When someone mentions AI, you may think of ChatGPT and other programs that allow you to simply ask questions and get answers. But AI can be used for so much more in the business world.
This is the vision of AiPril Assist, a new customer experience platform designed specifically for the home furnishings industry that uses AI to help with menial tasks. Programmed with the industry in mind, AiPril can answer phones, set appointments, follow up with leads and much more
“AiPril handles gruntwork for retailers, from keeping up with stock to delivery to creating tickets,” said founder and CEO JD Camden. “We’re programming it to become more human and understand human frustration, so if someone calls and gets annoyed that they aren’t getting what they need, AiPril will pass them over to a real person.”
AiPril creates a single unified customer profile that includes every text, email, chat, voice, social, purchase and other interaction with each shopper, eliminating the need for customers to start over with every new conversation.
It helps bring customers in the door by enabling AiPril to use that customer profile along with local inventory information to answer questions quickly and intelligently, including making personalized product recommendations that can help close sales.
It can also share best practices and self-diagnose what’s working and what’s not to make changes accordingly — without retailers having to do anything.
Camden says AiPril assists with about 30% of the menial tasks a retailer does each day, and that it increases conversion rates by 40%.
“AiPril can be the heart of the business and meet customers where they are,” Camden says. “It’s designed for small to midsized retailers to level the playing field with other companies that already use AI for the customer experience.”
Large retailers such as Walmart, Amazon and Home Depot all use AI assistants, according to Camden, which means the experience is going to be expected by consumers.
“Price is often the barrier for many retailers and the reason they don’t adopt AI, but our technology is specifically for retailers who can’t afford enterprise AI,” Camden said.
Camden also said that AI helps build interest and excitement for the next generation of retailers. He said that while every industry has those who don’t understand the technology, the next generation is hungry for it.
“To many retailers, AI is still scary, or there’s a question of how to get there because of the price of typical AI customer service tools,” Camden said. “Price is one barrier, and knowledge is the other. However, the industry is at the start of an AI wave, where retailers are trying to understand how they can best use it for their businesses. There are not many end-to-end solutions like AiPril, many of them are just pieces to the whole puzzle.”
Having soft-launched the product in January 2025, Camden said the company is ready to bring the technology to the whole industry, and he has success stories to validate the claims of AiPril’s usefulness.
“Seeing is believing,“ he said. “Some of the largest mom-and-pop stores that we’re working with are validating it, and that cooperation allows the rest of the industry to see that it’s working. We’d love to begin new partnerships with new retail partners.”
