As a customer, online shopping can be overwhelming. We have a wealth of data about millions of products literally at our fingertips, courtesy of our smartphones – which can lead to information overload. If a search brings up a hundred versions of the product we need, finding the one that meets our specific requirements can be time-consuming and frustrating.
Artificial intelligence has already advanced digital marketing strategy, and online retailers such as Ikea and Walmart have begun to explore how generative AI can create an ever more personalized shopping experience through the development of AI shopping assistants. Amazon’s contribution is an assistant called Rufus, which builds on their already robust use of generative AI across their platform to enhance and streamline the customer journey.
How do AI shopping assistants work?
AI shopping assistants are built on large language models trained on information from the catalogues for a particular store or marketplace, including product descriptions and specs as well as reviews and Q&As, and on data from across the internet. Their vast knowledge enables these assistants to generate conversational responses to customer inquiries. For those of us old enough to remember doing the majority of our shopping at the mall, AI assistants are essentially knowledgeable sales associates who may follow you from page to page of the virtual store but offer suggestions only when asked. What kind of support can AI assistants give?
- Recommend top products and compare options – Whether customers are just starting their shopping journeys or simply find themselves in the weeds and floundering, AI shopping assistants can help them find their way by pointing to popular products in their search category and offering comparative information about multiple products.
- Suggest key specifications to consider – AI assistants can help customers to determine what aspects of a product category are most important. Need a microphone for recording your album? Your AI assistant may be able to tell you what features customers generally find important, as well as what brands are considered top-of-the-line and which are affordable and still work great.
- Highlight relevant product details – Scrolling a product page can start to feel like going down an internet rabbit hole – do we really need all this information and thousands of reviews? Amazon has already begun to generate a “Customers say” section, which pulls key highlights from across all reviews of a product, and AI shopping assistants can help customers with more personalized content. An assistant might help a customer find the specific information they’re looking for in a lengthy product description, or pull out a review that speaks to a customer’s concern.
- Generate suggested products for a specific event, space, or topic – Generative AI is great at, well, generating, which means if you tell it you’re shopping for a kindergarten classroom, an AI shopping assistant can pull together suggested products, which might include kid-friendly rugs and furniture, books, toys, and craft supplies. An assistant for a company like Ikea might be able to take your request for help designing a small modern farmhouse kitchen and suggest appliances, cabinets, fixtures, and furniture that match that aesthetic.
What benefits can AI shopping assistants offer my e-commerce business?
Generative AI and the tools that use it are still evolving, and there will be trial-and-error involved. AI shopping assistants can be a terrific tool for your business if you can make them work for you. If your business has its own online store, experimenting with generative AI could be a great way to enhance your customer service as you guide customers to what they’re looking for while also building their connection with your brand through a conversational tone.
As AI shopping assistants for online marketplaces move from beta to mainstream, they will be increasingly important for discoverability. You can use the tools yourself to develop an understanding of why certain products – including from your competitors! – are rising to the top of the shopping assistants’ recommendation lists.
Just as you now optimize your content and product descriptions for search engines, you may want to consider optimizing your marketplace listings to confirm they have the kind of information that AI shopping assistants will share with customers. Keeping in mind your customer personas may be helpful here: Think about how different customer segments might shop and what questions your high-value customers might have so you can ensure your product pages have the answers.
Work with NetElixir
NetElixir is an AI-first digital marketing agency, and our specialists are experts in the benefits of using cutting-edge, AI-powered tools and technologies to shape the future of digital marketing. We will work with you to optimize your marketplace listings for discoverability so Rufus and other AI shopping assistants will find and recommend your products to potential customers and equip them with the right data to move from browsing to buying. We’ll leverage LXRInsights, our AI-powered digital marketing platform, to drive sales for your e-commerce business.
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