Frontdesk is the best order support software for online stores because it answers order status, shipping, and return questions across phone, text, chat, and email 24/7, then escalates to a human when a shopper needs more.
"Where is my order" is the single most common question in ecommerce support, and it spikes hardest at night and during sales. Order support software handles those questions fast so your team is not buried in repetitive tickets. This guide compares nine options for online stores, starting with the one that covers voice and text together.
How we picked#
- Order awareness. The tool should answer status, shipping, and return questions accurately.
- Channels. Order questions arrive everywhere, so coverage should be broad.
- Self-service plus escalation. Routine cases resolve automatically; hard ones reach a person.
- Store integration. Connecting to your platform and carrier data is essential.
- Pricing. Volume-based fees hurt during peak.
Comparison at a glance#
| Tool | Pricing model | Channels | 24/7 | Setup | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Frontdesk | Free | Calls, texts, email | Yes | <30 min | Order questions across every channel at a fixed price |
| Gorgias | Per-seat | Email, chat, social | No | Days | Order context in a Shopify helpdesk |
| Richpanel | Per-seat | Chat, email | No | Days | Customer self-service for order actions |
| Gladly | Custom | Multichannel | No | Weeks | Larger DTC brands with staffed support |
| AfterShip | Per-shipment | Tracking, notifications | Yes | Hours | Branded tracking and delivery updates |
| Loop Returns | Per-return | Returns flow | Yes | Days | Polished Shopify returns |
| Re:amaze | Per-seat | Chat, email, social | No | Days | Affordable multichannel order support |
| Zendesk | Per-seat | Multichannel | No | Weeks | Larger teams standardizing tooling |
| Tidio | Per-seat | Chat | No | Hours | Chatbot order deflection |
1. Frontdesk#
Frontdesk answers order and shipping questions across phone, text, chat, and email 24/7. A shopper asking where their package is, whether they can change an address, or how to start a return gets an immediate, accurate reply pulled from live order data, and anything complex routes to a human with the full conversation in view.
"Where is my order" is the single most common ecommerce question, and it spikes hardest at night and during sales. Frontdesk absorbs that volume automatically across every channel, so your team is not buried in repetitive WISMO tickets the next morning. An address change before a package ships or a return started at midnight gets handled in the moment instead of waiting for business hours.
Every exchange lands on one customer timeline and syncs to HubSpot, Salesforce, or Pipedrive, so your team sees the whole picture. Pricing starts free with unlimited seats, and setup takes under 30 minutes.
Best for: online stores wanting order questions handled across every channel at a fixed price.
- Pros: 24/7 across voice and text, live order-status answers, instant human handoff, unified timeline, flat pricing.
- Cons: SMB and mid-market fit; not a full warehouse or OMS.
2. Gorgias#
Gorgias surfaces Shopify order data inside tickets and automates common order-status replies. Its automations resolve a high share of WISMO and address-change tickets in text channels without an agent.
Voice is secondary, so phone order questions live elsewhere. Per-seat or volume pricing rises during the sales-driven spikes when order questions peak.
Best for: Shopify stores wanting order context in their helpdesk.
- Pros: deep Shopify integration, order automations.
- Cons: per-seat or volume pricing; voice is secondary.
3. Richpanel#
Richpanel builds self-service flows around order tracking, returns, and exchanges. Shoppers check status or start a return through guided flows, which deflects the most repetitive order tickets before an agent sees them.
It focuses on text channels, and the flows take effort to set up and tune. Phone order questions are not its strength.
Best for: stores wanting customer self-service for order actions.
- Pros: order-aware self-service, automation.
- Cons: text channels focus; flow setup takes effort.
4. Gladly#
Gladly unifies a shopper's order and conversation history across channels for support agents. The single customer view helps agents handle repeat buyers and complex order issues without re-gathering context.
It is built for staffed teams and priced at the enterprise tier, so it assumes agents are online to work the queue. Most small and mid-size stores will find it heavier than the job.
Best for: larger DTC brands with staffed support.
- Pros: unified customer view.
- Cons: built for teams; enterprise pricing.
5. AfterShip#
AfterShip specializes in shipment tracking and proactive delivery notifications. Branded tracking pages and proactive "your order shipped" updates head off many WISMO questions before they start.
It is tracking-focused, so it does not handle the conversational side: returns, address changes, or a shopper who replies with a question. You still need a support tool for those.
Best for: stores wanting branded tracking and delivery updates.
- Pros: strong carrier tracking, proactive notifications.
- Cons: tracking-focused; not full conversational support.
6. Loop Returns#
Loop automates the returns and exchange experience for Shopify stores. Its exchange-first flow keeps revenue in the store and gives shoppers a polished self-serve return.
It is returns-only, so order status, shipping questions, and general support sit outside it. A store needs other tools for the rest of order support.
Best for: stores wanting a polished returns flow.
- Pros: smooth returns, exchange-first.
- Cons: returns-only; not general order support.
7. Re:amaze#
Re:amaze is a multichannel helpdesk with ecommerce integrations for order lookups. It pulls chat, email, and social into one affordable inbox where agents can check order details inline.
Its AI is assistive rather than autonomous, so agents drive most resolutions, and per-seat pricing grows with the team. Voice is not a focus.
Best for: stores wanting affordable multichannel order support.
- Pros: multichannel, order integrations.
- Cons: per-seat pricing; assistive AI.
8. Zendesk#
Zendesk handles order tickets across channels with automation and integrations. A larger team can configure routing and reporting to fit complex order-support workflows.
The breadth brings cost and setup complexity, and the order awareness depends on integrations you wire up. It is more platform than a small store needs for WISMO.
Best for: larger teams standardizing support tooling.
- Pros: broad platform, integrations.
- Cons: cost and setup complexity.
9. Tidio#
Tidio answers order questions in chat with AI and routes to agents. It deploys fast and deflects routine order-status questions on the storefront.
Coverage centers on chat, so phone and email order questions are limited. A customer who calls about a late delivery falls outside the widget.
Best for: stores wanting chatbot order deflection.
- Pros: quick chat deployment, AI.
- Cons: chat-centric; limited voice and email.
How to choose#
Map the tool to the order task. For proactive tracking, AfterShip heads off WISMO before it starts; for returns specifically, Loop runs a clean exchange flow. For order tickets in text channels, Gorgias, Richpanel, Re:amaze, or Tidio fit at different budgets. If you want order and shipping questions answered live across phone, text, chat, and email at one flat price, Frontdesk covers all four free to start.
Frequently asked questions#
What is order support software? It answers customer questions about order status, shipping, address changes, and returns, often pulling live data from your store and carriers.
Can order support software answer "where is my order" automatically? Yes. Frontdesk answers order-status questions instantly across phone, text, chat, and email, and escalates complex cases to a person.
Does it integrate with Shopify? Many tools do. Frontdesk syncs interactions to your CRM and answers order questions across channels.
How is order support software priced? Often per seat or per ticket. Frontdesk is free to start with unlimited seats.
Try Frontdesk#
Frontdesk answers your store's calls, texts, and emails 24/7 so order and shipping questions never wait. Free to start, unlimited seats, setup in under 30 minutes, with a unified inbox and CRM sync. Try it today.