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1. Two-pronged approach: Founded in 2016, SuitShop had no plans for retail stores, but when customers began showing up at their warehouse, hoping to get fitted for suits, the company recognized the opportunity. Today, there are eight retail locations nationwide with two more coming soon.
2. The AI advantage: While many companies are afraid to utilize AI agents, SuitShop has found tremendous value in the quick response that AI agents provide in steering customers to the right resources while allowing the brand to remain true to its day-one value of real, human, in-house connection and assistance where it counts.
3. Talking a good game: Phone is the channel SuitShop customers seem to prefer, reflecting both the personal nature of formal clothing and fit, as well as the importance of the events that formalwear is worn to. It also means SuitShop looks to hire people who show conversational initiative.
4. Streamline support: SuitShop’s CX team has come a long way in eight years, going from a single email account shared by four people to a central hub in Gorgias, which provides transparency and unified data access.
5. Empower the customer: Giving customers the tools to modify and change orders not only can reduce what agents are asked to do, it can increase customer satisfaction because they feel more in control of the process.
Before Katy Eriks became the director of customer experience at SuitShop, she was a customer of the brand herself. When she got married in 2016, she used the SuitShop to provide suiting for the groomsmen and her groom on the advice of her wedding planner. The experience was great, and a year later, Katy joined the company. As you read her story, you’ll see why SuitShop has been able to create and maintain a personalized customer experience throughout its explosive growth.
Katy Eriks is the Director of Customer Experience at SuitShop, a position she has held since 2021.
Founded in 2016 as a direct-to-consumer suit, tuxedo, and formalwear brand, SuitShop has since expanded to brick-and-mortar showrooms along with its ever-growing virtual presence, preparing customers for special occasions of all kinds, work, weddings, and beyond. Today, SuitShop has eight storefronts and counting with 30 retail employees in addition to its e-Commerce channels.
Katy worked in retail management for more than six years before coming to SuitShop, and she was looking forward to the challenge of transitioning to an e-Commerce business. “When I started, we really had no plans to ever open stores,” Katy says. “We thought we'd be online only forever.” SuitShop opened its first showroom in Chicago eight years ago, and today the brand eight retail locations with two more slated to open in early 2026. “It has been exciting being here from the beginning to now,” Katy says, “Being part of the transition from online to in-store and how to keep the CX team as one no matter where they're working.”
The company was first based in New York City and later moved its headquarters to Chicago. During the pandemic, the company stopped using a central office, and today, upper management works from home. “It kind of organically happened that way,” Katy says. “And we found that employees are super successful when they're working in their own space.” The customer-service team has four full-time remote employees who work alongside another 30 team members operating out of SuitShop’s retail locations.
SuitShop began as an e-Commerce brand, so it offers customers a variety of channels to connect with and contact the company virtually. The phone, however, is the most prominent, and a channel the CX team dedicates a lot of time to. Some of that has to do with the fact that personal fit is so important with a suit. The importance of the events that SuitShop is outfitting customers for, like weddings, proms and job interviews, also factors in. “Being able to call a company and have a human answer builds brand legitimacy,” Katy says. “So when a couple is scouring their options, it’s a great first step to just call and check it out.”
When Katy started in 2017, there was no phone number for customer service. Just four people who were working out of the same Gmail account. Today, SuitShop relies on Gorgias to integrate phone, SMS, email, chat, social and any other channel into a central hub that everyone works out of from the marketing team to CX. “Having that one central hub has made it really easy to grow as a company,” Katy says, “and also to hire new people and be able to train them in this one space.”
While many businesses are leery of leaning into AI, SuitShop uses AI agents as a first front of customer interactions. The biggest benefit: A virtually immediate response. “That's something I'm always striving for,” Katy says. “Better first response times, better resolution times. And you just can't possibly beat what the AI is doing.” The AI agent will try to answer the customer’s question, and if it can’t, passes it off to a human agent. “If anything, it's collected some additional information that maybe we need,” Katy says, “or it's directed them to our size guide or whatever it might be before they reach a human.” The fear is that using an AI agent will lessen customer satisfaction. However, what Katy has seen is that using AI agents winds up picking off the easy-to-answer questions and inquiries, freeing the human agents to spend more time with customers who need more assistance. “You're only making the experience better,” Katy says.
It isn’t just what you do for the customer that matters. Increasingly, it’s about how much you can allow the customer to do for themselves when it comes to modifying orders, changing delivery details or checking in on the progress. The more you can empower customers, the better says Katy. “You want to be there for your customers,” she says. “But as much as they can self-service and feel in control of their purchase, I think that makes them happy and want to come back.”
When you're hiring new team members, specifically for customer service and support, how do you ensure they align with your company's values and your goals? “Find someone who’s ambitious, someone who has goals beyond what may be an entry-level customer service position that they're interviewing for. Also, someone who’s outgoing because sometimes the hardest part of customer service is getting people to talk on the phone. Knowing that they can have that conversational attitude is really important. And then just being able to tell that the person is kind and caring. We really want our staff to want to go above and beyond for the customer and not just follow the rules and get through the day.”
What would you say is like the number one tool or thing or anything else in the world that you couldn't live without? “Slack.”
As a customer or a client, what would you say is your favorite communication channel for customer support is? “As a customer, chat.”
What was like the last book, podcast, something that you read or something that you found really interesting that you'd love to share with the world? “The CX Mixer podcast. I’ve been rewatching all of the episodes and there’s always something I take away from it.”
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