# State of AI customer support in e-commerce 2026

- URL: https://www.chaterimo.com/en/blog/state-of-ai-customer-support/
- Language: en
- Type: Research
- Author: David Langr
- Published: 2026-06-14
- Updated: 2026-10-19
- Data period: February – May 2026 (monthly platform aggregates)

> 1.09 million customer messages from up to 95 online stores, February to May 2026. How much AI handles, when shoppers ask and which models stores run.

## Key findings

- AI agents on Chaterimo answered **1,091,830 customer messages** in 452,568 conversations between February and May 2026.
- About **42% of conversations** started outside business hours, between 18:00 and 8:00 Prague time.
- In May 2026, **61.2% of AI replies** came from OpenAI models, 21.8% from Google, 13.8% from xAI and 3.2% from Anthropic.
- An average store had about **4,300 products** in its knowledge base; about half of the catalogue data came from XML product feeds and half from the store's API.

How much customer support do AI agents in online stores really handle? Between February and May 2026, AI agents on Chaterimo answered 1,091,830 customer messages in 452,568 conversations, in a group of paying stores that grew from 76 to 95. About 42% of the conversations started outside business hours (18:00–8:00).

## Methodology

All numbers are aggregates of Chaterimo's production platform: four monthly snapshots from February to May 2026, paying stores only. We counted messages and conversations, the time when conversations start, the content stored in the stores' knowledge bases and the model each chatbot was set to use. The numbers are totals and averages for the whole platform; none describes a single store.

We left out metrics that were not measured reliably in this period, such as the response time of each message and sentiment.

"Outside business hours" means a conversation that started between 18:00 and 8:00 Prague time (CET/CEST), on any day of the week.

## Results

### Volume

| Month (2026) | Messages | Conversations | Paying stores |
|---|---:|---:|---:|
| February | 219,510 | 97,588 | 76 |
| March | 289,478 | 126,399 | 87 |
| April | 293,231 | 115,244 | 89 |
| May | 289,611 | 113,337 | 95 |
| Total | 1,091,830 | 452,568 | – |

Source: Chaterimo platform aggregates, paying stores, February – May 2026.

From March on, the volume stayed at about 290,000 messages a month while the number of stores grew. 99.6% of conversations took place in the chat window on the store's website; the rest came from messaging platforms such as Facebook Messenger.

### When customers ask

About 42% of all conversations started outside business hours, between 18:00 and 8:00 Prague time. A store that measures its support only during office hours does not see four in ten of its customers' questions.

### Which models stores use

![Horizontal bar chart of the share of AI replies by model provider in May 2026: OpenAI 61.2%, Google 21.8%, xAI 13.8%, Anthropic 3.2%](https://chaterimo.fra1.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/blog/state-of-ai-customer-support/images/01-ai-replies-by-provider-e0b4f702f8.svg "Share of AI replies by model provider, May 2026, 144,860 replies with a known model. Source: Chaterimo platform aggregates.")

| # | Model | Share of AI replies |
|---:|---|---:|
| 1 | GPT-5.4 | 30.4% |
| 2 | GPT-5.4 mini | 28.0% |
| 3 | Gemini 3.5 Flash | 18.3% |
| 4 | Grok 4.3 | 13.8% |

May 2026, 144,860 AI replies with a known model. Source: Chaterimo platform aggregates.

This shows what stores chose, not which model answers best. The most used single model, GPT-5.4, is a flagship; the “mini” and “Flash” models in the table produced 46.3% of AI replies together. How the models score on the same questions is measured in the [Chaterimo CX-LLM Benchmark](https://www.chaterimo.com/en/blog/best-ai-for-customer-support/).

### What the answers are based on

An average store had about 4,300 products in its knowledge base, and the platform stored about 189 million tokens of product and policy content in seven languages. About half of the catalogue data came from XML product feeds and half from synchronisation over the store's API.

## Limitations

- The stores use Chaterimo; they are not a sample of all online stores.
- The group of stores grew during the period (76 to 95), so month-to-month changes mix growth of single stores and new stores.
- Model shares count the model each chatbot was set to use, not the model of every single reply.

**How much customer support can AI handle in an online store?**

Between February and May 2026, AI agents on Chaterimo answered 1,091,830 customer messages in 452,568 conversations, about 290,000 messages a month from March on.

**When do online shoppers contact support?**

About 42% of the conversations on Chaterimo started between 18:00 and 8:00 Prague time, outside business hours.

**Which AI models do online stores use for customer support?**

In May 2026, 61.2% of AI replies on Chaterimo came from OpenAI models, 21.8% from Google, 13.8% from xAI and 3.2% from Anthropic.