Unless you’re completely out of track, you must be well aware of artificial intelligence (AI). But, the question is how to implement AI in eCommerce? In this article, you will get to know how retail businesses are using AI wisely in the world of online shopping.
AI is trying to embed itself into all aspects of our lives. From the number of self-checkout cash registers to advanced security check in the airport; artificial intelligence is present everywhere.
It’s widely anticipated that AI is set to go into turbo drive in the next couple of years with giants such as Google and Microsoft already investing heavily into new AI initiatives. Google’s recent £400m purchase of start-up Deep Mind, the artificial intelligence company that specialises in algorithms and machine learning for positive impact, is just one of many expected acquisitions as the potential of such technology becomes a reality.
Other business tycoons like Facebook, IBM and Yahoo have already focused on developing artificial intelligence as a new source of business.
If you search for AI online, you will stumble across hundreds of articles that predict a marketplace dominated by the use of artificial intelligence. In fact, a recent study by Business Insider suggests that as much as 85% of customer interactions will be managed without a human by as soon as 2020.
Many e-commerce businesses are already using forms of AI to better understand their customers, generate new leads and provide an enhanced customer experience.
These are the ways they make it all happen.
Create customer-centric search
Amir Konigsberg is the current CEO of Twiggle, a business that enables e-commerce search engines to think the way humans do. Watch any recent interviews with Amir and he will tell you that consumers often abandon e-commerce experiences because the product results displayed are often irrelevant. To tackle this problem, Twiggle utilises natural language processing to narrow, contextualise and ultimately improve search results for online shoppers.
Retarget potential customers
According to Conversica, at least 33% of marketing leads are not followed up by the sales team. This means that pre-qualified potential buyers interested in your product or service, fall through the inevitable cracks. Furthermore, many businesses are overloaded with unmanageable customer data that they do little or nothing with. This is an incredible goldmine of intelligence that could be used to enhance the sales cycle.
But how can AI be used to enhance a customer’s shopping experience? Well, some businesses are now using facial recognition to capture customer dwell times in the physical store.
This means that if a customer spends a notable amount of time next to a specific product e.g. an iPod, then this information will be stored for use upon their next visit. As AI develops, we anticipate special offers on customer’s computer screens based on their in-store dwell time.
