AI is no more an unknown term to us. Regardless of any industry, the term ‘Artificial Intelligence’ (AI) is creating quite a lot of buzz in the market. However, in this blog, I’m going to talk about the evolution of AI specifically in the eCommerce industry. 

So, What AI Evolution in the eCommerce Industry Is Going To Be Covered Here? 

1. An insight into the AI market in the eCommerce industry
2. A short backstory – how it all started?
3. How is AI transforming the eCommerce industry?
4. What is the future of AI in the eCommerce sector?

Let’s start!

1. Look Before You Leap – A Detailed Insight to AI market in eCommerce 

Let’s start the segment with an important stat. 

As you can see, by 2025, AI revenue is expected to reach almost $36.8 billion in the global market. 

• As per the survey report by PwC, the power of AI is almost limitless. And by 2030, this futuristic technology can contribute up to over $15.7 trillion to the global economy. 
• IBM has recently released a study report. And it says, in the next 3 years, the consumer product and retail industry will witness a 40% to 80% increase in the AI-enabled smart automation adoption. 
• Business Insider has made another prediction. According to it, by 2020, 85% of the customer interactions will be done without a human. 

So, investing in AI is undoubtedly a profitable idea now. 

Also, integrating AI in eCommerce businesses ensures 24/7 availability of services to its customers. Thus, businesses can keep their customers engaged even outside the usual business hours. Without a doubt, it helps in generating more leads. Also, it results in increased revenue growth. 

2. How It All Started – A Short Back Story

Initially, online businesses were paying the utmost importance in delivering top-notch user experience only. Trawling through pages after pages to find the right product is not at all feasible for the customers. The big players in this industry understood that. And accordingly, they put all their effort to come up with the easiest and slickest online store design. 

Thus, the trend of a keyword-friendly search bar came into the picture. It helped the users to easily find relevant products based on the search queries. It was another revolutionary change in eCommerce websites and stores. 

Definitely, UI/UX is still one of the most crucial success-determining factors for eCommerce businesses. However, time flies. And with that, the market demands change as well. Soon, the businesses understood that they need something more. 

• Tracking customer behavior in an online store
• Identifying the shopping pattern and accordingly, recommending other products to customers
• Providing customers with more personalized shopping experience, etc.

With the introduction of AI in the market, achieving all these goals have become more convenient. No wonder why AI has become a big hit in the eCommerce industry these days. 

Today, already a handful of online businesses are leveraging the power of this advanced technology. And many others are already working on adopting it with its full potential.

3. How is AI Transforming the eCommerce Businesses? 

So far, you’ve seen how it all started with AI in eCommerce. Also, you have got to know how it is expected to grow beyond your expectations in the coming years. But how? 

Here it is!

A. Voice Assistants 

AI has blessed industry-specific businesses with voice assistants. 

Before we buy any product online, we compare similar product features and prices, right? But typing in Google and searching for it is too old-fashioned now. 

We are living in the era of Google Assistant, Siri, and Alexa. Be it any product or service – whatever you are looking for, is just one command away today. Yes, AI-enabled voice assistants have made it possible. Now, don’t you think implementing such voice assistants in your online store would be great?

It would not only help you to deliver a stellar shopping experience to your customers. But it will help you to stay ahead of your competitors as well in today’s vying business market. 

Here is a glimpse into a few stats on voice assistants.

• As per the report by Quoracreative stats, by 2020, 50% of all internet-based searches will be done using voice assistants. 
• To buy a product or service via voice commerce, almost 62% of users use voice assistants.
• In the U.S., 30% of internet users use AI-enabled voice assistants to purchase a product or to find information on a product. 

So, this is the time you too should go for implementing voice assistants in your eCommerce store. 

B. Chatbots 

In today’s busy lifestyle, no one likes to wait forever! Suppose a visitor has some queries in mind before making a product purchase. Now, your eCommerce site visitors would expect lightning-fast responses. 

This is quite impossible to handle by a human. Unless you get such dedicated employees who will be always there to respond to the queries without even taking a break. Now, what if a query comes at an unusual business hour. Or, what if thousands of queries come at the same time! Sounds complicated, right? This is where you need chatbots. 

Chatbots can handle multiple queries at the same time. More interestingly, such automated programs can simulate ‘humanly’ conversations. These chatbots can be the perfect shopping assistants. 

Thinking from a retailer’s perspective, integrating it is a great idea. It not only reduces effort but cost as well. At the same time, it enhances the customer experience. This is why most online businesses are reaching companies that work with AI and bring revolution in eCommerce web development. 

Do you know some globally popular websites are already enjoying the benefits of implementing AI chatbots? Well, big names like Amazon, eBay, Starbucks, etc. are included in this list. 

C. Personalized Recommendations 

The product recommendation is the reflection of visitors’ activities on an eCommerce website. Also, it is done based on the previous purchases a visitor has done. But the question is how?

