Post-purchase autonomy for Shopify & DTC
Your most expensive tickets are the ones the help desk agent quietly handed back to a human.
Bowline deploys autonomous AI agents that own the post-purchase tail — refunds through the Shopify Admin API, WISMO lookups against live carrier scans, and the work most agents stop at: chasing FedEx, UPS, USPS, and DHL on lost or damaged parcels, assembling the evidence each carrier requires, opening the claim, and pushing it to payout.
- 14:02:09Ticket received — “My order never showed up.”
- 14:02:14Order #4142 pulled from Shopify. FedEx scan: delivered 6 days ago, signat no image.
- 14:02:31Agent drafting BOL + 4 photos for FedEx claim API.
- 14:02:46Reply queued — “Filed; ETA on payout 5 business days.”
What we mean by “the hard tail”
Ticket volume that lands in the top three — and that the agent layer already installed in your help desk handles for about the first ten minutes.
Gorgias Automate, Siena, Fini, Kustomer IQ, Intercom Fin, Zendesk AI Agents — and the help-desk incumbents — all bundle agent layers that handle the front of the funnel well. Triage, FAQ, status lookups, request standing.
Once a ticket crosses the carrier API boundary, it gets handed back to a human team. Bowline is built specifically for that hard tail: the carrier-by-carrier, non-standardized claims workflows where most automation vendors fall back on brittle screen-scraping or manual phone calls.
Once a return ticket lands, the agent pulls the line items, restocking policy, and original payment method, drafts the refund through the Shopify Admin API, and writes back the trace ID to the help desk.
- Pulls order, line items, payment, and shipping status.
- Quotes the brand’s restocking policy verbatim.
- Issues refund via Admin API, archives the trace ID.
Triggers: requested refund · wrong item · reported defect.
The agent crosses the carrier feed into the Shopify fulfillment record, explains the current scan in plain language, and updates the customer before they ask twice.
- Polls FedEx · UPS · USPS · DHL alongside Shopify fulfillment.
- Detects stalled scans, misroutes, and missed delivery windows.
- Sends a customer-facing update tied to the live tracking ID.
Triggers: “where is my order” · late shipment · partial delivery.
Files a BOL-and-weight claim with the correct carrier, attaches the packaging photo, and chases the case to payout. This is where the Gorgias/Fin layer checks out.
- Assembles BOL · weight · packaging photo · declared value.
- Submits through the carrier’s claim API (or portal).
- Chases updates daily · escalates on second denial or above the floor.
Triggers: lost in transit · damage reported · signature anomaly.
One agent, four different evidence recipes
Bowline speaks each carrier natively.
Each carrier wants a different document. Each has a different filing window. A agent that quotes the wrong policy or attaches the wrong photo gets denied twice, at which point most automation re-routes to your team. Bowline cooks the right evidence per carrier, on the first attempt.
- FedEx
API
FedEx Tracking · Claims API
Filing rule
BOL + weight + packaging photo, signed within 60 days of invoice.
Evidence
- FedEx BOL (printed)
- Pro Number
- Weight ticket
- Damage photo + box + label
- UPS
API
UPS Track · Quantum View · Claim
Filing rule
Concealed damage needs packaging & carton photos within 14 days.
Evidence
- UPS BOL
- Tracking number
- Carton & cushioning photo
- Declared value line
- USPS
API
USPS Tracking · API claims (Inbound)
Filing rule
Domestic claims through IBIS, with PS Form 1000 / 2855 as needed.
Evidence
- PS Form 2855
- DDU acceptance scan
- Recipient address
- Insurance receipt
- DHL
API
DHL Tracking · Shipment Tracking API
Filing rule
Piece-level claim filed within the carrier’s documented window per lane.
Evidence
- AWB / piece ID
- Commercial invoice
- DDP/DAP declaration
- Damage photograph
Not on the list? We add carriers quarterly as new confidence-profile customers come on. No screen-scraping — we ship an evidence playbook, not a brittle login.
When Bowline hands off
Hybrid, not fully autonomous. The Klarna lesson is the lesson.
Automating ticket volume is the easy part; automating without doctrinal exits is where the category retrenches. Bowline’s hybrid model is the reason growth-stage Shopify brands can capture the 70%+ automation rate and still keep your team’s nights.
- Carrier denies claim twice.
Floor
Any claim value · configurable per brand.
Action
Routes to a human teammate with the assembled evidence packet attached.
- Dispute value exceeds the dollar floor.
Floor
Default $250 · adjustable to merchant policy.
Action
Hands off with a one-page customer-facing summary.
- Customer asks for a person — by name or by sentiment.
Floor
Always, regardless of value.
Action
Surrenders the conversation; preserves the agent’s running notes for context.
The agent writes its running notes to your help desk on every handoff — full thread continuity, not a re-brief.
What Bowline deliberately is not
A marketing-bot repackaged. A general-purpose agent stretched to fit.
Bowline starts at the moment an order is paid for. If your gap is pre-purchase conversion, a marketing chatbot, or a CRM enrichment workflow, we will say so — we route those to Gorgias, Siena, and the rest of that category. They are excellent at it.
Out of scope · Pre-purchase
Your Gorgias Automate / Intercom Fin / Siena / Kustomer IQ / Zendesk AI Agents instance stays where it is. Bowline integrates behind it, picking up tickets once intent is identified as post-purchase.
Out of scope · Mass refunds
Refunds are issued against a documented policy, ordered to the specific line item, and routed for human approval when the value crosses your floor. We made decisions in 2024 that we’d make the same way in 2026.
Frequently asked, frankly
Direct answers. No product marketing veneer.
Different than the usual FAQ? Email bowline-cpj0gl@polsia.app.
Pilot · Spring ’26 cohort
Bring us the refunds you’ve stopped trusting the agent layer to handle.
We onboard a small cohort of growth-stage Shopify merchants each month. Initial conversation is short, technical, with your support lead on the call — not your AE.