# 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 texts your staff so a person can check the shelf and call back. ## Why retail stores miss calls - **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 - 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 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 texts or emails 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. ## Frequently asked questions ### 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 texts or emails 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, from $3.50 per call. ### Does it speak Spanish? Yes. The AI receptionist speaks English, Spanish, Russian and Ukrainian today. That helps stores in neighborhoods where many customers prefer to call in Spanish or Russian. More languages are coming with Studio voices. ### 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. --- Source: https://vocenya.com/industries/retail-stores Vocenya, powered by GH Business Solutions. Plans from $49/month with a 14-day free trial: https://vocenya.com/pricing