Cricket-Hockey.com Navigates 21,000 SKUs and Automates Support with Zipchat AI

Zipchat AI manages product recommendations and order tracking across 21,000 SKUs

By automating routine inquiries and complex product filtering, Cricket-Hockey.com ensures customers find the right gear in seconds without manual intervention.

Key results

• Recommends specialized sports equipment based on budget, player height, and ability level.
• Filters through a massive catalog of 21,000 active SKUs to provide instant answers.
• Fully automates common product and service questions to reduce manual support volume.
• Integrates directly with the shopping cart system to provide real-time shipping and order updates.
• Delivers a comprehensive AI feature set at a more competitive price point than alternative solutions.

Company overview

Cricket-Hockey.com is a premier online specialist retailer dedicated to providing high-quality equipment for hockey and cricket enthusiasts. Serving a global market from its UK base, the shop caters to players at every level, from beginners and club players to professional coaches. Their extensive inventory includes everything from technical apparel and protective wear to professional-grade bats and sticks.

The brand is built on a reputation for expert-curated selections and competitive pricing. With a commitment to fast shipping across the UK and Europe, Cricket-Hockey.com has become a go-to destination for athletes who require reliable performance gear delivered with speed and professional care.

Industry: Sport & Outdoor
Headquarters: UK / Worldwide
Website: View website

Why Cricket-Hockey.com chose Zipchat

Managing a specialized sports inventory of 21,000 SKUs presents a unique challenge: helping a customer find the specific cricket bat or hockey stick that fits their physical proportions and skill level. Before implementing Zipchat, the team at Cricket-Hockey.com evaluated several chat solutions. The goal was to find a platform that combined deep product knowledge with a sustainable price point.

While other platforms were tested, they lacked the specific feature set required to navigate such a vast catalog effectively. Cricket-Hockey.com needed a tool that didn't just provide "canned" responses, but one that could act as a digital sales assistant capable of parsing through thousands of variations to find the perfect match for a customer's specific needs.

Results in practice

The impact of Zipchat was immediate in the way it transformed the customer journey. For a store with over 21,000 items, manual product recommendation is an impossible feat for a small team. Zipchat solved this by analyzing various factors—such as a player's height, their budget, and their playing ability—to suggest the exact equipment needed within seconds.

Beyond product discovery, the AI has taken over the bulk of the administrative workload. By linking directly to the store’s shopping cart and shipping systems, Zipchat handles the "Where is my order?" inquiries that typically clog up support inboxes. This allows the human team to step away from repetitive tasks and focus only on complex inquiries that truly require personal intervention. The result is a more efficient operation where the AI handles the volume and the humans handle the nuance.

"We have so many products (21,000 skus) that it is impossible to recommend products manually, but Zipchat does a great job of this in seconds and can recommend on various factors such as budget, height, ability etc. It cuts down on the vast amount of product and service questions so we only have to deal with ones which really still need human input."

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Were you using another chat solution before Zipchat? If so, which one and what motivated you to make the switch?

No, but I tested other ones out before settling on zipchat but they didn't offer the same features or a competitive price.

How effective is Zipchat at recommending products to your customers?

We have so many products (21,000 skus) that it is impossible to recommend products manually, but zipchat does a great job of this in seconds and can recommend on various factors such as budget, height, ability etc

Which Zipchat feature do you find most valuable?

Just the fact that it cuts down on the vast amount of product and service questions so we only have to deal with ones which really still need human input. I like the fact that it can link to our shopping cart system and give customers updates on their order and shipping details etc.

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