The AI receptionist for retail stores that keeps the register line free
An AI receptionist for retail stores answers your shop phone 24/7 in your store’s name. It answers hours, parking, return policy and gift card questions from your notes. When a caller asks whether something is in stock, it takes their name, number and the item, then alerts your staff so a person can check the shelf and call back.
- 14-day free trial
- Keep your number
- Cancel any time
How a call goes
Maple Street Goods
- Receptionist: Thanks for calling Maple Street Goods, this is the store’s virtual assistant. How can I help?
- Caller: Are you open Sunday? And do you have the blue ceramic planters, the big ones?
- Receptionist: We’re open Sunday from 11 to 5. I can’t see our inventory, but I can have someone on the floor check the large blue planters and call you back. Can I get your name and number?
- Caller: Dana Kim, 201-555-0148.
- Receptionist: Thanks, Dana. Would you like them to hold one for you if it’s there?
- Caller: Yes, until Sunday if they can.
- Receptionist: Got it. I’ve sent that to the team, and they’ll call you back to confirm. Anything else?
What the owner’s summary would include
- Caller:
- Dana Kim, 201-555-0148
- Request:
- Check stock: large blue ceramic planters
- Action:
- Hold one until Sunday if available
- Also asked:
- Sunday hours (answered: 11 to 5)
Where retail stores lose calls today
The phone rings while a line forms
You or a cashier step away from a paying customer to tell someone what time you close on Sunday. The person on the phone waits, the person at the counter waits, and both leave a little less happy than they came in.
Stock questions eat your floor time
Callers ask whether you carry a size, a color or a brand. Somebody walks the aisles to check while the phone sits on hold. Half the time the caller hangs up before they come back.
After closing, calls just ring out
People plan their shopping trip at night. If nobody answers at 9pm, they have no way to confirm your Saturday hours or whether you take returns without a receipt, so they try a store that picks up.
Calls Vocenya answers for retail stores
Every one gets a real answer, the details written down, and a summary sent to you the moment it ends.
- Store hours and holiday hours
- Directions and parking
- Is this item in stock?
- Return and exchange policy
- Gift cards and layaway
- Special orders and pickup
What you see after every call
The real Vocenya portal, shown with a made-up plumbing business. Your store gets the same: the summary, the outcome, the caller’s details and the full transcript.
What does an AI receptionist for retail stores actually answer?
It answers the questions you hear every day: hours, holiday hours, where to park, whether you take returns without a receipt, how gift cards work and whether you do special orders. It learns these from your website and any notes you add, so the answers match your policies. You review everything before it goes live. When a question needs a person, such as a price match or a complaint, it takes the details and sends you a summary right away, or transfers the call to your floor phone if you want.
Can the AI tell customers what is in stock?
No, and it will say so. The AI receptionist cannot see your inventory or point-of-sale system. Instead, it asks for the item, size, color or brand, plus the caller’s name and number, and sends that to your staff the moment the call ends. Someone who can walk the shelf checks and calls back. That keeps your answers accurate and stops a clerk from leaving the register to put a caller on hold.
How does after-hours answering help a retail store?
Plenty of shoppers plan tomorrow’s errands after dinner. With after-hours answering, a caller at 10pm still hears your hours, your return window and your address, and can leave a stock question or special order request for the morning. You set separate business-hours and after-hours flows, so during the day it can transfer to the counter and at night it simply takes a message and sends you a summary.
Will it work with my existing store number?
Yes. You can keep the number printed on your bags, receipts and Google listing and forward it to Vocenya, or get a new local number on the Starter plan and up. Setup starts with your website: Vocenya builds the receptionist from it in about 20 seconds, you edit the answers, and then it takes real calls. Every plan includes a 14-day free trial with no contract.
A person when it matters
Tricky calls go to a trained GH agent who sees what the AI heard, or straight to your phone.
Booked, not just logged
Offers real times from your calendar and confirms them with the caller.
Answers in 89 languages
Studio voices switch to the caller's language, and you get the summary in English. The Value plan answers in English and Spanish.
Calls new leads back
Speed-to-lead calls can follow up on website special-order or pickup inquiries within moments, while the shopper is still deciding where to buy.
Serving retail stores in New Jersey and New York City
Shops on New Jersey main streets and in NYC neighborhoods see holiday and back-to-school rushes when the phone and the register get busy at the same time. An AI receptionist keeps answering hours and parking questions so your staff can stay with in-store customers.
See how it works in New Jersey and New York City.
Questions from retail stores
Can the AI receptionist check my inventory?
No. It cannot see your inventory or POS. It takes the item details and the caller’s name and number, then alerts your team so someone can check and call back. It tells the caller it’s passing the question to staff, so nobody gets a wrong answer about what’s on the shelf.
Does it know my holiday hours?
It knows whatever hours you give it. Add holiday hours, early closings or inventory days to its notes, and it answers with those. You can update them any time from your dashboard, so the phone answer changes as soon as your schedule does.
Can it transfer calls to someone on the floor?
Yes. On the Growth plan and up, it can warm transfer a call to your store phone or a team member’s phone, with a summary of what the caller wanted. You can also add GH Live, trained human agents who take over when needed, billed per call at a rate set for your business.
Does it speak Spanish?
Yes. Every plan answers in English and Spanish, and Studio voices answer in 89 languages, Russian and Ukrainian included. That helps stores in neighborhoods where many customers prefer to call in Spanish or Russian.
Will callers know they are talking to an AI?
The assistant identifies as a virtual assistant. You choose whether it says so at the start of the call or only when someone asks. It never pretends to be a person, and it can always hand the call to you or your staff.
How much does an AI receptionist for a retail store cost?
Plans start at $49 a month for 250 AI minutes on Value. Starter is $99 with 300 minutes, Studio voices and a local number or your own. Growth is $249 with warm transfers and recordings. Every plan has a 14-day free trial, and you can cancel any time.
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Hear your retail store receptionist answer, right now.
Put in your website. Vocenya builds your receptionist from it and calls your phone so you can hear it. 14-day free trial, keep your number, cancel any time.
Hear it yourself
Call (732) 633-0055Our AI receptionist picks up. Ask it anything, or have it answer as your business.