A shopper with a nut allergy is looking at a box of chocolates on your store. They want to know whether it contains nuts, and whether it is made in a factory that handles nuts. A shopper with sensitive skin wants to know whether a moisturiser contains fragrance. A vegan shopper wants to know whether a lipstick contains beeswax.
Ingredient questions in online stores selling food and beauty products are some of the most important questions you receive. They are sales questions, because the shopper cannot buy without an answer. They are also safety questions, where a wrong answer could cause harm.
The questions shoppers ask
- Does this contain a specific allergen?
- Is it made in a facility that handles allergens?
- Is it vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free or dairy-free?
- Is it fragrance-free, or suitable for sensitive skin?
- Is it safe during pregnancy?
- What are the full ingredients?
Why these answers must be accurate
For most product questions, a vague answer costs a sale. For allergen questions, a wrong answer can cause a reaction. That changes how they must be handled. Answers must come from published ingredient information, never from assumption or general knowledge.
Publishing complete information
Every food and beauty product page should include:
- The full ingredient list.
- A clear allergen statement.
- "May contain" or facility warnings, where relevant.
- Dietary labels such as vegan or gluten-free, only where accurate.
- Suitability notes, such as "fragrance-free" or "tested on sensitive skin," where true.
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Answering safely
Visitor: Does this chocolate contain nuts? Assistant: The ingredients listed on this product don't include nuts, but the product page notes it's made in a facility that also handles nuts, so it may contain traces. If you have a severe allergy, it's best to check the full label and speak to your doctor.
SpideyChat for ecommerce stores answers from your published ingredient information at any hour. It should never guess about allergens. If information is missing, it should say so and capture the question for your team.
Health questions need a professional
Questions like "Is this safe during pregnancy?" or "Will this help my eczema?" involve medical judgement. The right answer shares what the product page says and suggests checking with a doctor or pharmacist. Stores should not give medical advice.
Recommending suitable products
Shoppers often ask "What do you have that's vegan?" or "Which moisturiser suits sensitive skin?" Good answers recommend from your published labels, a form of product fit advice covered in the AI shopping assistant and product fit. Suggesting complementary products works the same way as the bundles approach in bundles and upsells explained by a store assistant, as long as every suggestion also meets the shopper's requirement.
Expensive and specialist products
Premium skincare and specialist foods attract even more detailed questions, because shoppers want certainty before spending more. The approach in cutting pre-sale hesitation for high-ticket products applies: answer precisely and make a specialist available.
Precision matters in every industry
The need for precise, source-based answers is not unique to retail. Developers evaluating software demand the same precision, as shown in API questions from developers evaluating your product. The rule is the same: answer from the published facts, and say so when the facts are not there.
A quick audit
Check your ten best-selling food or beauty products. Does each have a full ingredient list, a clear allergen statement and accurate dietary labels? Fix any that do not. Then try an assistant on your store with the ingredient questions you get most, and see the features.