A complete guide to the Gorgias side panel for Shopify data

We’ve all seen it: a support agent has a customer ticket open in Gorgias, but they're also flipping between three other tabs. One for the Shopify admin to check an order, another for a Google Doc with the returns policy, and maybe even a Slack DM to ask a coworker about a product. That dream of a single, unified helpdesk feels a little distant, doesn't it?

The Gorgias side panel was built to fix this, pulling key Shopify data right into the agent's workspace. But what happens when your data is scattered everywhere and your support needs get a bit more complex?

This guide will walk you through everything you need to know about the native Gorgias side panel Shopify data. We’ll cover its main features, look at the limitations growing teams usually bump into, and show you how AI-powered tools can turn your side panel from a simple data display into a hub that actually resolves issues.

What is the Gorgias side panel Shopify data?

Before we get into the side panel, let's do a quick refresh on the two platforms that make it all happen.

Understanding Gorgias

Gorgias is a customer service helpdesk made specifically for e-commerce brands. It pulls all your customer conversations from email, live chat, social media, and SMS into one single feed. The goal is to give your support team one place to manage everything customer-related.

Understanding Shopify

You probably know this one. Shopify is a massive e-commerce platform that gives businesses all the tools they need to build and run an online store. It handles everything from product listings and inventory to payments and shipping. For millions of online stores, it's the engine that keeps things running.

How they work together: The Gorgias and Shopify integration

The Gorgias side panel Shopify data acts as the bridge between these two platforms. It's a small window inside the Gorgias interface that sits right next to every customer ticket. When an agent opens a ticket, the side panel automatically fills up with that customer's information, pulled straight from your Shopify store.

A screenshot showing the Gorgias side panel Shopify data integration, with customer order information displayed next to a support ticket.

The real win here is context. Instead of making agents jump between Gorgias and Shopify, the side panel puts critical info like order history, shipping status, and customer details right where they need it. The idea is simple: faster replies, less copy-pasting, and a more efficient team.

Core features of the native Gorgias and Shopify integration

The built-in integration gives any e-commerce support team a good starting point. It's not just about looking at data; it's about letting agents get things done without having to leave the helpdesk.

View rich customer profiles and order history

When a customer reaches out, the first thing an agent needs to know is who they're talking to. The side panel syncs the customer’s entire Shopify profile, so agents can immediately see a full order history, their lifetime value, and all their contact info.

This gets rid of that awkward "Can you tell me your order number again?" dance. It helps the agent sound like they know what's going on from the very first reply.

Perform essential order management actions

The integration is more than just a data viewer. It lets agents handle some of the most common order-related tasks directly from the Gorgias side panel. This includes things like:

• Refunding or canceling an order

• Editing an order (like a shipping address, if it hasn't shipped yet)

• Duplicating a past order

• Creating a unique discount code

These actions take care of a huge slice of everyday support tickets and save teams a ton of time.

This image displays the action buttons available in the Gorgias side panel for Shopify, such as refunding or canceling an order.

Centralize support for multiple Shopify stores

If your brand runs more than one storefront, maybe for different regions or product lines, Gorgias is a huge help. You can connect and manage multiple Shopify stores from a single Gorgias account. This keeps all your tickets and customer data in one spot, so you're not trying to manage several different helpdesks.

Here’s a quick rundown of what the native integration offers:

Limitations: When the native Gorgias and Shopify integration isn't enough

The native integration is a great first step, but as a business grows, its cracks start to show. Teams often realize that the single, unified workspace they were hoping for still requires agents to hunt for information outside of Gorgias.

When your knowledge lives beyond Shopify data

The side panel is great at showing you Shopify data. But what about everything else your team needs to know? Your detailed returns policy might be in a Notion doc. Your technical product specs could be in a Google Drive folder. Complex troubleshooting steps? They probably live in Confluence.

Every time an agent has to leave Gorgias to find an answer, the workflow grinds to a halt. It slows down response times, opens the door for inconsistent answers, and kind of defeats the purpose of having a central helpdesk in the first place. The side panel is just one piece of a much bigger knowledge puzzle.

Limited custom actions and complex workflows

The built-in actions like "refund" and "cancel" are useful, but they don't cover everything. Modern e-commerce businesses rely on a whole ecosystem of tools, and each one has its own set of tasks.

