How AI is Shaping the Future of Live Shopping & E-Commerce

AI or artificial intelligence isn’t just a plot device in sci-fi movies. It’s already here, and it’s affecting the worldwide economy in areas from manufacturing to advertising to human resources and more. In fact, odds are you’ve already worked for a company that uses AI and/or machine learning tools to some extent!

But AI will also have wide-reaching consequences for the economy be on the workplace. In fact, AI is sure to shape the future of live shopping and e-commerce marketplaces for years to come. Don’t believe us? Let’s take a look at six major ways AI will change e-commerce and live shopping in the near future.

Visual Searching

For starters, AI technology developments will allow the further development of visual search capabilities and programs. In short, visual search capabilities help customers or visitors find exactly what they’re looking for on a webpage instantaneously.

We’ve already seen this in action with major e-commerce platforms in addition to social media platforms like Instagram and Snapchat. This will be doubly important for major brands that want to thrive in the modern market, given the average decreasing attention spans of modern consumers.

Visual search capabilities and technology will be even more important for mobile shopping, as smaller screen sizes prevent users from taking advantage of more specific text-based searching tools.

Personalized Recommendations

Of course, most people already know about the breadth of data captured thanks to AI technology and machine learning programs. All that data can be used for marketing, but it can also be used to funnel personalized product and service recommendations to website visitors.

Imagine a circumstance where a visitor shows up on your small e-commerce business website and, based on their searches and other Internet activities, receives recommended products to help them get to check out as quickly as possible. That scenario isn’t just a pipe dream; it’s already here for a lot of e-commerce businesses!

Personalized recommendations are beneficial for both business owners and consumers since it means both parties spend less time advertising or searching for the exact product they need.

Improved Customer Service

Chatbots and other AI technologies will also impact the customer service side of e-commerce. Chatbots, for instance, can answer immediate questions that people have when they first arrive at an e-commerce site, provide recommended products, and direct visitors to other resources or live customer service agents.

For business owners, the benefits are vast. Say that you run an e-commerce business where you don’t have enough staff to run a full CS team. With AI customer service technologies, you can still take questions from your consumers or direct them to the right resources without having to hire tons of people to “man the phones”, so to speak.

Links to Retail Shopping Experiences

In addition to the above changes, AI will almost certainly affect live shopping experiences for people around the world. How?

Simply put, AI will allow companies to link the online and retail shopping experiences of their consumers. For example, an AI program can monitor website visitors and see what they browse on a company’s online store. It can then send that information to a retail store specialist.

Once the customer arrives at the retail store location, that specialist can bring recommended products directly to the store visitor, answer specific questions they may have, or provide other personalized services.

This is just one way in which the sheer amount of personalized data AI can collect and analyze may impact “real-world” shopping in addition to e-commerce shopping.

More Accurate Marketing

Advertising and marketing, perhaps more than any other industry, are sure to be affected by AI in the future.

AI technology allows marketers and advertising firms to gather more precise data on target audiences than ever before. That data can then be leveraged to create more compelling, targeted advertising materials, ranging from PPC Google ads to website newsletters to email ads and more.

That more accurate marketing should result in better returns on marketing investments. With the power of AI analytics, business owners will be more able to give their target audience members exactly what they want with a minimum of “misfires” or bad ads.

Virtual Shopping

Lastly, AI technology may shape live shopping and e-commerce through the advent of virtual shopping services. Consumers can subscribe to services that use sophisticated AI software or technologies to give “virtual shoppers” exactly what they need to fulfill orders.

For example, a clothing store can use AI virtual shoppers to find the ideal jacket for a new consumer without the consumer having to do any browsing themselves.

Ultimately, AI is here to stay – both the retail shopping industry and e-commerce are sure to be affected by this development for years to come. Fortunately, however, AI is likely to improve the e-commerce and shopping spheres by offering greater personalization, targeted advertising, and an overall better experience for both consumers and business owners alike.