Key Points:
- Artificial intelligence can help businesses in a number of distinct ways, such as eCommerce email automation
- Chatbots are among the oldest eCommerce automation tools around and are designed to mimic written or spoken speech
- Virtual Personal Assistants (VPAs) are a form of technology designed to help with customer assistance
Artificial intelligence (AI) isn’t just science fiction anymore!
In fact, AI in eCommerce has greatly transformed how online shoppers buy from and interact with merchants. From marketing to fulfillment and everything else in between, AI has had a huge impact on the eCommerce industry overall. For online merchants, in particular, artificial intelligence can offer a great way to help your eCommerce store!
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How Can Artificial Intelligence Help Businesses?
Artificial intelligence can help businesses in a number of distinct ways. Just a few of these include:
- eCommerce email automation that can be used to personalize communications with customers and easily send out email blasts to thousands on your mailing list
- eCommerce marketing automation that allows online merchants to efficiently retarget potential customers, something very important as approximately 33 percent of marketing leads aren’t properly followed up by sales teams
- Chatbots and Virtual Personal Assistants can help customers for a fraction of the cost that human customer assistance representatives can
- Personalization technology can offer customers a more personalized and customized shopping experience, increasing the odds that they’ll turn into repeat shoppers
This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to how eCommerce AI can be used by online merchants to boost their businesses. Here’s a closer look at 10 ways AI can be used to help your online store!
Chatbots
Chatbots are among the oldest eCommerce automation tools around and are designed to mimic written or spoken speech. This way, the bots are able to effectively simulate conversations with real customers in online stores. Chatbots are also connected to customers 24/7 and can interact with them via voice, picture, or text.
Notably, AI chatbots for eCommerce have become increasingly sophisticated as of late, being able to conduct more human-like conversations and give more thoughtful informative answers.
Examples of chatbots include WeChat, Operator, Shopify Messenger, Roof Ai, and MedWhat.
Virtual Personal Assistants
Very similar to Chatbots, Virtual Personal Assistants (VPAs) are a form of technology designed to help with customer assistance. VPAs are generally more advanced and use Natural Language Processing (NLP) to interact with customers online to a greater degree and assist them with various tasks.
Examples of VPAs include Nina, Jibo, Viv, and others.
Smart Product Recommendations
AI makes it simple for eCommerce businesses to collect data about customers, especially when it comes to their search inquiries and purchase histories. This data is then used to recommend products to existing and potential customers the moment they enter a website, saving them time and hassle.
Some of the benefits of smart product recommendations include higher visitor retention rates, increased traffic, and improved sales.
Intelligent Search
Intelligent search, similar to smart product recommendations, is another type of AI in eCommerce that helps to tailor websites to specific users. With this technology, a site’s search engine brings up results that reflect what the customer searched for and similar products they may also need. Intelligent search means more personalized search results for customers, extended visitor retention, and intelligent customer profiling for use in upselling and marketing.
Automated Product Descriptions
AI has become increasingly skilled at writing - and eCommerce marketers have definitely taken notice! This technology automates the process of writing product descriptions for online stores. In addition to copying product information from manufacturers’ websites, the technology is also designed to scour the Internet looking for relevant and current details about products on your eCommerce site to generate compelling, unique product copy, often to the tune of thousands of descriptions per hour!
Benefits of automated product descriptions include the ability to generate huge amounts of product copy quickly and cost-efficiently, produce dynamic descriptions that target specific buyers, and even dynamically price products to maximize revenue and sales volume.
Predictive Sales
Predictive sales automation is another interesting form of AI in eCommerce that’s become increasingly common in recent years. This technology is designed to help eCommerce websites effectively capture the behavior of customers, particularly when it comes to product sales. With the result of this predictive analysis, business owners can properly organize and manage their warehouse inventory, making sure they’re fully stocked with products currently in high demand.
Personalization
This technology helps online store owners offer existing and potential customers a more personalized shopping experience. From welcome messages to product recommendations, personalization technology can be used to craft virtually every aspect of an eCommerce site to an individual user, increasing the chances that they’ll become repeat customers.
Some examples of personalization technology include Personali and Choice.ai
Autocomplete Search Plugins
Autocomplete search plugins are a common form of AI designed to make the process of finding products easier and faster. When a customer starts entering a search term, the application completes the search phrase for them. Potential advantages of autocomplete search plugins include the display of related products that the customer might need, increased session time on the site, and improved sales.
Companies that develop this tool include Loop54 and Nextopia.
Smart Advertising
This technology allows eCommerce store owners to advertise their products using precision ad targeting, making it easy to advertise with a limited marketing budget. Initially, such ads were only available on Google and Facebook, but there are currently many other platforms for smart advertising available, including Refule4, Sizmek, and AdGooRoo. The advantages of smart advertising include precision targeting of potential customers and less spending on advertising and marketing.
Voice Command APIs
Last but not least among the top AI eCommerce automation tools, Voice Command APIs make online searches for products and services easier.
With this application, site visitors are able to use voice commands to search for any product or service, spending a fraction of the time it would have taken to type in search terms. Voice Command APIs potentially mean quicker searches, repeat purchases, increased traffic, and improved sales for online stores.
Examples of Voice Command APIs include EasyAsk and Chloe AI, a Magento-based voice search application.
AI in eCommerce: Boost Your Online Store Today
AI in eCommerce has completely reshaped the industry in a short amount of time, and its use is only expected to grow in the years to come. eCommerce AI potentially means better customer relations, increased sales, and an overall improved shopping experience for your store’s visitors.
AI isn’t just confined to the realms of sci-fi movies anymore. Merchants looking for a competitive edge should definitely look into eCommerce AI to help their online stores shoot for the stars!
