Thornby & Finch's customers didn't email or call — they messaged the brand's WhatsApp Business number, the same way they'd message a friend. "Where's my order," "does this come in a bigger size," "is this back in stock" — a mix of support questions and pre-purchase sales questions, all landing in the same shared inbox.
During business hours, a small team answered manually. Outside those hours — evenings, weekends, and almost everything from customers in other time zones — messages just queued up. Support questions sat unanswered for hours. Sales questions were worse: a shopper asking "will this fit a king bed" at 9pm got an answer the next morning, by which point many had already bought from someone else or lost interest entirely.