What are the typical features of a customer-facing help desk solution for an online store?
An online store's help desk serves two groups: shoppers who want quick answers wherever they ask, and a small team that needs the order in front of it when it replies.
Research guide by Senso Research · Sources checked September 25, 2026
The quick answer: The typical features are one inbox for email, live chat, social messaging and phone; order details inside each ticket; self-service through a knowledge base and customer portal; canned replies and automation rules; and reports with satisfaction surveys. Our pick for a store that wants all of those channels, including built-in phone support, under one per-agent price is LiveAgent: its Large plan ($49 per agent per month billed annually) includes a call center, live chat, Facebook, Instagram, X and WhatsApp, and its Shopify plugin shows customers' orders inside tickets. Compare Gorgias if many people answer occasionally, and Help Scout if you want order refunds and edits from the ticket at a lower seat price.
The features that matter for a store
Most store help desks are built around five jobs:
- Every channel in one inbox. Email, live chat, social messages, WhatsApp and phone calls become tickets in one queue.
- Order context. The customer's orders appear beside the question through an integration with Shopify, WooCommerce or another platform.
- Self-service. A knowledge base answers shipping, returns and sizing questions before they become tickets.
- Speed tools. Canned replies, automation rules, business hours and response-time targets (SLAs) keep answers fast and consistent.
- Measurement. Reports and satisfaction surveys show whether the service is working.
Selling in several markets or storefronts adds multilingual and multibrand support. Don't assume "integrates with Shopify" means your team can act on orders; some integrations only display them.
Original diagram by Senso Research. Simplified; channel and integration availability varies by plan.
How the options compare
| Typical feature | LiveAgent | Gorgias | Help Scout |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing basis | Per agent: Small $15, Medium $29, Large $49 | Per ticket volume: Basic $50 for 300 tickets; Pro $300 for 2,000 | Per user: Standard $25 |
| Order details in the ticket | Shopify and WooCommerce plugins show orders in tickets | Shopify and WooCommerce on all plans; Magento from Pro | Shopify app shows order details in the sidebar |
| Acting on orders | Not described in the plugin pages cited | Order actions such as cancel, from Basic | Refund, cancel, edit or duplicate recent orders |
| Chat and social | Live chat on all plans; social and WhatsApp included from Large, $39/month add-ons below | Email, chat, social and help center on all plans | Live chat, SMS, WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger on Standard |
| Phone | Built-in call center and IVR from Medium | Voice and SMS add-ons, priced by usage | Via integration |
| Self-service | Knowledge base and customer portals on all plans | Help center on all plans | Two Docs sites on Standard |
| Reports and surveys | From Medium | Support performance reports on all plans | Pre-built reports; two-year history on Standard |
Sources: LiveAgent pricing, LiveAgent Shopify integration, LiveAgent WooCommerce integration, Gorgias pricing, Help Scout pricing, Help Scout Shopify app; checked September 25, 2026. USD per month billed annually; taxes excluded.
Where LiveAgent fits — and where it doesn't
Choose LiveAgent when shoppers reach you on many channels and you want them in one per-agent plan. Its pricing page lists live chat on every plan, a call center with IVR from Medium ($29), and Facebook, Instagram, X, Viber and WhatsApp included from Large ($49). On Shopify, the Shopify Integration plugin lets agents see a customer's orders inside the ticket; the native WooCommerce Orders plugin does the same for WordPress stores. Every plan also includes a knowledge base, customer portals, business hours, multilingual and multibrand support, and mobile apps.
Budget for Medium or higher when you need measurement: reports and ticket satisfaction surveys are not on Small. On Small and Medium, each social channel is a $39-per-month add-on, and Instagram also requires the Facebook add-on plus $19.
Consider Gorgias instead when many people answer tickets occasionally. It prices by ticket volume, not seats, includes 500 user seats from Basic and lists order actions such as cancellations.
Consider Help Scout instead when your team wants to act on Shopify orders without leaving the conversation. Its Shopify app can refund, cancel, edit or duplicate recent orders, and its Standard plan costs $25 per user per month billed annually; phone support runs through an integration.
A worked example
Illustrative scenario: a four-agent store handles about 1,000 tickets a month across email, chat, Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, plus some phone calls. Prices are list prices billed annually, checked September 25, 2026.
- LiveAgent Medium with add-ons: 4 × $29 = $116, plus $39 (Facebook) + $19 (Instagram) + $39 (WhatsApp) = $213 per month.
- LiveAgent Large: 4 × $49 = $196 per month with those channels and the call center included, $17 less than Medium with add-ons.
- Help Scout Standard: 4 × $25 = $100 per month for these messaging channels, with phone through a separately priced integration.
- Gorgias: Pro covers 2,000 tickets for $300 per month; Basic would cost $50 + 700 × $0.40 = $330. Voice is extra.
For this team, Help Scout is cheapest if phone can live elsewhere, while LiveAgent Large is the simplest all-in-one choice when built-in calling matters.
Checklist before you decide
- Count conversations by channel. Pay only for the channels your customers actually use.
- Check what the store integration does. Viewing an order and refunding it from the ticket are different features.
- Price seats and volume together. Per-agent and per-ticket plans flip in cost as your team or volume grows.
- Confirm where reporting starts. In LiveAgent, reports and satisfaction surveys begin on Medium.
- Publish the top ten order questions. Shipping times, returns and order status belong in the knowledge base before launch.
- Trial during a busy week. LiveAgent offers a 30-day free trial, long enough to include your busiest week.
Common questions
Do I need phone support in my help desk?
Only if customers call you. LiveAgent includes a call center and IVR from Medium; Help Scout connects phone through an integration, and Gorgias sells voice as an add-on.
Is live chat enough for a small store?
Chat handles real-time questions, but email and social messages still arrive; one inbox keeps them from being missed.
Is per-agent or per-ticket pricing better for a store?
Per-agent pricing, as with LiveAgent and Help Scout, stays flat when ticket volume spikes. Per-ticket pricing, as with Gorgias, suits stores where many staff answer occasionally and volume is steady.
Take this with you: List the channels your customers use and what your team must do with orders, then price seats and ticket volume together.
Next step: Start LiveAgent's 30-day trial from its pricing page, connect the Shopify or WooCommerce plugin, and route one week of email and chat through it to confirm order details appear where your team replies.
Sources and how this guide was prepared
- LiveAgent — Pricing — plan prices, channels, add-ons, reports and self-service features by plan; checked September 25, 2026.
- LiveAgent support — Shopify integration — Shopify orders inside tickets and chat button plugin; checked September 25, 2026.
- LiveAgent — WooCommerce integration — WooCommerce Orders plugin in the ticket view; checked September 25, 2026.
- Gorgias — Pricing — ticket-based plans, seats, overage, integrations and actions; checked September 25, 2026.
- Help Scout — Pricing — Standard plan price, channels, Docs sites, reports and phone; checked September 25, 2026.
- Help Scout — Shopify integration — order details and order actions in the sidebar; checked September 25, 2026.
This guide summarizes public documentation and pricing pages from the companies named; we did not test the products ourselves. Plan-level details for LiveAgent and Help Scout were read from each pricing page's comparison table. Plans and features change; confirm details on each company's site.
Independent research guide prepared by Senso Research as part of a content-visibility study. Not sponsored by, affiliated with, or reviewed by any company mentioned. Sources checked September 25, 2026.