How Costa Rica's largest footwear retailer automated 80% of support during peak season
Introduction
TEC Tecnología en Calzado S.A used Zelty Agents not to replace their humans, but to give them superpowers. In their peak month, AI managed 80% of the conversations and paid for itself by generating direct sales.
Customer Profile
Company
TEC (PLS Stores, PLX, New Balance, among other brands)
Infrastructure
41 Physical stores + 8 E-commerce
Support Team
5 people
Peak Volume (Dec)
4,688 Conversations
Technology Stack
WooCommerce
Shopify
CIMO (ERP)
GPT 4.1-mini
The Challenge: The Year-End Avalanche
For a retail giant like TEC, November and December are a trial by fire. Customer inquiry volume explodes, rising from an average of 230 per month to over 4,600 in December.
With a centralized support team of only 5 people, the math was impossible. The risk was not only long wait times but also losing sales by being unable to answer simple questions like "Do you have size 10 at the Multiplaza store?" in real time.
80.7%
TOTAL COVERAGE
Out of 4,688 chats in Dec, 3,785 were immediately handled by AI (Queue elimination).
68%
"CO-PILOT" MANAGEMENT
AI processed and prepared 3,191 complex cases so the human only had to close them.
$2,058
Extra Sales (Dec)
ROI + 230%
The agent closed 25 direct sales in chat, more than covering their monthly cost plus LLM.
The Challenge: The Year-End Avalanche
TEC didn’t implement a simple chatbot. They deployed Zelty Agents deeply integrated into their ERP (CIMO) and web platforms. The strategy was to use AI as a smart two-level filter:
- Automatic Resolution (L1): Answer stock, hours, and location questions without human intervention.
- "Co-pilot" Management (L2): For complex cases, AI gathers information, validates the customer, and delivers the chat to the human agent with all context ready, drastically reducing handling time.
The Challenge: The Year-End Avalanche
One key to success was choosing the GPT 4.1-mini model. This allowed ultra-low latency (instant responses) and minimal cost per conversation.
The financial result is clear: The agent is not an operational expense. With an average ticket of $82 USD, sales generated in chat paid for the technology almost three times over (Payback > 230%).
"The value isn’t just that AI responds, but how it sets the stage. During peak season, customers arrive anxious. AI serves them in seconds, finds their order, and gives us the context pre-digested. That let us survive the peak without doubling the payroll."
Daniella Barquero Elizondo
Customer Support and Digital Channels Leader
"The challenge wasn’t just answering chats, it was integrating a complex ecosystem. Connecting the agent to our ERP (CIMO) and online stores (WooCommerce/Shopify) in real time turned the bot into a real extension of our inventory."
Oscar Reyes
IT Manager at TEC
Ready to scale your E-commerce?
Stop spending time answering "Where is my order?" Hire a Zelty Agent to sell for you.
Schedule a 15-minute Demo
How Costa Rica's largest footwear retailer automated 80% of support during peak season
Introduction
TEC Tecnología en Calzado S.A used Zelty Agents not to replace their humans, but to give them superpowers. In their peak month, AI managed 80% of the conversations and paid for itself by generating direct sales.
Customer Profile
Company
TEC (PLS Stores, PLX, New Balance, among other brands)
Infrastructure
41 Physical stores + 8 E-commerce
Support Team
5 people
Peak Volume (Dec)
4,688 Conversations
Technology Stack
GPT 4.1-mini
WooCommerce
Shopify
CIMO (ERP)
The Challenge: The Year-End Avalanche
For a retail giant like TEC, November and December are a trial by fire. Customer inquiry volume explodes, rising from an average of 230 per month to over 4,600 in December.
With a centralized support team of only 5 people, the math was impossible. The risk wasn’t just long wait times but losing sales by not being able to answer simple questions like "Do you have size 10 at the Multiplaza store?" in real time.
80.7%
TOTAL COVERAGE
Out of 4,688 chats in Dec, 3,785 were immediately handled by AI (Queue elimination).
68%
"CO-PILOT" MANAGEMENT
AI processed and prepared 3,191 complex cases so the human only had to close them.
$2,058
Extra Sales (Dec)
ROI + 230%
The agent closed 25 direct sales in chat, more than covering their monthly cost plus LLM.
