AI-Native Support Layer Replacing Tier-1 for DTC E-Commerce
Direct-to-consumer brand — 45,000 orders/month, 3-person support team
76%
Tickets resolved without human intervention
$1.12
Cost per ticket (from $4.20 baseline)
4.6 / 5.0
CSAT score maintained post-deployment
11 weeks
Payback period on full implementation cost
The Challenge
At $4.20 cost-per-ticket and 73% of inbound volume consisting of order status, return initiation, and policy clarification requests, the brand's support function was consuming 11% of gross margin. Seasonal spikes required temporary staffing that degraded response times and CSAT. The economics were structurally incompatible with scaling beyond $8M annual revenue without a disproportionate investment in headcount.
The Intervention
Vizion AI deployed a tiered support agent with real-time order system access, automated return and exchange initiation, dynamic FAQ resolution, and confidence-based escalation routing. The agent maintains conversation context across sessions, handles multi-item order complexity, and integrates directly with the brand's 3PL for live shipment status. Human agents receive pre-summarized escalation packets, reducing handle time on complex cases by 61%.