What if you need to start a return using a specific shipping partner's system? Or check inventory in a separate warehouse app? Or apply a tricky subscription change in Recharge? The native Gorgias integration can't handle these kinds of custom, business-specific jobs. It’s stuck with the basic actions, leaving your team to do the more complicated stuff by hand.

How manual triage consumes agent time

Even with all the customer data right there in the side panel, the agent still has to do a lot of manual work. They have to read every ticket, figure out what the customer wants, tag it correctly, and then type out a response.

This is a real drag for high-volume, repetitive questions like "Where is my order?" The answer is literally in the side panel, but an agent still has to spend their time writing a reply. The panel displays data, but it isn't smart enough to act on that data by itself.

An AI platform that can connect to all your knowledge sources and take custom actions can fill these gaps. A tool like eesel AI integrates with your helpdesk and knowledge bases to provide answers and automate tasks that the native integration just can't touch.

Supercharging the Gorgias side panel Shopify data with AI

The fix for these limitations isn't to ditch Gorgias. It's to add an intelligent AI layer on top that can bridge the gaps and truly automate your support workflows.

Unify all knowledge sources, not just Shopify

The first step is to connect to everything. A good AI platform can plug into Shopify and Gorgias, but also all your other knowledge bases, your Confluence space, your shared Google Docs, your Notion wiki, you name it.

This is something eesel AI does really well. It doesn't just scan your public help articles; it actually learns from your thousands of past support tickets. This means that right away, it understands your brand's voice, common customer problems, and the solutions that have actually worked before. It can then give your agents instant, accurate draft replies based on your entire company knowledge, not just a generic template.

This screenshot shows how an AI tool like eesel can unify knowledge by connecting to various sources beyond the Gorgias side panel Shopify data.

Automate workflows with customizable actions

AI agents can do a lot more than just refunding and canceling orders. They can be set up to make custom API calls to any other system you use, which lets you automate pretty much any process.

With eesel AI, you get a powerful workflow builder that you can actually use yourself. You don't need a developer or a series of setup calls to get going. You can use its simple prompt editor to tell the AI exactly which tickets to handle and what custom actions to take, whether that's looking up a live shipping status from a logistics API or updating a customer's loyalty points in your marketing tool. This puts you in full control, which is a big change from the rigid, pre-built automation you find elsewhere.

Test and deploy AI with confidence

One of the biggest worries with automation is the risk of the AI messing up and annoying a customer. It's a fair concern, and one that needs to be taken seriously.

This is where a feature like eesel AI’s simulation mode comes in handy. Before you let an AI agent talk to a single live customer, you can test its setup on thousands of your own past tickets. This lets you see exactly how it would have replied, giving you a good estimate of your potential resolution rate and cost savings. It also helps you spot gaps in your knowledge base and tweak the AI's behavior, all in a completely risk-free environment. It provides a level of confidence you just don't get with other tools.

This image shows a simulation mode, a feature for testing AI responses on past tickets, enhancing the gorgias side panel shopify data with safe automation.

Gorgias pricing and the Shopify integration

It's helpful to know how Gorgias's pricing fits into all this. Their plans are based on the number of billable tickets you handle each month, not the number of agents on your team. You can see the full breakdown on their official pricing page.

The Shopify integration is available on most plans. But the need for better automation and efficiency usually pops up as your ticket volume grows. As you move into higher tiers, the argument for an AI tool that can help manage that volume gets a lot stronger.

Move your Gorgias side panel from a data panel to an action engine

The Gorgias side panel Shopify data is a fantastic tool for any e-commerce brand. It does a great job of centralizing customer and order info, saving agents from having to constantly switch tabs all day.

But it's not the complete fix. It doesn't solve the problem of knowledge being scattered across different apps, and it doesn't get rid of the manual, repetitive tasks that eat up an agent's day. For growing teams, the best way to become truly efficient is by adding a flexible AI layer to Gorgias.

The goal should be to turn that side panel from a passive data display into an active engine, one that can resolve tickets on its own, give agents the right information instantly, and ultimately create a better customer experience.

Don't just look at your data; put it to work. eesel AI plugs directly into Gorgias to automate frontline support. It can be up and running in minutes, not months, and you can test it on your past tickets to see the impact before making any commitment.

Start your free trial today.