8 Innovative Ways to Amalgamate Artificial Intelligence (AI) with E-commerce!

Artificial intelligence (AI), as well as the E-commerce industry, has been booming over the past few years. The combination of these two, that is, using AI in the e-commerce industry, makes a powerful impact on the overall online shopping experience. AI is all set to go for a turbo drive in the coming years as big names, such as Google and Microsoft, are heavily investing in the same.

85% of customer interaction will be handled without any human resources by 2020, according to a current study by Business Insider.

As we see AI almost everywhere today, many e-commerce businesses have already embedded AI in processes like eCommerce product data entry, enhancing customer experience and customer engagement. Let us discuss why they are doing the same.

Why Embrace Artificial Intelligence in the E-Commerce Industry

1. Customer-centric search experience

It is observed that customers usually abandon e-commerce platforms because the product search results presented are often irrelevant. With the help of AI, this problem is tackled as e-commerce search engines these days use natural language processing to contextualize, narrow, and, in turn, improve the search results for online shopping.

Advanced image recognition features in the e-commerce platforms are also empowering businesses to provide a customer-centric experience. The visual capabilities of AI software have increased manifolds, and hence, they help customers find relevant products by providing smart suggestions and tags based on size, fabric, brand, etc.

2. Predicting sales and services

Advanced technologies like TV adverts and social media have profoundly impacted sales techniques in today’s modern age. This change makes sure that customers are no longer offered products and services that are irrelevant. For example, a large e-commerce retail company, The North Face, uses IBM’s AI solution called Watson and helps customers buy their perfect jackets.

It prompts the customer for information like ‘where they would be using the jacket’ and combines this information with its own research, such as weather conditions in that area, etc. Hence, it is evident that once the collection and interpretation of information are automated, AI helps in sales prediction.

3. Enhanced customer service

E-commerce has benefited a great deal from the use of AI in providing world-class customer service. With the implementation of chatbots, e-commerce platforms have inculcated a personalized experience for customers. A chatbot is a computer program that indulges in a conversation with customers over the Internet.

It results in saving a lot of money and speeding up the time of response, freeing human resources from many challenging routine tasks and providing solutions to repetitive questions. This personalized touch in any online shopping platform eventually results in increased sales and impeccable customer service.

4. Acquiring potential customers

Today, the face of sales has changed, thanks to AI, with e-commerce industries responding directly to customers. Businesses can almost read the minds of their customers with developed AI technologies. Potential customers can now be acquired depending upon their dwell time in the store.

For example, if a customer spends noticeable time next to any specific product in the store, say an iPhone, facial recognition AI software can make use of this data and prompt the customer with any offers on the iPhone upon their next visit to the store or send them offers regarding the same on their mobile phones or email addresses.

5. Empowering human resources

As chatbots are enhancing the customer experience over online e-commerce platforms, AI has implemented something similar to empower human resources in physical stores. Today, automated robots are used in stores to carry out various tasks and free up resources for other core activities.

For example, Lowe, a home improvement store, introduced LoweBot, an autonomous robot assistant that greets customers, guides them through the store, and helps them with relevant product information. This saves both money and human resources linked with the store.

6. Intelligent agents

Following the vast development of artificial intelligence, new agent negotiation systems have gained popularity throughout the e-commerce industry. The primary functions performed by this automated agent are making transactions easier, matching buyers with sellers, and providing institutional infrastructure.

These automated agents have their own language, not only reacting to their specific environment but also setting their targets accordingly. For the e-commerce industry, it is AI at its utmost brilliance!

7. Bridging the gap between personalization and privacy

Whenever we talk about personalization in technology, there is often a trade-off concerning user privacy. Brands are actively trying to achieve transparency, honesty, and security at the highest levels of their business. However, they cannot compromise personalization for this, given its critical role in e-commerce. AI comes into play to bridge this gap.

Users become a little more comfortable in sharing their details when they know they are making something valuable out of it. For example, if you give your account access to Google Now, it will sync your emails, calendar, and search habits and provide you with a customized user experience. Users are happy to share their details for such an experience. AI, hence, is bridging the gap between personalization and privacy.

8. Tackling fake reviews

Customer reviews have become a milestone for trust in the online shopping world. Where the users cannot see what the products are like before they buy an item, customer reviews and ratings play a preeminent role. Some e-commerce platforms are investing in AI to fight against fake reviews and ratings by putting more focus on verified and helpful reviews.

Amazon uses AI to fight against fake reviews and any inflation in its star ratings. Their in-house AI machine learning system makes sure that verified customer purchase reviews are enhanced. Their business continuously reviews multiple characteristics like ratings to detect fake reviews.

Conclusion

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