Envirofone bets on conversational AI to transform phone trade-ins

Envirofone has launched an AI chatbot that can complete smartphone trade-ins through natural language.

Users describe their device in plain English, ask questions about value, receive an instant price and create a confirmed order without leaving the chat, positioning conversation as the primary interface rather than a support feature.

“The main driver was customer experience,” said Envirofone chief technical officer Sam Hargreaves. “Trade-ins are messy by nature: condition is subjective, people have questions, and most don’t think in terms of dropdowns and checkboxes. Traditional flows force customers to adapt to the website, which creates friction and drop-off.

“We wanted to flip that around and let the website adapt to the customer instead. Operational efficiency is a benefit, but the real goal was removing friction from valuation and helping people reach a decision with confidence.” 

Early indicators suggest stronger engagement from customers who begin their journey in the chatbot, with users more likely to complete a trade-in and spend longer in the valuation process rather than abandoning it. The company also reports fewer follow-up emails seeking clarification after orders are placed.

“Most ‘AI’ in this space is essentially a support layer. This is different because the chatbot is the journey,” Hargreaves said. “It’s directly connected to live pricing and trade-in systems and can create a completed order inside the conversation itself. There’s no hand-off — it’s an alternative interface to the website.”

Envirofone said its valuation logic has not changed despite the conversational format.

“The chatbot interprets what the user is saying and maps that back to the same structured pricing rules we already use. If something is ambiguous or would materially affect the price, it asks follow-up questions to clarify,” Hargreaves said.

“We’re not letting the AI ‘guess’ prices, so accuracy and consistency are maintained. More users are choosing to complete the entire trade-in through the chatbot, many never touch the old journey at all. They start and finish in conversation.”

The technology was developed in-house as the company looks to retain control of the platform while conversational commerce gains momentum.