Builders’ Merchant Deploys AI Agent to Enhance Customer Service

North West builders’ merchant Beesley & Fildes has launched Otis, a fully autonomous AI agent, to enhance its customer service.

Developed in partnership with Optiflow Technologies, the agent is now live on the company’s ecommerce platform.

Otis is not a chatbot. It reasons across multiple steps to complete commercial tasks end to end — searching live inventory, generating multi-line quotations, processing trade account enquiries, managing complaints and integrating directly into the merchant’s CRM.

James Beesley, Commercial Director at Beesley & Fildes, explains: “The merchant sector is evolving rapidly, and customers increasingly expect instant access to information, pricing and support at any time of day. Otis has been developed to support both our customers and our internal teams by improving response times, simplifying product discovery and helping customers complete projects more efficiently.

“This is not about replacing people. It is about enhancing customer service, supporting sales growth and using technology intelligently within a builders’ merchant environment.”

Autonomous AI Agent

The platform has been trained specifically around builders’ merchant workflows and product categories, including timber, landscaping, bricks, aggregates, plumbing and building materials. Every customer interaction is captured and fed directly into the merchant’s CRM.

Otis went live through a deliberately controlled soft launch. Within two weeks, it was already converting at more than twice the industry baseline, the company says.

The platform is now fully live across the Beesley & Fildes ecommerce operation.

Chris Fagan, Optiflow Technologies CEO, said: “The builders’ merchant sector is one of the last industries where the majority of sales still depend on someone picking up the phone. Every missed call, every overnight email, every customer who couldn’t get a price and went elsewhere – that’s revenue walking out the door.

“Otis closes that gap. Every enquiry answered, every quote delivered, every sales opportunity captured, at any hour, without adding headcount. At Beesley & Fildes it was already converting at more than twice the industry baseline within two weeks of going live – real customers, real quotes, real sales.”

Wider Rollout

Optiflow Technologies is currently working with a select group of merchant partners and is actively expanding across the sector. Future development aims to extend the platform’s capabilities across procurement, customer operations and sales analytics.

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