Well, AI helps to track what a visitor is looking for or what purchase is being done. Based on the visitor’s preferences, it shows smart product suggestions. 

Suppose that you are buying a mobile phone from an eCommerce site. Now, using the AI-powered recommendations, the site will show you suitable phone covers. 

Let’s consider another example. Suppose you are buying jeans. The smart AI recommendations can show you tops, or bags, or shoes that go well with the jeans. Maybe initially you were buying only jeans. But now, you end up buying the complete look or maybe one or two things from the suggestion list. Thus, personalized recommendations help eCommerce businesses to drive more sales. 

D. Automated Product Description and Product Tagging

The right product description is crucial for online stores. We can’t touch or feel the products physically while making online purchases. So, we go through the product images and descriptions in detail. And then we decide whether to buy it or not. 

Now, manually writing the descriptions for thousands of products is not at all a feasible idea. But with AI, it becomes a cakewalk. 

Copying the right product description from the manufacturer’s website is fine. But AI does more than that. By scouring the Internet, AI finds the most relevant product information. And then combining all these, it prepares the perfect product description that your shoppers look for. 

Here is a list of some of the benefits of automated product descriptions.

• The descriptions include the most demanding details
• Generates plenty of product descriptions within a short time
• Shows dynamic pricing. It helps in maximizing the sales and results in higher revenue growth
• Analyzes the effectiveness of the product description. Also, AI can change it as per the requirements

How easily consumers can find your products on the internet while searching for a specific query is also crucial for driving your eCommerce business. So, your product discoverability should be top-notch. And AI-enabled catalog management tools can help you in achieving so.

With such AI-enabled tools, businesses now can easily come up with well-defined, accurate, and consistent product tags. This ensures your product catalog is of sheer quality. Also, it enhances the product findability on the internet.

E. Warehouse Automation 

Now, AI is transforming warehouse management as well. AI-enabled robots do not need lunch breaks or smoking breaks! They can work 24/7 without taking breaks. 

Well, it is not like they do not talk. Yes, they do. But they communicate with the AI-enabled software that manages the warehouse. Whenever a purchase is made, their work starts. AI-powered robots can take the ordered products out of the stock, pack it, and make the order ready to be shipped.

You might think that I’m talking about something from a science fiction movie. But I’m not. These are now possible by leveraging the power of artificial intelligence. It is true that we can’t see it in small medium-sized businesses yet. But it is possible. And maybe in the near future, it will become common. 

Being an eCommerce retailer, what can you enjoy from it?

• Lower labor cost
• Improved accuracy
• Fast work
• Diminished loss from damaged goods, etc.

F. Intelligent Email Marketing 

If you are thinking that email marketing is dead, you are wrong! 

It is true that nowadays, we hardly open an email if it is from an eCommerce site. But it does not mean we are not interested to receive an email about the products. We simply don’t like receiving an email about a product which we are not at all interested in. 

So, you need to transform your email marketing strategy. And AI can help you with that. How?

• Emails can be automatically sent at the right time when recipients may actually read it
• Rather than sounding automated, it ensures a more ‘human touch’
• Based on the customer feedback, making real-time changes in the strategy
• Based on the responses, smart and intelligent customer analysis 
• Sending emails only concerning a customer’s real interests, etc.

Using AI in your eCommerce business, you can know your customers better. And it helps you in chalking out better plans for email campaigning. 

Apart from the things I’ve mentioned above, here is a list of other perks of leveraging the power of AI in eCommerce.

• Intelligent searches
• Retargeting your potential customers
• Filtering out all the fake reviews
• Sales forecasting
• Visual search
• Intelligent data management
• Enhanced cybersecurity

4. What is the Future of AI in the eCommerce Sector? 

AI in eCommerce is not a very new thing. From the last couple of years, we’ve seen eCommerce businesses taking interest in it. But, many online stores are still unaware of the benefits they can avail of it.

 So, in the coming years, it is expected that more and more businesses will embrace this futuristic technology. 

Also, I’ve mentioned automated warehouse management in the above section. This is still not that popular the way it should be. We can expect it to become a mainstream trend in the coming years. 

When artificial intelligence meets IoT – it can become a deadly combo! Today, eCommerce sites are rapidly moving towards big data. So, who knows, maybe soon your smart devices would assist the online stores to understand what you might buy from them! 

AI is powerful beyond your imagination. And it comes with huge possibilities and opportunities. We all look forward to what it brings in the coming years. 

Wrapping Up

AI in eCommerce has set a new standard in this industry. Delivering an amazing shopping experience is the main objective of any eCommerce business. And AI has taken it to a whole new level. 

A quick and more personalized customer service, retaining customers, devising effective marketing strategy – AI single-handedly looks after everything. 

So, if you haven’t integrated AI into your eCommerce store yet, do not waste any more time. Get in touch with a company that is an expert in designing a brilliant online store for you.