Artificial intelligence in eCommerce

How can artificial intelligence (AI) be used in e-commerce?

If you have an online shop, AI is something you hear very often. However, let’s go more into everything AI in E-commerce in order to really understand how it works. AI stands for artificial intelligence which sounds very smart so most people go along with it. Even more so, the success with AI is very much there. With the help of AI machine learning algorithms, L’occitane, a French skincare and beauty brand, was able to increase its conversion rate by 20% and its average revenue per user (ARPU) by 22%.  

So, What is AI in E-commerce?

AI predicts shopping patterns by analyzing users’ actions, looking at what they buy and when they buy it. In a physical store, there are shopping assistants that will be able to assist customers to make sure they will get the highest possible sales. Online, AI is basically that assistant, only smarter and more patient. Even better, it is always improving by collecting data, learning a company’s customers specifically and with details, and matching the right message to each individual customer in real-time. It scans through petabytes of data in order to make predictions about their actions; it is a machine that is able to mimic human intelligence. 



artificial intelligence

Benefits of implementing AI solutions in E-commerce

 

  1. AI is always awake: always able to help your customers. 
  2. AI will help multiple people at the same time.
  3. Allows you to focus more on other factors to grow your business. 
  4. Will customize marketing to each individual customer. 
  5. Intelligent product recommendations: see user’s preferences and build on that in regards to marketing. 
  6. Will know each users’ interests and needs.
  7. Takes all the responsibility of any repeating tasks, allowing companies to concentrate on the new/challenging tasks. 
  8. Helps target potential buyers: gathers information about customers about their background and their intent and can reuse this information for similar potential customers. 
  9. Al will help raise ARPU and decrease the chances of customers abandoning their carts: can tell you why customers abandon their carts, answers customers’ questions right away, fix their problems/find solutions. 

 

3 Types of AI used in E-commerce

  1. Customer-Centric Searches: ability to view their similar and complementary products and even find an item on a website through a visual 
  2. Identify Target Prospects: AI intelligence is able to allow businesses to get on top of their game by learning about their users in a fast and efficient manner. However, there is also AI technology that can see which websites have ads from a companies competitors and therefore give the company that is using AI an advantage. 
  3. Retargeting Potential Customers: With AI machine learning, it is able to store and keep data of customers’ dwell time. For example, if a customer lingers on a specific product but does not purchase it, the technology knows to retarget them on their next visit. 

AI Implementation in E-commerce

Virtual Assistants/Al Chatbots

 

Virtual Assistants also called Al assistants, and Al Chatbots understand natural voices and are able to help customers with their requests on online sites. They can perform many tasks such as scheduling appointments, finding a phone number, making phone calls, etc. These assistants need a lot of data, use machine learning, and speech recognition platforms. AI platforms must use professional algorithms to learn more and more and become better at users’ requests. 

AI and Inventory Control

With inventory control, AI can help improve the processes. First off, what are the problems in regards to inventory control? There is a lot of data that can get lost and disorganized. In addition, this is a lot of real-time collection of data and corresponding actions to different situations. It is also very costly to store all of this data. So, how does AI help with this? AI can take control of the operation and regulate the inventory and act on predictions. As well, it can analyze whether a product needs to be overstocked or understocked and for which regions this is suggested. As AI is able to analyze the behaviors of your customers, it can predict the stock needed. 

 

Improve your customer retention using E-commerce AI tools

 

Customer retention is basically keeping your customers over time. How can AI help with this?  Again, powered through machine learning, AI learns your customers; what they like, what they want, who they are. AI can personalize the experience for each user, who wouldn’t want to stay with an experience that seems like it was meant for you? In addition, AI can help deal with customer support as talked about earlier which always makes for happy customers. As the service is good and available at all times, customers really appreciate and enjoy their experience. 

Conversion

AI Pricing Optimization

Using machine learning algorithms, AI can continuously take in new information and know when there is a new trend or an increase in demand for something. Because of this, it can help determine which price is the best. In order to train AI, data needs to be given; for example sale history, product descriptions, past campaigns, and promotions, inventory data, where the company is based, etc. In addition, what are the goals? What are the limitations? With all this information and over time, the system will be able to find the best-case scenario for your company. 