The Challenge: The Year-End Avalanche
TEC didn’t implement a simple chatbot. They deployed Zelty Agents deeply integrated into their ERP (CIMO) and web platforms. The strategy was to use AI as a smart two-level filter:
- Automatic Resolution (L1): Answer stock, hours, and location questions without human intervention.
- "Co-pilot" Management (L2): For complex cases, AI gathers information, validates the customer, and delivers the chat to the human agent with all context ready, drastically reducing response time.
The Challenge: The Year-End Avalanche
One key to success was choosing the GPT 4.1-mini model. This allowed ultra-low latency (instant responses) and minimal cost per conversation.
The financial result is clear: The agent is not an operational expense. With an average ticket of $82 USD, sales generated in chat paid for the technology almost three times over (Payback > 230%).
"The value isn’t just that AI responds, but how it sets the stage. During peak season, customers arrive anxious. AI serves them in seconds, finds their order, and gives us the context pre-digested. That let us survive the peak without doubling the payroll."
Daniella Barquero Elizondo
Customer Support and Digital Channels Leader
"The challenge wasn’t just answering chats, it was integrating a complex ecosystem. Connecting the agent to our ERP (CIMO) and online stores (WooCommerce/Shopify) in real time turned the bot into a real extension of our inventory."
Oscar Reyes
IT Manager at TEC
Ready to scale your E-commerce?
Stop spending time answering "Where is my order?" Hire a Zelty Agent to sell for you.
Schedule a 15-minute Demo
Introduction
TEC Tecnología en Calzado S.A used Zelty Agents not to replace their humans, but to give them superpowers. In its peak month, the AI handled 80% of conversations and paid for itself by generating direct sales.
Customer Profile
Company
TEC (PLS Stores, PLX, New Balance, among other brands)
Infrastructure
41 Physical stores + 8 E-commerce
Support Team
5 people
Peak Volume (Dec)
4,688 Conversations
Technology Stack
WooCommerce
Shopify
CIMO (ERP)
GPT 4.1-mini
The Challenge: The Year-End Avalanche
For a retail giant like TEC, November and December are a trial by fire. Customer inquiry volume explodes, rising from an average of 230 per month to over 4,600 in December.
With a centralized support team of only 5 people, the math was impossible. The risk was not just long wait times but losing sales by being unable to answer simple questions like "Do you have size 10 at the Multiplaza store?" in real time.
The Solution: AI as the "First Responder" (Triage)
TEC didn’t implement a simple chatbot. They deployed Zelty Agents deeply integrated into their ERP (CIMO) and web platforms. The strategy was to use AI as a smart two-level filter:
- Automatic Resolution (L1): Answer stock, hours, and location questions without human intervention.
- "Co-pilot" Management (L2): For complex cases, AI gathers information, verifies the customer, and hands the chat to the human agent with all context ready, drastically reducing handling time.
80.7%
TOTAL COVERAGE
Out of 4,688 chats in Dec, 3,785 were immediately handled by AI (Queue elimination).
68%
"CO-PILOT" MANAGEMENT
AI processed and prepared 3,191 complex cases so the human only had to close them.
$2,058
Extra Sales (Dec)
ROI + 230%
The agent closed 25 direct sales in chat, more than covering their monthly cost plus LLM.
Results: Financial Efficiency with GPT 4.1-mini
One key to success was choosing the GPT 4.1-mini model. This allowed ultra-low latency (instant responses) and minimal cost per conversation.
The financial result is clear: The agent is not an operational expense. With an average ticket of $82 USD, sales generated in chat paid for the technology almost three times over (Payback > 230%).
"The value isn’t just that AI responds, but how it sets the stage. During peak season, customers arrive anxious. AI serves them in seconds, finds their order, and gives us the context pre-digested. That let us survive the peak without doubling the payroll."
Daniella Barquero Elizondo
Customer Support and Digital Channels Leader
"The challenge wasn’t just answering chats, it was integrating a complex ecosystem. Connecting the agent to our ERP (CIMO) and online stores (WooCommerce/Shopify) in real time turned the bot into a real extension of our inventory."
Oscar Reyes
IT Manager at TEC
Ready to scale your E-commerce?
Stop spending time answering "Where is my order?" Hire a Zelty Agent to sell for you.
Schedule a 15-min Demo