Dive Brief:
- The Home Depot is launching an AI voice agent phone system for in-store customer service, the company announced Wednesday. The retailer plans to expand the system to all U.S. stores during the coming year.
- Customers can state their needs to the AI agent in natural language queries rather than navigate a phone menu, according to the home improvement retailer. The system still offers a direct path to a live Home Depot associate.
- Early results of Home Depot’s 50-store pilot found that the AI voice agents can understand why a customer is calling within 10 seconds and reach a solution four times faster than traditional phone menus.
Dive Insight:
AI-powered enhancements like Home Depot’s are designed to help customers save time, but brands need to stay aware of the potential downsides of removing people from customer service.
The rigid, clunky nature of traditional phone menus creates friction for customers by delaying assistance, according to Ian Elliott, Director Analyst at Gartner’s customer service and support practice. Letting customers explain their needs in their own words leads to a more natural resolution.
“By ‘flattening’ the experience with a ‘How can I help you?’ open question, the technology replaces time-consuming prompts with a simple conversation that values the caller's unique style,” Elliott said in an email. “This modern approach reduces the typical irritation associated with long wait times and helps customers feel heard immediately.”
Home Depot’s AI voice agents can take action on behalf of customers for basic tasks like checking order status, confirming product availability, and providing store information, according to the company. The software can send product links to a customer’s cart or help them complete a purchase as well.
AI may have its place, but human support is important as well. Research has found that help from real people creates trust, while many consumers have concerns about how companies use AI to interact with their customers.
Consumers may prefer live support, but Gartner’s research has found that loyalty is driven more by the amount of effort customers are expected to put forth than whether a customer resolves issues through self-service or working with a human agent, according to Elliott.
“If an AI voice solution solves a problem quickly and effectively, the lack of a human connection typically does not have a negative impact on the customer's long-term relationship with the brand,” Elliott said. “However, total reliance on automation can be risky if a customer becomes stuck or misunderstood.”
Companies need to maintain a team of human agents to help handle technical challenges that AI can’t, including background noise, heavy accents and poor signal strength, according to Elliott.
Human intervention is also essential for handling highly complex issues or when “white glove” service makes sense, Elliott said. One example is a customer calling about a high-value purchase like appliances — AI can automatically route the call to a live expert to provide dedicated attention.
Home Depot emphasized the role of human associates in its AI agent rollout, noting that the technology frees up workers to spend more time helping in-store shoppers or focusing on calls that involve complex issues.
