K9 Ballistics modernizes customer experience with real-time AI chat on site, powered by CRM
35x
Klaviyo platform ROI in 6 months with K:Marketing and K:Service
88%
of product recommendation queries in 90 days resolved by AI
91%
of discount-related queries in 90 days resolved by AI
K9 Ballistics makes durable, high-quality pet supply products backed by real guarantees. The group runs two unique, kindred DTC brands for dogs and cats: K9 Ballistics makes dog beds and accessories for large breeds and aggressive chewers; meanwhile, One Fast Cat’s specialty is an exercise wheel that helps indoor cats stay active in small spaces. Both brands sell through Amazon and Chewy, but primarily through their owned sites.
Learn how K9 Ballistics uses Klaviyo AI to answer customer queries fast
Challenge: An AI service agent that’s just a pricey “people pleaser”
When LLMs first rolled out, K9 Ballistics’ leadership knew they represented a major shift in the definition of a quality digital experience.
That meant their sites needed to evolve. Soon, they predicted, customers would visit their sites and require real-time, relevant responses to natural language queries, from “What do you recommend for my pet?” to “Where is my order?”
“We wanted to recreate the ChatGPT experience on our sites,” explains Yurac Lebron, senior digital marketing manager at K9 Ballistics.
That wasn’t as easy as it sounded.
It was very much a people pleaser.
K9 Ballistics tried supplementing their human support team with a Gorgias AI customer service agent that could respond automatically to simple service queries. Unfortunately, it was too generous in its interpretation of their warranty, and often promised out-of-policy product replacements and issue resolutions when customers demanded them.
“It was very much a people pleaser,” recalls Sarah Rutten, customer experience and AI specialist at K9 Ballistics.
It also focused exclusively on post-purchase questions. To get the AI agent to address product recommendation requests too, they would have had to purchase a second AI SKU from Gorgias, while the first one was underperforming. It didn’t make sense.
With the Black Friday rush approaching, K9 Ballistics knew they needed more effective agentic AI to support their marketing and customer service teams.
Solution: Real-time shopping and service web chat with K:AI Customer Agent
In October, K9 Ballistics adopted two Klaviyo products across both of their brand sites: Klaviyo Customer Hub, a sidebar of personalized account information that sits on top of their ecommerce store; and K:AI Customer Agent, Klaviyo’s AI customer service agent.
Customer Hub offers multiple tabs, including a “For You” page of recently-viewed products, FAQs, and more; a tab for current order statuses and purchase history; and a tab for Customer Agent chats.
There, customers can submit natural language queries about anything from product recommendations and discounts to post-purchase challenges, and receive immediate responses—all courtesy of one Klaviyo SKU.
When customers push the boundaries, Customer Agent doesn’t overpromise. It has guardrails built in that prevent it from just bending to the customer.
Rutten ran quality assurance on early Customer Agent responses, and found that it could tell customers “no” when necessary. Unlike their prior AI agent, it stuck tightly to their warranty policy. No unauthorized product replacements or other policy exceptions.
"When customers push the boundaries, Customer Agent doesn’t overpromise,” Rutten says. “It has guardrails built in that prevent it from just bending to the customer."
Customer Agent worked well with K9 Ballistics’ service team over the Black Friday holiday weekend, too, resolving 74% of queries across both accounts during the holiday weekend. It came and went without notable hitches, unlike a few prior BFCMs Rutten recalls.
Strategy: Personalizing customer journeys across web, service chats, and lifecycle with Klaviyo B2C CRM
Going forward, K9 Ballistics plans to continue expanding usage of Customer Hub and Customer Agent, making the most of the full Klaviyo platform.
"Customer Hub and Customer Agent are especially valuable because of how they integrate with email and SMS,” Lebron says.
Lebron plans to incentivize customers to use and explore Customer Hub in Q4, ahead of their second BFCM using it. He’ll encourage customers to leverage the full suite of Hub functionality, including favoriting, by layering an additional reward for wishlist building onto their holiday offer.
More log-ins to Customer Hub will help K9 Ballistics identify web traffic over the holidays and beyond—a valuable personalization tool as accepting cookies becomes increasingly optional.
“I would love to treat customers differently depending on who they are,” Lebron says.
With Klaviyo B2C CRM, he can take new and returning shoppers on differentiated customer journeys that run from the web experience through lifecycle messaging.
The journey can start at Customer Agent recommending relevant products to customers, and surfacing any discounts available to them. Information from that conversation and any other Customer Hub activity can then flow into personalized email and SMS messaging.
"Klaviyo Customer Hub and Customer Agent help you capture more customer data and integrate it into your CRM program, so you can build a unified customer experience across web, lifecycle, and service,” Lebron says.
Klaviyo Customer Hub and Customer Agent help you capture more customer data and integrate it into your CRM program, so you can build a unified customer experience across web, lifecycle, and service.
Try the B2C CRM.
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