The Retail Workspace is a specialized interface within the Talkdesk Conversations app that gives agents a complete, real-time view of every customer they serve. Built for retail contact centers, it surfaces eCommerce data, such as order history, live cart contents, product availability, and store directory information, directly within the agent's workflow, without switching tabs or systems. From a single interface, agents can look up customers, manage orders, initiate returns, process refunds, search products, and connect customers to the right store or specialist, all while staying fully present in the conversation.
Prerequisites
- Package: Requires the Talkdesk Retail Experience Cloud license - Please reach out to your Talkdesk contact to enable the package.
- Interface: Available exclusively within the Conversations App during active voice or digital interactions.
- Integration: Requires active integration with eCommerce APIs (Shopify, BigCommerce or Custom integration).
Main Capabilities
When Talkdesk Retail Experience Cloud is activated in your account, agents gain access to retail-dedicated capabilities with additional tabs within Talkdesk Conversations app, such as the Snapshot, Customer details, Orders, Products, Service Directories and Search Customer.
Snapshot
Displays the queue from which the call originated and basic customer information, such as phone number and email address.
Customer Details
Offers additional insights through:
- Customer profile: the customer’s personal details including name, date of birth, address, and customer loyalty status.
- Orders Summary: provides details of the most recent order, including price, purchase date, tracking number, and order number. It also provides an aggregated view of the most recent order status (e.g., "Partial Refund", "Canceled", or "Returned") directly within the profile view, allowing for verification in under 3 seconds.
- Activity: displays a timestamped history of all previous customer interactions across voice and digital channels, so agents have full context from the moment the conversation starts.
Live cart
Live Cart gives agents real-time access to customers' shopping carts, including details like items, descriptions, quantities, prices, stock availability, and discounts. To access Live Cart, click the cart icon in the top-right corner and use the Update/Refresh option to see the latest cart updates.
Orders
The Orders tab displays a customer's complete order history. Each entry shows the order number, purchase date, total amount, total items, shipping address, and current fulfillment status. An order can carry multiple statuses simultaneously — for example, Fulfilled + Partially refunded + Return in progress — reflecting the real state of complex orders at a glance. Agents can search by order number or use the filter controls at the top of the list to narrow results.
Available actions per order depend on its current status and may include:
- Create return — initiate a return for eligible items
- Cancel order — cancel an order that is eligible for cancellation
- Change shipping address — update the delivery address where permitted
To access item-level detail of an order quickly, agents can click Ref. details in the Items number column — this opens the Order Details panel directly on the Items tab, where they can copy Reference Codes to clipboard instantly via the Copy icon.
Clicking See all details opens the Order Details panel, which divided into four sections:
(1) Overview: contains a high-level summary of the transaction, including confirmed shipping addresses, contact details, payment methods (e.g., Credit Card, PayPal), and a total order breakdown of subtotals and taxes.
(2) Items: The Items tab provides a complete, real-time view of every item in the order, organised by fulfilment status. Items are grouped into collapsible sections — such as In Progress, Unfulfilled, Delivered, and Returns — each showing the total item count for that status. Within each section, items are grouped by shipment where applicable. Each shipment displays its tracking number and current status (e.g. In progress, Fulfilled), along with the creation or delivery date. Each line item shows the product image, name, variant details, quantity, unit price, and Reference Code.
(3) Returns: full view of all returns associated with the order, grouped by Return ID. Each return shows its creation date, current status (e.g. Open), and return shipping fee where applicable. Within each return, agents can see the individual items being returned, including the product image, name, Reference Code, quantity, value, and the specific return reason captured at the time of creation (e.g. Damaged or defective, Size too small).
(4) Refund details: provides a transparent log of financial transactions related to returns, including a detailed history of every refund issued, the specific amounts, the payment gateway used, and the exact transaction date.
Creating a Return
Agents can initiate a return directly from the Orders tab or the Order Details panel. The Create Return action appears automatically when an order contains eligible items and is hidden when the order is unfulfilled, fully refunded, unpaid, or all items have already been returned.
When creating a return, agents are guided through the following steps:
(1) Item selection
A pre-filtered list of returnable items appears. Items already part of an active return, or flagged as non-returnable, are excluded automatically. The agent then picks the item(s) the customer is returning, and selects the return reason from a dropdown (required).
✔ ️ Only returnable items shown — no guesswork for the agent.
✔ ️ Adjust the return quantity using the +/− controls, capped to the maximum returnable units
✔ ️ A single return can carry different reasons (reasons are selected per item)
✔ ️ Feeds directly into reporting on why returns happen.
(2) Return shipping
Agents select the applicable shipping method for the return, based on merchant policy. When “No shipping required” is selected, the return can be created without any shipping information — no label, tracking number, or carrier details needed. This is typically used in situations where the item's value does not justify the cost of return shipping, or where collection or drop-off has been arranged outside of the platform.
(3) Return Summary
As items and reasons are selected, the Return Summary updates in real time on the right-hand panel, showing: the total value of items being returned and the calculated total, updated instantly as values change. The agent can manually add a Return shipping fee and or a Restocking fee.
(5) Confirmation
Once the agent clicks Create Return, the system generates a unique Return ID (e.g. #1165-R1), updates the order status in the Workspace, adds the return to the Returns tab, and sends the customer a confirmation email with confirmation.
✔ ️Return ID generated instantly
✔ Returns tab and order status reflect the change immediately
✔ ️ No refund is issued at this step. Clicking Create Return initiates the return logistics only. The refund is processed separately once the return is completed
Note: Return management is available for Shopify integrations with Shopify Returns capabilities enabled. Please reach out to your Talkdesk contact to confirm availability for your account.
Products
During a call, agents can search for products and view their characteristics, descriptions, prices, and available stock.
Service Directories
Centralizes essential directory information for contact center agents and Talkdesk Autopilot™ (voice and digital), such as store locations, services, and specialist details. It bridges physical and digital touchpoints to support more informed customer interactions. With geolocation capabilities and Google API integration, agents and Autopilot can surface location-based recommendations and connect customers to the right resource. (Formerly known as Location Directory)
Capabilities by role:
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End customers via Autopilot:
- Geolocation-based recommendations: Enables self-service, such as chatbots and virtual assistants, on voice and digital channels, to suggest nearby locations and services based on the customer’s location.
- Personalized & superior customer engagement: Contextual and convenient customer experiences with pre-built Autopilots that can find the right location(s), speciality and/or specialist to meet customers’ needs.
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Agents and Supervisors:
- Comprehensive search tools: Agents can search for and filter locations, services, and specialists by proximity, business hours, or specific customer needs.
- Detailed information access: View principal details such as store addresses, contact numbers, services offered, specialists available, business days, and opening hours.
- Seamless call transfers: Click to call, transfer interactions or consult with the most appropriate location or specialist, ensuring faster resolutions and personalized support.
- BOPIS and Curbside pickup: Empower agents to assist customers with services like Buy Online, Pick Up In-Store (BOPIS) and curbside pickup, streamlining the shopping experience.
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Admins:
- Centralized directory management: Easily create, edit, and update directory data, including locations, services, and specialists, through an intuitive admin interface.
- Bulk updates: Upload and manage directory content via CSV files, reducing the time spent on manual updates.
- Relational data: Define relationships between locations, services, and specialists, enabling agents to deliver more informed and personalized customer experiences.
- Interaction routing: Utilize the directories studio components to route interactions to the right location, speciality and/or specialist based on the attributes of that component (example: hours of operation, location address, specialty, specialist bio, etc)
Search Customer
Agents can search within the contacts database and retrieve all details associated with a customer. Search by name, phone number, or email address.