How PC BOX made Oct8ne
the core of its digital customer service

From physical stores to online channels: a necessary transformation

PCBox, part of the Ticnova Group — one of the largest IT and electronics retail groups in Spain with over 500 stores — had traditionally focused on in-store sales. Their proximity to customers helped them establish themselves as a sector leader long before the arrival of major digital players.

However, the pandemic changed everything.

“It was a turning point. Until then, the online channel wasn’t a real priority for the group,” acknowledges Arnau Navarra, eCommerce Manager at PCBox.
“From that moment on, it became clear that we needed to invest in digital, build a team, and allocate a budget.”

Despite a strong retail presence, the online channel represented just 10% of the consumer division’s revenue — a huge opportunity for growth. But to capitalize on it, they needed to replicate the personalized in-store experience in the digital world.

The solution: visual customer support with integrated AI

In search of an efficient, personalized, and scalable customer support solution, PCBox chose Oct8ne — a conversational platform specialized in visual assistance, offering live chat, chatbot, and integration with channels like WhatsApp Business API, Instagram, and Facebook Messenger — all with a strong focus on conversion.

“Oct8ne isn’t just a chat. It’s a conversational customer service platform designed to sell,” says Federico Evrard, Chief Commercial Officer at Oct8ne.
“We integrate the e-commerce catalog and social channels with a hybrid approach: AI assistants and human agents.”

Initially, PCBox used a classic decision-tree chatbot. But recently, they upgraded to a generative AI model, trained on their own data and customized to their specific needs.

“The difference is amazing,” says Arnau.
“I’ve tested several AI bots, and Oct8ne’s is light years ahead. It’s a great product — and a local one, which is worth highlighting.”

Implementation and training: the secret to success

The key to PCBox’s new virtual assistant — called PCBot — lies in how it was trained.

“Training is about feeding it the right and most complete information — from FAQ databases to product catalogs and order statuses. Everything is parameterized to ensure consistent responses,” explains Federico.

Arnau himself led the training process, manually reviewing conversations to improve prompts.

“Training the bot means reading chats, spotting errors, and fixing them. The more precise the question, the better the answer. Oct8ne’s AI is incredibly accurate with technical queries.”

Early on, they realized that the quality of answers also depended on external factors:

“We discovered that part of the issue was our own product search engine. If the search didn’t work well, neither could the bot. So we improved the search, which in turn boosted the chatbot’s quality,” Arnau says.

Results: efficient automation and outstanding satisfaction 

After just one month live, the results were clear:

• Over 94% of conversations received positive feedback from users.
  
• Only 3% of interactions had to be escalated to a human agent — proving high autonomous resolution.
  
• The cost of the AI system is around €60 per month, negligible compared to the value generated.
  

“If the answer is good, people don’t care if it’s a bot or a person. And Oct8ne delivers high-quality, real-time responses,” Arnau explains.
“Many users don’t even realize they’re talking to a bot — they say ‘thank you’ and ‘have a nice day’ when signing off.”

“Those satisfaction rates are better than what we’ve historically seen with human agents,” adds Federico.
“Hitting 94% with AI is remarkable.”

AI with a sales mindset

PCBox doesn’t just want their AI to answer questions — they want it to sell.

“We want to turn the chatbot into another salesperson, just like the ones in our stores,” says Arnau.
“Our goal is to reach a 50% conversion rate on pre-sales chats, which is what we achieve in-store.”

While conversion tracking is still being implemented via Google Analytics, expectations are high:

“If we hit 14-15%, that already exceeds the industry average. But if we approach 50%, that would be a milestone.”

Looking ahead: social media: WhatsApp, and PC configuration

With the bot firmly established on the website, the next step is multichannel expansion. PCBox plans to integrate Oct8ne’s conversational AI into WhatsApp, Facebook, and Instagram to deliver a seamless omnichannel experience.

They’re also working to turn the bot into a custom PC configurator:

“We want the AI not only to check compatibility but to help users build their own PC, recommend components, and suggest add-ons. We want it to sell for you,” says Arnau.

AI empowering humans

Oct8ne recently launched Copilot, an AI tool that supports human agents by providing technical information and response suggestions in real time.

“A challenge in retail is that not every agent knows every product,” explains Federico.
“Copilot ensures that every team member can provide expert-level support.”

Technology at the service of experience

The PCBox case shows how a traditional company can successfully reinvent itself without losing its core values. With Oct8ne, they’ve scaled customer service, increased satisfaction, and positioned their eCommerce for personalized, proactive sales.

“Our support team hasn’t been reduced. On the contrary, they can now focus on what really matters: solving complex issues. AI handles the rest,” Arnau concludes.

Companies of all sizes trust Oct8ne to increase their sales: