A common worry about putting an assistant on a store is the question it cannot answer. Store owners imagine it making something up, frustrating the customer, or losing the sale.
Why this worry is worth taking seriously
The worry is reasonable. A store assistant that guesses about delivery dates or materials can create complaints, returns and chargebacks. Shoppers who were misled rarely come back. So how an assistant behaves at the edge of its knowledge matters more than how it behaves on easy questions, and it is the first thing worth testing before choosing one.
The honest answer depends on how the assistant is built and trained. Here are the common myths about unknown questions, and what actually happens with a well set up store assistant.
Myth 1: it will make something up
Reality: a good assistant answers from your content and says when it has nothing relevant. If your pages do not mention whether a jacket is waterproof, it should say "I don't have that detail, but I can ask the team." Guessing would be worse than silence.
Accuracy depends on content. The steps for preparing your pages are covered in how to train a store assistant on your product catalogue.
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Myth 2: "I don't know" loses the sale
Reality: an honest "I'll find out" with a captured email often saves the sale. The shopper knows someone will reply, and a follow-up with the answer brings them back. What loses the sale is a wrong answer, or no response at all.
Visitor: Is this sofa fabric suitable for homes with cats? Assistant: I don't have details on how this fabric holds up to cat claws. Could I take your email so the team can check with the supplier and get back to you today?
Myth 3: shoppers will be annoyed
Reality: most shoppers are annoyed by being ignored or misled, not by honesty. A clear answer about what the assistant can and cannot help with, plus an easy way to reach a person, is usually received well.
Myth 4: unknown questions are a failure
Reality: they are one of the most useful outputs you get. Each unanswered question points to a missing detail on a product or policy page. SpideyChat for ecommerce stores logs these so you can review them weekly. Fixing the top few each week steadily improves both the assistant and your pages.
Myth 5: it should handle everything
Reality: some questions should always go to a person: complaints, damaged orders, refunds and anything emotional. Knowing when to hand over is part of doing the job well. The balance is discussed in when to let a chatbot answer and when to hand over.
What a good handover looks like
When a question needs a person, the assistant should capture the shopper's details and the conversation, so whoever replies has the full picture. The shopper should not have to explain again. The same principle applies in software support during outages and incidents, as shown in status and outage questions without a flooded inbox: consistent, honest communication beats improvisation.
Choosing an assistant with this in mind
When comparing tools, ask each vendor to show you what happens with a question their demo cannot answer. It is the quickest test of trustworthiness. More vendor questions are in choosing a website assistant for an online store.
You can see how the demo assistants handle unknown questions yourself in the live demos, and compare plan costs once you are confident in how it behaves.