Key Takeaways for Omnichannel Retailers
For omnichannel retailers, Average Handle Time (AHT) is more than a contact center metric—it’s a direct driver of customer satisfaction, operational efficiency, and revenue. By applying AI across live interactions, knowledge delivery, automation, and coaching, retailers can reduce AHT without sacrificing experience quality. Uniphore’s Real-Time Guidance Agent delivers in-the-moment intelligence, automation, and insights that help enterprise retailers resolve issues faster, personalize service across channels, and scale support profitably.
Why Average Handle Time Matters in Omnichannel Retail
In omnichannel retail, customer conversations span voice, chat, messaging apps, social media, and in-store assisted support. Every second added to an interaction increases costs, frustrates customers, and slows down resolution—especially during peak shopping seasons throughout the year.
Average Handle Time (AHT) measures the total time it takes to complete a customer interaction, including:
- Talk or chat time
- Hold time
- After Call Work (ACW)
AHT is calculated as: (Talk Time + Hold Time + After Call Work) ÷ Total Interactions
AHT is a core KPI because it reflects both efficiency and experience. Lower AHT generally leads to faster resolutions and better customer satisfaction—provided quality is maintained.
For retailers managing thousands—or millions—of customer conversations across channels, even small AHT reductions can translate into substantial cost savings and higher conversion rates.
The Omnichannel AHT Challenge
Retail contact centers face unique pressures:
- Customers expect seamless context across channels
- Agents juggle multiple systems and knowledge bases
- Seasonal spikes create unpredictable volume surges
- Manual after-call work slows down throughput
Traditional approaches—more training, more scripts, more headcount—don’t scale. AI does.
5 AI-Driven Ways Retailers Can Reduce AHT Across Channels
1. Deliver Real-Time Knowledge During Live Conversations
Retail agents often lose time searching for product details, order status, policies, or promotions across disconnected systems.
AI-powered knowledge assistance solves this by surfacing the right answer at the exact moment it’s needed. Uniphore transcribes and analyzes live customer conversations, proactively surfacing relevant, approved content to agents based on conversational context—without manual searching.
This capability significantly reduces talk time and eliminates human error, a key contributor to longer AHT.
2. Guide Agents in the Moment With Real-Time Intelligence
One of the most effective ways to reduce AHT—without degrading CX—is in-call agent guidance.
Uniphore’s Real-Time Guidance Agent provides:
- Live prompts based on customer intent and sentiment
- Context pulled from CRM, order history, and prior interactions
- Recommended next-best actions during the conversation
Instead of reacting after the fact, agents receive real-time assistance that keeps conversations focused, efficient, and personalized across voice and digital channels.
3. Use AI Self-Service to Deflect Low-Complexity Retail Inquiries
Not every interaction requires a live agent. AI-powered chatbots and voice bots can handle:
- Order tracking
- Returns and exchanges
- Store hours and availability
- Loyalty program questions
By resolving routine inquiries through self-service, retailers reduce inbound volume and reserve agents for high-value, complex interactions. When escalation is required, AI passes full context to the agent—shortening resolution time and improving first contact resolution (FCR).
After Call Work is one of the most underestimated drivers of high AHT in retail contact centers.
4. Automate After Call Work (ACW) to Eliminate Hidden AHT
AI can automatically:
- Generate conversation summaries
- Apply disposition codes
- Tag outcomes and customer intent
- Update backend systems
Uniphore’s Real-Time Guidance Agent captures these details in real time, allowing agents to move seamlessly from one interaction to the next—cutting AHT while improving data consistency and compliance.
5. Improve Performance With AI-Based Coaching and Insights
Reducing AHT isn’t just about speed—it’s about consistency.
AI-driven analytics evaluate every interaction to uncover:
- Where agents struggle
- Which issues cause delays
- How sentiment and outcomes correlate with handle time
Supervisors gain real-time dashboards and post-interaction insights that inform targeted coaching and faster onboarding. Over time, this reduces variance in AHT across agents and channels while maintaining a high-quality retail experience.
Why AI Is the Best Path Forward for Enterprise Retail AHT
As Uniphore’s AHT glossary explains, the goal isn’t to minimize handle time at all costs—it’s to balance efficiency with customer satisfaction.
AI makes that balance possible by:
- Reducing friction, not empathy
- Automating tasks, not conversations
- Empowering agents instead of replacing them
With real-time intelligence, retailers can shorten interactions while delivering more personalized, on-brand experiences across every touchpoint.
Why Uniphore’s Real-Time Guidance Agent Stands Out
Uniphore’s Real-Time Guidance Agent is purpose-built for enterprise-scale, omnichannel environments. It combines:
- Real-time conversation intelligence
- Contextual knowledge delivery
- Automated summaries and tagging
- Manager dashboards with live insights
Retailers using Uniphore have reduced:
- Average handle time
- Agent ramp-up time
- Hold times
- Training costs
—all while improving resolution rates and customer satisfaction.
AI-Optimized AHT: the Ultimate Solution for Omnichannel Retailers
Omnichannel retail success depends on speed, consistency, and personalization—at scale. With Uniphore’s Real-Time Guidance Agent, enterprises can reduce Average Handle Time, empower agents, and deliver exceptional customer experiences across every channel.
Contact Uniphore today to see how AI can transform your retail contact center.
FAQ: Average Handle Time, AI, and Omnichannel Retail
What is Average Handle Time (AHT)?
Average Handle Time is the average duration of a customer interaction, including talk time, hold time, and after-call work. It’s a key KPI used to measure contact center efficiency and experience quality.
Why is AHT important for omnichannel retailers?
AHT directly impacts operating costs, staffing requirements, customer wait times, and satisfaction. In omnichannel retail, high AHT often signals friction caused by disconnected systems and inconsistent context.
Does reducing AHT hurt customer experience?
It can—if done incorrectly. AI allows retailers to reduce AHT by removing friction and manual work, not by rushing customers or agents.
How does AI reduce AHT?
AI reduces AHT by providing real-time guidance, automating after-call work, deflecting routine inquiries, and helping agents resolve issues faster with better context.
What makes Uniphore different from other AI solutions?
Uniphore combines conversational AI, real-time intelligence, and enterprise-grade automation into a single platform designed for live interactions—making it especially effective for complex retail environments.