How Threads Work

A Thread in Self-Service Threads represents an automation use case, and you can have one or many Threads that create different kinds of guided, automated interactions you’d like the Customer to have.

Thread automation example

Let’s use a common question Customers ask today and apply how Threads can help: “Where is my order?”

By creating a Thread and utilizing Sidekick’s Quick Reply buttons feature, you can create an automated interaction with your Customers based on their selection in Sidekick. When they click Order Status (you can customize the button name), they’ll be taken through an automated interaction to look up and provide the status of their order without needing to speak to an Agent.

The steps below illustrate how Threads is configured to allow Customers to check their order status through Sidekick.

1. In Self-Service Threads, create a new Thread and configure it to manage the automated interactions. In this example, the Thread created helps Customers check the status of their order by clicking the Order Status Quick Reply button in Sidekick.
   • Because your OMS (e.g., Shopify, BigCommerce) is already connected to Gladly, it’s easy to look up Customer data.
2. Once the Thread is created and relevant interactions to check the order status are created, you’ll need to make sure Onboarding is activated in Sidekick.
3. In Sidekick — with Onboarding activated — you’ll select Order Status Thread as a Quick Reply button in Sidekick.
4. Customers chatting in wanting to check the status of their order via chat can click Order Status Quick Reply button in Sidekick. They’ll be asked for their email address and provide an authentication code, and Threads looks up and presents to the Customer the status of their order. 
5. They can end the interaction here or choose the option to speak to an Agent.

Thread Requirements

To utilize Threads and allow Customers to check the status of their order, you must meet the following requirements:

• You have Shopify, Big Commerce, or Magento OMS connected to Gladly, which brings order information to Gladly or a different OMS and have built a Lookup Adapter to display order details in Gladly.

Pay-per-use feature

Self-Service Threads — specifically referring to the “Where is my order” (WISMO) use case — is a pay-per-use feature. Once a Thread is activated, Gladly charges you based on the number of Resolutions completed: where a Customer views their order information in Sidekick and concludes the order status Thread without any Agent involved. Interactions, where the Customer chooses to speak to an Agent after their order status is presented to them, are not charged. To summarize, there is no charge to set up Threads, and you only pay for interactions that are automatically resolved without needing an Agent to assist.

See Invoices and Billing for a detailed cost-structure breakdown for Self-Service Threads, WISMO use case. Use the Self-Service Threads report to better understand the value impact created by Self-Service Threads for your organization.