1,200 emails in a single day. One of our customers handled them all without a single SLA breach. Here's their playbook — and how Retenza made it possible.
1,200 emails in a single day. One of our customers handled them all without a single SLA breach. Here's their playbook — and how Retenza made it possible.
The scale of the problem
Black Friday and Cyber Monday generate 3-5x the normal support volume for the average Shopify store. Most support teams are already stretched thin; this surge can overwhelm even well-staffed teams. Without preparation, response times balloon and CSAT craters precisely when it matters most.
Prepare your AI before the rush
Two weeks before BFCM, update your knowledge base with: your exact return policy for BFCM purchases, any extended return windows you're offering, answers to likely questions about deals and discount codes, and shipping cutoff dates by region. The more specific your knowledge base, the higher the AI's confidence scores on BFCM-specific queries.
Set up intent-based routing
During peak periods, route high-confidence AI drafts to auto-send while routing low-confidence items to your most experienced agents. This creates a tiered system where simple queries are handled instantly and complex ones get human attention.
Pre-write templates for common BFCM queries
Some queries are too specific for generic AI but too repetitive to handle manually: 'Did my order go through?', 'Can I change my order?', 'My discount code isn't working'. Pre-write agent templates for each and train agents to use them with a single click.
Post-BFCM: the returns wave
The second surge hits 2-3 weeks after BFCM as gifts are opened and return windows open. Prepare a separate knowledge base update for this phase with your exact returns process, any special BFCM return policies, and expected refund timelines.