Can AskIt take orders?

The pages we checked describe answers from your catalog, prices and branch stock, and shelf directions, but not ordering or checkout. Hephon Commerce builds the basket and a checkout the shopper confirms.

Which handles Gulf Arabic and Arabizi?

AskIt lists English and Arabic and says it makes no dialect benchmark claim. Hephon Commerce understands Saudi and Gulf Arabic, Lebanese Arabic and Arabizi, and answers in the script it was asked in.

Do both use branch stock?

Yes. AskIt answers from branch stock and warns that connected data can go stale. Hephon Commerce uses each branch's own prices and stock and offers only what the shopper's branch can deliver.

Can I try Hephon Commerce without leaving AskIt?

Yes. Use AskIt for shelf directions in your stores and Hephon Commerce for ordering in your app and on WhatsApp: they answer different questions. You can also talk to our demo store, Hephon Market, at commerce.hephon.ai/c/demo before booking a demo.

Hephon Commerce vs AskIt: Grocery AI Comparison (2026)

In short

Choose AskIt if you want a website and in-store agent that answers from your catalog in AED or SAR, gives shelf directions and appears inside ChatGPT. Choose Hephon Commerce if shoppers should build a grocery basket and confirm an order in Gulf Arabic or Arabizi, in your app, on WhatsApp or by phone. AskIt is careful about what it does not claim, and so should any vendor you pick.

Updated 5 November 2026

Who should choose which

Choose AskIt if

Shoppers in your stores need to find the shelf.
You want an agent on your website without an integration project.
A ChatGPT app is part of your plan.

Choose Hephon Commerce if

The goal is orders, not only answers.
Saudi and Gulf Arabic and Arabizi must work in chat and on calls.
You want recipes, budgets and halal rules handled.

Feature by feature

Every row comes from AskIt's own pages, checked on the date above. "Not stated publicly" means we could not find it, not that it is missing.

Hephon Commerce and AskIt, compared on 15 points. Numbers in the last column refer to the sources below.
	Hephon Commerce	AskIt	Sources
Channels	Inside the retailer's iOS, Android and web apps (SDK, also React Native and Flutter) and website, its WhatsApp Business number, phone calls, and a hosted chat page.	Website widget, WhatsApp, voice calls, QR codes in store and a ChatGPT app.	[1] [2]
Languages	Arabic, English and French, and mixes of them, answered in the language and script of the question. By voice, more than 30 languages.	English and Arabic.	[3] [4]
Arabic dialects	Saudi and Gulf Arabic as people write and speak them, and Lebanese Arabic. Replies follow a phrasebook of approved phrases per dialect.	Not stated publicly. AskIt says it makes no dialect benchmark claim.	[5] [4]
Arabizi (Arabic in Latin letters)	Yes, for example "7aleeb" for milk, answered in the same script.	Not stated publicly.	[3] [4]
Voice and phone ordering	Phone and WhatsApp calls: it builds the basket during the call, reads it back, and keypad 1 confirms. Replies in under a second; a caller can be handed to a person.	Voice calls are a listed channel. Phone ordering is not stated publicly.	[6] [2]
WhatsApp ordering and checkout	On the retailer's own number: product cards, basket, and a checkout the shopper confirms with a tap. Voice notes and calls too.	Not stated publicly. WhatsApp is a listed channel.	[7] [2]
Catalog search, branch prices and stock	Keyword and meaning search over the live catalog, each result checked against the shopper's message before it is shown. Each branch's own prices and stock.	Answers only from the business's catalog, prices (AED, SAR) and branch stock; learns the store's website search for live prices. Says connected data can go stale.	[8] [2]
Recipes to basket	Yes. "Kabsa for 10" becomes ingredient amounts, the cheapest pack that covers each line and how many, and "add all".	Not stated publicly.	[9] [4]
Checkout and shopper confirmation	Nothing is ordered without the shopper's explicit confirmation: a tap, a signed checkout page, or keypad 1 after the read-back. Orders go to the retailer's platform or team.	Not stated publicly.	[8] [4]
Halal and content rules	Alcohol, pork and tobacco can be hidden by the server before the assistant sees the catalog; products not yet checked stay hidden. On WhatsApp, alcohol and tobacco are always excluded.	Not stated publicly. It says it never invents prices or discounts.	[10] [2]
Handover to people	One live inbox for chats, voice notes and calls with transcripts; a person can take over any chat. Handover to your help desk by integration.	Not stated publicly.	[8] [2]
Integrations	Salla, Zid, Shopify, WooCommerce, product feeds, a REST API with signed webhooks, and custom connectors.	Shopify connects directly; other integrations are reviewed per business; developer API and ChatGPT app.	[11] [2]
Pricing	A proposal per retailer, based on stores and channels. No public price; access by invitation.	Not stated publicly.	[12] [2]
Hosting, data and certifications	Servers in the European Union today. No conversation is used to train an AI model. No ISO or SOC certification.	Conversations and records stored in AskIt Cloud. It claims no compliance certification.	[10] [4]
Primary market	Saudi Arabia and the UAE first, and Lebanon.	Retail in the UAE (Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah) and Saudi Arabia (Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam).	[13] [2]

Sources

Where AskIt is stronger

Shelf directions in store, from verified location records, with QR codes in the aisle.
A ChatGPT app channel.
Learns your website's own search to see live prices without a custom integration.
Plain public statements of what it does not claim: no dialect benchmark, no guaranteed uplift, no compliance certification.

Where Hephon Commerce is stronger

Basket and checkout in the chat and on calls, confirmed by the shopper.
Saudi and Gulf Arabic, Lebanese Arabic and Arabizi, with an editable phrasebook.
Recipes to basket with pack sizes.
Content rules enforced by the server.
A live inbox where your team can take over any chat.

Hephon Commerce also has limits: access is by invitation, through a demo, and there is no public price, since each retailer gets a proposal based on its stores and channels.

Try it without switching

Use AskIt for shelf directions in your stores and Hephon Commerce for ordering in your app and on WhatsApp: they answer different questions.

Before any call, you can talk to our demo store, Hephon Market: about 15,000 products from a real quick-commerce catalog, priced in US dollars, that understands Gulf Arabic, Arabizi and English. Run the five tests from our buyer's guide on it, then run the same tests on AskIt.

Hephon Commerce or AskIt?

See it on your own catalog.

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Hephon Commerce vs AskIt