Five ways AI can improve the retail customer experience

The 2017 holiday purchasing season went well for online U.S. businesses, with a projected 16.6 percent increase in e-commerce sales over the same period last year. Retailers are confident about 2018, following a successful holiday season and increased customer confidence.

But what might businesses discern from the previous holiday season? When we speak to our customers, the biggest issue in this new era of retailing is just keeping up with their expectations. Bringing innovative, differentiated experiences to market is a gargantuan undertaking.

Success in the next era of retail will not come from adding the latest widget to your website, nor will it come from offering low prices and free shipment. Success will depend on the ability to move and innovate rapidly. While transitioning to a wholly SaaS-based commerce platform and ecosystem will result in more agility, for certain retailers, this may take several years.

So, how can internet stores make a difference right now? This year, let artificial intelligence (AI) tools handle some of the heavy labor.

There are several possibilities for when, when, and how to use AI, but for merchants seeking for a fast effect, here are five ways AI tools can assist online retailers generate results across the purchasing experience without requiring significant effort:

1. Innovate with voice command and visual search: According to Gartner, early adopter firms who revamp their websites to enable visual and voice search will see a 30% increase in digital commerce revenue. With mobile devices, short attention spans, and limitless online possibilities, doing on-site search accurately is more important than ever. The good news is that new AI technologies, such as visual search and voice command, enhance search engagement and conversion rates.

• Visual search is poised to take off in a big way, thanks to advances in image recognition technology and an increasing number of mobile customers who prefer images. Retailers may effectively provide faceted search results in a new, visual format by designating product features, attributes, and names in images and videos. Pinterest now allows users to select an item in an image to discover related products on Pinterest. Retailers Target and West Elm are also experimenting here.

• Siri, Alexa, and Google have made voice commands popular at home and on the move. With developments in natural language processing (NLP), semantics, and intent recognition, there are numerous intriguing opportunities to experiment with voice-based support and order placing on retail mobile sites and applications. Begin with something modest. Consider the most typical consumer inquiries, such as order status, return policy, local store inventory, and the ability to re-purchase items and check out by voice. Graduate to handle increasingly sophisticated use cases such as finding and comparing products, requesting personalized suggestions based on preferences and history, and placing items on hold at local retailers.

2. Use Big Data: Retailers spend a lot of money to recruit consumers through SEM, SEO, content marketing, and social media, with ambiguous ROI returns. However, using AI tools to crunch client data offers up new choices. Retail marketers may now discover consumers rather than waiting for customers to locate them. Third-party data audiences make use of billions of worldwide IDs, trillions of dollars in transactional data, and tens of thousands of pre-built audiences encompassing demographic, online, and offline habits. Insight from these vast data sets allows you to target exactly who you want.

3. Integrate AI into your mobile strategy: It is becoming increasingly difficult to attract consumers, deliver on their immediate requirements, and convert them into loyal customers. Context is important, and AI tools supply it in a manner that humans cannot. This holiday season, 63% of smartphone owners made holiday purchases, indicating that mobile shopping is gaining more common. Mobile is a treasure of contextual user information, and it’s the ideal spot for merchants to capture micro-moments along the buyer journey. According to recent Oracle Responsys data from the past holiday season, mobile SMS traffic surged by 70% and mobile push rates increased by 110 percent year on year. Shoppers want to hear from shops and brands if the information is pertinent and valuable. To sustain a personal relationship with your most valued consumers, employ AI in mobile communications to provide personalized product recommendations, local store events, offers, and order updates.

4. Have chatbots initiate proactive chats: TechEmergence predicts that chatbots will be the most prevalent AI application in the next five years. AI-powered chatbots are an excellent approach to scale service after the transaction, as well as when browsing and purchasing. Proactive service increases sales, and chatbots are an excellent technology for starting proactive discussions with clients, alleviating anxieties and providing answers to common inquiries.

5. Virtual assistants can function as your own concierge. Use AI techniques to make your most profitable consumer segments feel recognized and cherished. Virtual assistants (which use AI, speech recognition, and vast amounts of data) can function as personal concierges, assisting loyal consumers with purchase recommendations, education, and customer service. Loyalty programs can also utilize AI to enhance customisation. They can recommend products based on local weather conditions, hyper-personalized subscription services, and targeted promotions depending on what each consumer values.