A leading e-commerce platform serving 150 million consumers worldwide faced mounting pressure to simplify product discovery across thousands of items while delivering fast, multilingual customer support at scale. The company deployed AI across two critical fronts: a conversational shopping assistant to guide purchases and compare prices, and an intelligent customer service platform operating 24/7 in over 35 languages across 23 markets. Within the first month, the AI handled 2.3 million conversations—equivalent to 700 full-time agents—while slashing resolution times from 11 minutes to under 2 minutes and reducing repeat inquiries by 25%. The transformation extended company-wide, with 90% of employees now using AI tools daily, driving an estimated $40 million profit improvement in 2024 while maintaining customer satisfaction levels on par with human agents.

Case Study Source: OpenAI

Problem Statement

Online shopping was tedious, with customers sifting through thousands of similar products and comparing prices across many sites. At the same time, the company needed to scale multilingual customer support across markets without compromising speed, accuracy, or satisfaction.

Goal

Use AI to streamline product discovery and price comparison, transform customer service with faster, more accurate support, and empower employees with secure, enterprise-wide AI tools to enhance performance and outcomes.

Challenges

Time-consuming product discovery and price comparison across thousands of items.

Providing timely, multilingual support to a global base of 150 million consumers.

Maintaining customer satisfaction while automating a large share of service interactions.

Reducing repeat inquiries and bringing resolution times down from **11 minutes**.

Rolling out AI tools company-wide with protected company data.

Actions

Launched a conversational shopping plugin that recommends products within a budget and links to a price comparison tool.

Built an AI assistant to handle multilingual customer service, refunds and returns, and encourage healthy financial habits.

Deployed an enterprise-grade AI platform to all employees globally, with safeguards for company data.

Expanded the assistant’s availability to operate 24/7 across multiple markets and languages.

Fostered a strong test-and-learn culture to uncover new AI use cases and drive adoption across teams.

Impact:

Customer experiences improved through quicker, more accurate support and simpler, conversational shopping.

Broad employee uptake of AI, with 90% using generative tools daily; adoption in Communications 93%, Marketing 88%, and Legal 86%.

Sustained service quality at scale, with satisfaction on par with human agents while significantly reducing handling times and repeat contacts.

The Challenge

Shoppers were drowning in choice. Browsing through endless similar products and juggling tabs to compare prices had become exhausting. Meanwhile, the business faced a different struggle: supporting 150 million customers across multiple countries and languages without sacrificing quality or speed. Resolution times hovered around 11 minutes, repeat queries were piling up, and scaling human support wasn’t sustainable.

The AI-Driven Solution

The company turned to artificial intelligence to tackle both fronts. They introduced a conversational shopping tool that suggests products based on budget and connects shoppers directly to price comparisons. On the service side, an AI-powered assistant now manages queries in dozens of languages, processes refunds and returns, and even nudges customers towards better financial decisions.

Critically, they rolled out enterprise AI tools to every employee worldwide, ensuring company data remained protected. The assistant operates round-the-clock across all markets. To drive genuine adoption, they cultivated an experimental mindset, encouraging teams to discover fresh applications for the technology.

Results That Speak Volumes

Massive Scale, Minimal Staff

In just the first month, the system managed 2.3 million conversations—roughly two-thirds of all customer chats. That’s equivalent to the output of around 700 full-time agents.

Speed Transformed

Resolution time plummeted from 11 minutes to under 2 minutes. Issues that once required lengthy back-and-forth now wrap up almost instantly.

Smarter, Not Just Faster

Better accuracy meant customers had less reason to come back with the same problem. Repeat contacts fell by 25%, a clear sign the AI was getting things right first time.

Truly Global Reach

The service now operates in 23 markets, speaks over 35 languages, and never clocks off. Customers receive consistent support at any hour.

Bottom-Line Impact

The financial case is compelling. The initiative is projected to add $40 million USD to profit in 2024 alone.

Broader Business Impact

Customers enjoy smoother, faster interactions and a more intuitive shopping journey. But perhaps most striking is the internal transformation. 90% of employees now use generative AI daily. Adoption is particularly strong in Communications (93%), Marketing (88%), and even Legal (86%).

Quality hasn’t been sacrificed for efficiency. Customer satisfaction scores remain on par with human agents, even as handling times and repeat contacts have dropped substantially. The business has found a way to scale without compromising the experience—proving that thoughtful AI deployment can enhance both operations and outcomes.