Applications of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in eCommerce is booming the industry by taking the customer experience and satisfaction to a new level.
Ecommerce has become the first choice for most of the consumers when it comes to shopping, and it is because of the many benefits that eCommerce provides to the buyers. The preference for online shopping has increased to the extent that eCommerce sales are estimated to hit $4.5 trillion in 2021. Since people are increasingly using online shopping, their expectations from the eCommerce industry have grown.
The increased buyer expectations have made it a necessity for retailers to incorporate the use of technologies, as it can provide immense value to the users. AI is one such technology that has the potential to bring a paradigm shift in the eCommerce industry. AI in eCommerce can help create a customer-centric search, retarget potential customers, and create a more efficient sales process. There are many other areas where the eCommerce industry can leverage the benefits of AI.
Use cases of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in eCommerce
Personalization is a vital factor in the eCommerce industry, and it can be achieved with the use of AI. Retailers can provide personalization to the buyers even without the use of AI, but up to a limited extent. For example, personalization was done based on the shopping history of the customer. With AI, the eCommerce industry can monitor the digital footprints of a person and provide a more personalized search. Following are a few ways AI is helping eCommerce businesses reach new heights:
Visual search
Despite entering appropriate keywords, customers might end up getting irrelevant results. It can be frustrating for the customers if they are not able to find what they want, and the retailer might lose a valuable customer. With the use of AI, eCommerce companies can help customers find the exact product they want. For example, customers can click a picture of the shirt they want to look for and upload them on the eCommerce website. The AI visual search can then find similar kinds of shirts from different vendors for the customers.
Sales forecasting and inventory management
The use of AI and big data can help predict sales within a time frame. AI can also predict the purchase of individual items according to the climate. With the availability of data on historical purchases, analyzing future sales can be done more accurately. The inventory management is an important area in the eCommerce industry. Retailers neither want to increase the inventory of unwanted items nor want to have a short supply of items that are in demand. With the use of AI, retailers can forecast the demand for a product and manage their inventory accordingly.
The merge of AI in the eCommerce industry will make online shopping more customized and exciting for the customers. Many eCommerce giants are implementing the use of AI in different aspects of their businesses. Incorporating AI in their eCommerce site would be the first goal of many retailers. But, before rushing into implementing AI for their company, retailers must look upon some factors. Factors like how their employees feel about AI and the problems they want to solve with AI are some of the things that should be considered before incorporating AI in their company.