How AI Deals with Fake Reviews

AI machine learning technology is able to see through fake reviews in bulk as it scans and detects writing styles that seem off. It is always improving as it scans more and more fake reviews. Humans are less capable to understand and code things like sarcasm and more professional pieces of fake news. 

Do you need a software developer to implement AI tools in your E-commerce?

Yes, a web developer can build AI onto your website and program it to continue to learn every day from experience. There is also the option to use an AI chatbox tool; add this tool to your platform and personalize the bot yourself. To make things the easiest, many applications on Shopify can be purchased and can do all the work for you with your own personalizations. An example of this type of app is Dialogue which uses AI machine learning to make any website truly personalized for every customer.

Get more information about AI tools for eCommerce stores at https://businessolution.org/ecommerce-ai-tools/  

AI use cases in eCommerce

nununu

When implementing AI personalization content, nununu was able to achieve a 28% uplift in ARPU, 29.5% conversion rate uplift, and a 52% increase in session time. They used AI in order to personalize the nununu website to each and every user and market to them specifically. 

North Face:

Uses an AI solution in order to help customers find which jacket is for them. Helps them understand their customers and be much more personalized. 

North Face uses AI

Amazon: 

Uses AI to learn their users’ frequently bought patterns and market them in the future with these patterns. For example, when searching for “baby carrots” on Amazon, options to purchase hummus will come up as customers usually purchase hummus with baby carrots. Customers will want to purchase the hummus also after seeing it. 

Amazon uses AI

History of AI use in E-commerce

How has AI Influenced eCommerce? 

 

Al has had a big impact on e-commerce as it allows online merchants to give their customers what they want with accuracy and in the best way possible. By using an Al-based application, online merchants can also reduce their costs when it comes to the management of their online store as e-commerce AI tools do a lot of the work. This is very convenient for those who don’t have the tools, knowledge, or time to work with making sure their customers have the best-personalized experience on their site. 

 

Past

In 1950, a young British man named Alan Turing suggested that machines can be able to solve problems and make decisions just like humans can. John Mcarthy, a professor in computer science at Standford, coined the term “artificial intelligence” in 1955. At that time, however, computers didn’t have the knowledge that they have today to be able to remember and process information; they were also much more expensive. 

 

However, by 1957, Al began to become a bigger success as computers continued to improve in their technology. There were a few programs that began to develop, and because of their success, the government started funding AI research. Al research continued to have ups and downs because of funding and lack of tools. However, by the 1900s, Al was functioning without the help of funding and public hype as it was much more developed by this time. 

Alan Turing

John Mccarthy

Present

 

Nowadays, artificial intelligence is everywhere with the help of the much-advanced computers that are able to surpass the needed tools to support AI solutions for e-commerce. 

 

 

What’s Next For AI And E-commerce? 

 

AI is going to continue to be a major part of E-commerce. It really ensures that customers are having the best experience possible. Why?: 

  • Improved customer service by literally providing it 24/7.
  • Smarter searches. 
  • Very personalized with product recommendations for each individual. 
  • Better inventory management. 
  • Understand customers much better.

What can Dialogue's AI solution do for your E-commerce business?

Dialogue uses the best AI machine learning technology to provide you with: 

Zero maintenance automated platform

Messaging engine that automatically generates sales-driven messages personalized to each user and in real-time that are the most relevant to them. 

You can focus your time on more important issues, Dialogue has you covered. 

Based on Machine learning personalization: 

Using machine learning and natural language processing, Dialogue takes users’ existing data and is able to predict users’ intent with amazing results. 

Uses psychology and technology: 

In order to find hidden patterns in users and predict what they will be interested in at that exact moment! 

Results-oriented 

promotes whatever campaigns work the best and generate new ones based on user data. 

Like an in-store experience

Dialogue creates banners, messages, cross-sell, upsell, and even storytelling for products in order to take the place of in-store staff and make each user have an easy and personalized experience. 

 

 

Overall, AI is the future of e-commerce. We hope that you enjoyed really getting to know all about AI and what it can do for your business! Subscribe to Dialogue for more relevant content. 

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