Ecommerce support lives and dies on one thing: can your agent see and act on the order without leaving the ticket? 'Where is my order?', 'I want a refund', 'cancel this' — the fastest reply needs the order, tracking and refund button right there in the conversation. The feature that decides the tool is a deep store integration (Shopify above all), backed by omnichannel reach across chat, social and WhatsApp where shoppers actually message. We reweighted the rubric around the storefront and ranked the six desks that fit it.
We scored the same five criteria as our main help-desk ranking, then reweighted for an online store. The deciding criterion is ecommerce platform integration — seeing and acting on orders inside the ticket — weighted at 30%. We lifted omnichannel (live chat, Instagram, WhatsApp), valued automation and macros that deflect repetitive 'where is my order' questions, kept value in view because pricing models differ wildly here, and held reporting steady. See the full rubric →
Ecommerce integration (orders)30%
Omnichannel (chat/social)25%
Automation & macros20%
Value15%
Reporting10%
01
RANK
★ Editor’s Choice
Gorgias
Best for Shopify stores
The purpose-built choice for online retail. Gorgias pulls the full order into the ticket and lets an agent refund, cancel or edit it without opening the store admin, then reaches customers across email, live chat, Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp in one inbox. Its automations and macros deflect the flood of repetitive order-status questions. Pricing is metered by ticket rather than per seat, which rewards efficient teams and punishes bloated ones — model your monthly ticket volume before you buy, but for most Shopify and BigCommerce stores this is the right tool.
The most powerful platform here, with the broadest omnichannel reach and the muscle to run support across many storefronts, regions and a large team. It connects to ecommerce platforms through apps rather than as natively as Gorgias, so order actions take an extra step. The cost of that power is real — the Suite starts at $55 per agent and useful add-ons stack on top — so it is right for a large retailer with a dedicated support function.
The easiest capable desk to roll out, with solid omnichannel, a genuinely good mobile app and a free tier to start. A Shopify app brings order context into the ticket, though not as seamlessly as Gorgias. The features a growing store wants — advanced automation, custom objects — sit on the $55 Pro plan, so price the tier you actually need rather than the Growth headline.
The value play, especially if you already use Zoho. A free tier for three agents, paid plans from $14, and tight links to Zoho's CRM and commerce tools make it cheap to run a tidy support operation. Its ecommerce order integrations are lighter than the specialists', so it suits a cost-conscious store that values a low per-seat price over deep storefront automation.
Email-first and refreshingly simple, Help Scout is ideal for a small direct-to-consumer brand that wants a clean shared inbox and live chat without standing up a heavy system. A free tier for five users and a $25 Standard plan keep it affordable. It is lighter on native order actions and deep automation, so it fits lower volumes and a human, conversational support style.
If your store already runs on HubSpot, Service Hub ties every ticket to the full customer record and shares one source of truth across marketing, sales and support. The friction is cost of entry: Professional is $90 a seat with a $1,500 onboarding fee, so it pays off when the CRM is already in place, not as a standalone ecommerce desk.
Pricing verified as of June 2026. Vendors change plans often · check the vendor for current pricing.
At a glance
✓ full · ∼ partial · — none
CapabilityGorgiasZendeskFreshdeskZoho DeskHelp ScoutHubSpot Service
Native order actions in ticket✓∼∼∼—∼
Chat / social / WhatsApp✓✓✓∼∼∼
Automation & macros✓✓✓✓∼✓
Free or low-cost entry∼—✓✓✓∼
Per-ticket metered pricing✓—————
Questions buyers ask
Help desk for ecommerce, answered
Why is Gorgias the default for online stores?+
Because it shows the full order inside the ticket and lets an agent refund, cancel or edit it without leaving the conversation, then reaches customers across chat, Instagram and WhatsApp. That native Shopify depth is exactly what ecommerce support needs and what generalist desks make you click around for.
What does 'ticket-metered' pricing mean, and is it a problem?+
Gorgias charges by the number of support tickets you handle each month rather than per agent. For an efficient team that deflects a lot of questions with automation, that is cheaper than paying per seat. For a very high-volume store with many tickets, it can get expensive — so estimate your monthly ticket count and compare it against per-seat Zendesk or Freshdesk before committing.
Can a general help desk work for ecommerce?+
Yes, with a trade-off. Zendesk, Freshdesk and Zoho Desk all connect to Shopify through apps, so an agent can see order details, but actions like refunds usually take an extra step compared with Gorgias. If order volume is modest or you already use one of these, the integration is good enough.
Which is cheapest for a small store?+
Zoho Desk and Freshdesk both have free or low-cost tiers and charge per agent, which is predictable for a small team. Gorgias's Starter plan is inexpensive but capped on tickets, so the cheapest choice depends on whether you have more agents or more tickets.