because they weren’t designed with people — neither customers nor agents — in mind. On top of that, they can’t pivot as the CX industry implements AI, and expands toward driving revenue and opening up into full commerce compatibility.

The pitfalls of AI as an afterthought

Myths are one thing. But flat-out flaws are another. That’s what you get when AI is secondary, added to your transactional ticketing software, and still expected to personalize customer experiences. Instead you get:

• Bad platform integration

• Unorganized customer conversations

• And, yes, more work for your agents

CX teams that force AI onto their ticket-based systems—instead of opting for platforms where personalization is built in—are disadvantaged in more ways than one. See if you recognize any of these pitfalls inherent to the AI-ticket combination.

It’s fragmented and repetitive

Outside AI can’t tailor responses to customer issues with tickets at its foundation.

Truth is, AI in an existing ticket-based system leads to a disjointed experience. It’s context-poorIt repeats the same information to customers, trapping them in a knowledge base loop. And it sends your customers on wild goose chases — across multiple channels — to mine the answers they need from your solution and agents. When consumer-centric AI isn’t integrated on a platform level, it erodes customer patience and trust. Fast.

It’s context-poor

Customers expect seamless, personal conversations regardless of how they reach out. But, your ticket-based systems fail to capture the full context of a customer's journey, leaving agents with no visibility into previous interactions. Disjointed experiences and frustrated customers follow.

It burns agents out

Relying on support agents to save the day when your AI doesn’t have context? Not a good move. AI on top of a transactional support solution just inundates agents with an ever-growing queue of customer questions.

Plus, agents face pressure to close cases quickly and quality goes out the window. It’s exhausting work that leaves the most valuable members of your contact central feeling like a glorified FAQs section. And belittles their high stakes problem-solving abilities.

It has a high learning curve

Many ticketing systems are complex in nature, requiring agents to learn unfamiliar processes and go through significant training. Adding AI to it for the sake of scale means adding another component that needs to be trained. When that AI’s tone, friendliness, and accuracy doesn’t automatically match your CX team’s caliber (HINT: it won’t!), who will give up time to properly train it to make sure it does? This complexity makes slow, inefficient, and impersonal customer support a given.

The AI-driven personalization revolution

What’s the alternative to ticketing systems?

AI-driven personalization.

It’s at the forefront of the CX and commerce transformation. And by the end of 2025, AI-driven personalization at the platform level will be the cornerstone of successful digital storefront strategies. Why? Because deep, customer-centric analysis at the core of a platform drives loyalty and revenue intrinsically.

This hyper-personalization extends beyond simple product recommendations or issue resolution. It’s the direction organizations need to pivot toward in order to thrive in an increasingly virtual, experience-focused market.

The numbers bear it out, too: 91% of consumers are more likely to shop with businesses offering personalized recommendations. This trend is particularly strong among younger generations, with 45% of millennials and Gen Z expressing a desire for personalized product recommendations when shopping online.

Enhancing engagement

AI-driven personalization is also transforming commerce. Chatbots and virtual assistants are increasingly sophisticated. These AI-powered assistants can already understand context and provide unique, tailored support using conversational language, and in some cases empathetic tone of voice. Customer service improves AND retail costs go down. In fact, in 2023, AI chatbots saved retailers an estimated $439 million globally, a figure that's expected to grow exponentially.

Revolutionizing backend ops

Behind the scenes, AI is optimizing supply chains and inventory management. Predictive analytics powered by AI can forecast future purchasing behavior, allowing retailers to optimize their stock levels and predict demand accurately. This not only streamlines operations but also minimizes costs and reduces waste.

Addressing privacy concerns

As AI becomes more pervasive in commerce, addressing privacy concerns will be crucial. Organizations should implement robust data encryption, secure payment gateways, and responsible AI practices across all their customer touch points.

The rise of voice and visual commerce

Voice and visual search are set to dominate the commerce landscape. It's predicted that by later this year, half of all online searches will be voice-activated. This shift is pushing businesses to adopt conversational AI and optimize their platforms for voice search.

Similarly, visual search capabilities enabled by AI are transforming product discovery. Customers can now search for products using images, enhancing the shopping experience and opening up new avenues for product discovery.

The future is personal thanks to AI

It's clear that AI-driven personalization will continue to be a major force behind customer experience. But we’re on a new frontier of possibility when it comes to AI and commerce innovation, too.

From personalized shopping experiences to optimized backend operations, you can transform every facet of your online business. Brands that successfully extend AI personalization into their CX and commerce win in this customer-first future. Not only will they meet the growing demands of their customers, but they’ll also position themselves as leaders in this new commerce era.

As we embrace AI-driven personalization, we can look forward to more intuitive, efficient, and human online shopping experiences that will redefine how we interact with brands in the digital space. We have to be the ones brave enough now to create seamless, conversational customer experiences in the future.

Tickets won’t do that. They never have.

So break free from the ticket trap and embrace a more intelligent, human-centered approach to customer service.

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