Artificial Intelligence (AI) is changing the way you shop online
Specifically, it’s driving a change in two areas – search and customer service. How Artificial Intelligence is changing the face of online shopping? What is the role of artificial intelligence in online shopping?
Advancements in AI (Artificial Intelligence), like deep learning and machine learning, combined with the rise in mobile commerce, are now being put to use by retailers and e-commerce sites such as Amazon to improve the lives of online consumers.
Both are software that learns to perform complex tasks without active human supervision.
How search is changing
Traditional search engines such as Google have used algorithms that pick up a string of keywords to return results they think are closest to what searchers are looking for.
While this approach worked for those looking for news items and similar content, it was not ideal for online shoppers. With advancements in AI (Artificial Intelligence), online search has become that much more “cleverer”, with even “visual search” gaining ground with retailers.
Retail companies are using a combination of analytics, machine learning, deep learning, computer vision, and facial recognition to compete in online business.
The latter, for example, is the same technology that drives self-driving cars. Amazon is already using these technologies in its new Amazon Go grocery stores. For now, it’s been deployed in one store in Seattle, with expansion to follow.
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One of the most prominent examples of visual search is ‘Pinterest Lens’. Launched in late 2016, this service allows consumers to point their mobile phone cameras at any commodity and then conduct an online visual search. Thus, a lens goes beyond words to include images from the real world.
How does it work? While image-detection programs identify an object, visual search retrieves images similar to it.
The other advancement in online search uses Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP). This is a science that examines how human beings think (Neuro), the language patterns they use (Linguistic), and their behaviors (Programming), and how these interact to affect them as individuals, both positive and negative.
Some retailers have started applying the NLP approach, which is based on AI (Artificial Intelligence), enabling computer programs to understand human speech and search, allowing shoppers to find items by asking a store for help in person.
Some retail companies have claimed some success in sales after the deployment of search advances.
Well-known American luxury department store Neiman Marcus has increased app usage and customer engagement after implementing visual search. Other retail brands that are successfully using visual search include Shoes.com, Nordstrom, and Urban Outfitters.
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A chatbot is servicing you
A recent report by Juniper Research found that chatbots would “redefine” the customer service industry, and forecast that the technology would save over US$8 billion in operational costs by 2022.
Another study by IBM found that 65% of millennials preferred interacting with bots to talking to real human beings. Needless to say, the bots have truly arrived.
Bots have become popular with retailers because of the increasing reliance on mobile messaging apps and the need for 24/7 customer service as business goes global.
Brands are using chatbots to offer recommendations and services, and even to automate the purchase process.
The most popular chatbot platforms are Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, WeChat, and Slack.
Top brands like Uber and Burberry have successfully deployed chatbots to acquire new customers while retaining the old ones.
