You could be out by the mall on a weekend and spot a fancy necklace in a store. Before your financial instincts kick in, desire and curiosity drive you into the store to get a closer look at its artwork. Suddenly, a support rep shows up and asks if you would like to try it out. 

Now, what just happened there?

This is a practical case of sales reps proactively engaging customers to guide the visitor to a sale. With shifting trends towards online retailing, its digitized version is what we describe as proactive chat.

Define proactive chat

Proactive chat runs on data from purchase history, browsing behavior, and the time a browser spends on a page to make predictions.

While proactive chat tools have a big impact on online businesses, not all software brands are the same. A common dilemma is how to balance this new automation and make it sound more empathetic rather than robotic. This is where Lookfor stands out. 

Why is proactive chat so important?

Behavioral triggers

A proactive chat trigger can be set to show up after a click pattern, scroll depth, browsing duration, past purchases, and emotional cues. For instance:

• A user might spend 4 minutes on the checkout page, triggering tailored messages geared towards increasing conversion, like, “Free shipping for orders completed within 10 minutes!”
  
  

• A returning visitor browsing the FAQ pages might get a prompt: “Looks like you are researching diesel-powered centrifugal pumps. Check out this guide!” 
  
  

Hyper-personalized messaging

The power behind automated messaging is the tone, timing, and context. Proactive chats could harm the business more if they sound inauthentic and give the customer the impression they are interacting with a robot. That’s why you must avoid generic messages like, “Do you need help?” which are seen as a nuisance. 

Seamless redirect to human agents

Whenever a conversation escalates, the proactive chatbot seamlessly transfers your user preferences and chat history to a human agent, ensuring a smooth transition and eliminating the need to repeat details. 

Omnichannel proactivity

Omnichannel proactivity in proactive chat tools enables businesses to engage customers seamlessly across multiple platforms—like email, social media, SMS, and web chat—using a unified system that anticipates needs based on prior interactions.

Best practices for effective proactive chat

Let us look at how Lookfor helps businesses with proactive chat and its applicability in a practical context. 

Personalized product recommendations

In proactive chats, data on past purchases and browsing histories helps you suggest the most relevant products to customers, increasing the chances of conversion. For instance, if you spend the better part of the day browsing through cameras as you are contrasting their specs, the chat might ask, “If you need a tripod or extra lens, here are recommended options!”

Guide for complex purchases 

High-value and detailed items such as furniture or electronics will increase their chances of conversion by having a proactive chat that can nudge buyers to address any inquiries or reservations they might have. In many cases, the chat is triggered when the visitor spends too much time on a page, which the algorithm picks up as indecision. The chat might initiate a conversation like, “Having trouble deciding? I can help with any questions!”

Suggestive answer flows

Imagine a customer in an ecommerce shoe store asking if they’ve added sneakers to their cart but haven’t checked out after 60 seconds. Examples of proactive chat triggers are: “Almost ready to go? Check out now”

They can then click on “See shipping options,” and the flow suggests: “Free shipping on orders over $50—add $10 more to qualify!” with a link to related items.

Post-purchase support 

Imagine a customer, Sarah, who just bought a coffee maker from an ecommerce store. 5 minutes after her purchase, as she’s browsing the site’s recipe blog, Zendesk’s proactive chat triggers are based on her order history. The chat pops up with: “Hi Sarah, enjoying your new coffee maker?” or “How can we help today?” followed by suggestive answer flows like “Get setup tips,” “Explore coffee recipes,” or “Track your order.” 

💭 Also read: Top Gorgias Alternatives for Shopify in 2025 (With AI-Powered Options)

Types of proactive chat software

Now that you understand how proactive chat can transform your business, including some of its practical use cases, we can shift gears to the top live chat tools that make this possible. 

Before reviewing each of the tools listed below, we can check out the main features that set them apart from the other.

Now that you have an idea of what and where the tools apply, let’s dive into each software, its upsides, downsides, and pricing information. 

1. lookfor

Rating: 5⭐ (26 reviews)

As a more recent tool compared to its peers, Lookfor has a perfect 5 rating on the G2 rating site. Perhaps the last mover advantage ensured it has perfected from the shortcomings of its older peers to create an agile, easy-to-use, GPT-powered shopping assistant for Shopify merchants.

So—

As an online consultant for ecommerce stores, Lookfor is the perfect sales tool for boosting revenues. Its proactive chat has built-in chat triggers that allow online stores to send proactive yet personalized messages to their customers. 

💭 Not convinced yet? If you don’t believe me, read more on how Acero Padel increased its sales by 25% after installing Lookfor. 

2. LiveChat

Ratings: 4.5/5⭐ (755+ reviews)

LiveChat is a top-functioning sales assistant with a top-performing proactive chat feature. Merchants can engage visitors to their site with tailored messages or product suggestions like, "I see you’re interested in laptops—want to see top-rated accessories?" That way, there is continuous interest in a product, and the experience is no different from conversing with a sales rep inside a brick-and-mortar store. 

That’s not all—

In chat, product recommendations further help when closing sales by matching higher-end products during chats, boosting cross-selling and upselling from proactive recommendations. Meanwhile, AI-driven functionality can automate responses arising from common queries. 

3. Tidio

Ratings: 4.7/5⭐ (1630+ reviews)

Tidio is an AI chatbot relied upon by both small and medium-sized ecommerce stores to drive sales and automate customer support. This versatile software has a real-time live chat feature that can be embedded into any website through agile customizable widgets. An AI-powered agent like Lyro can comfortably run online consultations with website visitors. 

Multi-channel support features integrate on Facebook Messenger, email, WhatsApp, and Instagram. Further analytics accommodate chat performance, visitor behavior, and other lead generation metrics. 

4. Zendesk

Rating: 4.3/5⭐ (6,180+ reviews)

Zendesk is arguably the leading customer service platform, backed by an unrivaled market reputation, track record of platform stability and quality, and a constant rollout of new innovations. Among its suite of tools is the proactive hat that gives any random web visitor a digitized sales rep who can engage them in conversation even before they seek it first. For ecommerce businesses, this makes a big difference in their conversion rates, particularly if the timing is right and the messaging is personalized. 

That’s not all yet—

Users can set custom triggers based on visitor behavior—for example, 30 seconds spent on a pricing page or cart activity—to initiate chats automatically. Other considerations are like targeting returning visitors (previous visits > 0) or VIPs—using conditions like page URL, visit frequency, or UTM tags from marketing campaigns.

💭  Get to understand why Nona Coffee Cuts Support Tickets by 80% with lookfor.

In Summary

lookfor AI is a proactive chat tool relied upon by Shopify merchants for customer engagement to boost sales and streamline customer support. It is simple to integrate into a Shopify store and allows merchants to incorporate customizable chat widgets.

This proactive approach is powered by AI and bolstered by smart triggers that can be set to initiate conversations based on visitor behavior, such as prolonged browsing or cart abandonment—helping to recover up to 70% of shoppers who might otherwise leave without purchasing. 

🚀 Are you ready to turn hesitant shoppers into loyal buyers? Try lookfor on your Shopify store today and see how proactive support can skyrocket your conversions—start your 14-day free trial here.