The role of artificial intelligence in ecommerce

How AI is used in ecommerce today

E-commerce has become an indispensable part of our lives. In 2023, an estimated 2.64 billion consumers will have completed at least one purchase online.

Just like you’ve probably purchased something on mobile, you’ve also likely interacted with AI in ecommerce. Whether through a customer support AI chatbot or an ad catered to you based on your purchase history, AI is increasingly integrating into the ecommerce industry more and more to improve sales and engage customers. The global AI market value will reach $2 trillion by 2030!

Here are some examples of how AI is utilized in today's ecommerce experience.

1. Personalize the customer shopping experience

Personalization builds customer connections. Ecommerce AI chatbots analyze customer conversations, behaviors, and patterns to help solve problems, suggest products, and almost everything else.

2. Optimize operations

AI has a lot of uses. Some creative ones push boundaries and create sentences – even creative assets.

Then there are the operational uses that can cut your costs and time to market and optimize your ecommerce business metrics.

Take inventory management: With AI inventory optimization, you'll only stock up on the necessary inventory. AI can analyze historical purchase data and allow you to select the in-demand and profitable goods you need.

More ecommerce metrics and KPIs here: 21 key ecommerce metrics.

AI tools can analyze data, track your balances, and predict future demand.

3. Improve customer support

By using Natural Language Processors (NLP) and machine learning, custom AI chatbots can understand the context of a customer problem in a sentence and can carry on an entire conversation.

The use of customer service chatbots in customer communication has risen steeply in recent years. Customer support chatbots allow for 24/7 customer service, leaving no wait time, which increases customer satisfaction and reduces your support team’s workload.

4. Optimize ad creative

One creative use of AI has to do with video marketing. When developing a product or brand video for a company, tools like Wistia can help video creators understand which visuals will likely lead to a sale.

Wistia is only one example of an application helping with creatives. There are a lot of animated video makers, 3D video creators, and intro makers that can help you to have captivating and memorable videos.

How AI will improve ecommerce in the future

The potential of AI, combined with advancements in technology and data analysis, will usher in a new era of possibilities for ecommerce.

The idea of AI being revolutionary to ecommerce mirrors what the internet did to commerce. If you think about the differences between then and now, it can be both inspiring and inspire a headache.

Ecommerce sellers are entrepreneurs, ready to pivot to changes in customer preferences and excited to utilize the tools at their disposal. From hyper-personalization to virtual shopping assistants, the potential for tools AI offers are boundless. By embracing these advancements responsibly, ecommerce professionals can create a more intuitive, efficient, and customer-centric online shopping ecosystem.

Here’s where we think AI in ecommerce is headed…

Hyper-personalization beyond imagination

Algorithms will evolve to a point where they can understand preferences with remarkable precision, taking real-time context into account. With Apple Vision Pro, it’s also not hard to imagine ad experiences or product recommendations based on facial expressions. 

With AI for customer experience, it's now possible to create a fully curated, personalized ecommerce experience that perfectly aligns with the user’s preferences and tastes. The idea isn’t that ads are omnipresent and interfering with a user’s experience but that you are fostering a genuine connection by offering the right ad at the right time.

AI anticipating shipping and logistics

AI’s predictive capabilities will transform the shipping and logistics landscape. Delivery processes will become anticipatory, with systems that can accurately forecast customer demands and preemptively position products in warehouses closer to buyers.

You can expect a reduced shipping time, with optimized delivery routes that can reduce carbon footprint.

AI virtual shopping assistants

Customer service is already undergoing a massive transformation in light of AI. However, custom AI chatbots have many more uses than popping up when something goes wrong. To learn about these use cases, you can read our introductory blog on what is an AI chatbot?

Ecommerce AI chatbots can offer personalized shopping guidance, hold contextually relevant conversations, and simulate in-store experiences through augmented reality.

More focus on ethical AI and data privacy

Striking the right balance between personalization and customer data privacy will become crucial to customer trust. E-commerce platforms and advertisers must adopt transparent data practices, adhere to regulations, and give customers the autonomy to control their data.