Artificial Intelligence In E-commerce Industry
Today the internet has become the ultimate source for everything. Right from reading this article to spending hours on finding a perfect pair of shoe, everything is just a blessing with the ease of internet access.
However, things were never the same some years back from now.
There was a time when it was merely a luxury and only some could afford it. Since there were fewer people to access the internet, the internet world also didn’t have much to offer in return.
But now, as the graphs have raised enormously, the user relation with these services providers have grown exponentially.
There’s literally nothing that you could think of not finding on the internet and thanks to the ever-changing world of trends. When in 1989, the
World Web Wideworld Wide Web was created; it rather didn’t have much literal meaning to it, than it has now!
It’s crazy? how our lifestyles have altered so quickly due to the inevitable effect of the internet on us. One major revolution that the internet has brought with time can be seen in the E-commerce industry.
Gone are the days when people would actually roam around the whole place to buy something and spend hours being outdoors.
Traditional shopping methods have had its farewell over the past decades as the E-commerce has made some changes in the way we shop, forever!
This drastic shift in customer’s shopping behavior can be attributed to oodles of factors like time, efforts, ease of access, prices, options and varieties, and so on.
E-commerce Growth↗
This growth can be traced with the estimation that there were about 1.32↗ Bn digital buyers worldwide in the year 2014 and the graph have always been on the rising slope, ever since.
These figures went up to 1.66 Bn in the year 2017 and are expected to go up to whopping 2.14 Bn by 2021.
Earlier, most of the E-commerce sites used to offer a desktop version for the best user experience but now as it has become the need to an hour, they come with the mobile-friendly version as well.
These apps are not just well adored but also play with the user’s shopping behavior in such a way that there’s nothing that can hold them back from adding products to their carts.
However, in spite of all the advances and developments which are continuously taking place in the E-commerce industry, there are still some loopholes and unnoticed cracks which need to be fixed soon.
As the competition is getting fiercer with the passing days, the user has also become smarter and their demands are skyrocketing, naturally.
How many times has it happened to you that you think of buying something online and then take a second glance at your decision and go back to thinking if it’s really worth your time and money?
Quite a lot of time⏰, I am sure! This comes from the fact that no matter how much digital we have become, we still need to be sure about the product that we are going to buy and not wanting to go through the daunting task of returning it back.
Many a time, the products won’t come off the true fit, would shatter your ideal image of it or would just not be satisfactory enough for you.
To fix these real-time issues, there’s a lot of research and work going around to enhance the customer’s experience with these online sites as according to the data, about 55% customers are willing to shed more money? if they are promised a better experience.
Here are quite a few statistical inferences which can make you think hard about why there’s a room for more improvement in the e-commerce industry.
♦ It’s utmost important to provide well-off services to the customer especially when it comes to resolving their issues. It has been found that 70% of complaining customers will do business with you again if you resolve their issues, right on time and satisfactorily.
♦ However, failing to do so may cost you heavy pockets by as much as 7 times in regaining a customer and about 89% of the buyers tend to stop shopping from the same place again if they are unsatisfied with the customer services.
♦ Live chats are great when it comes at creating a user-centric interface on your site. About 31% buyers in the US and UK agree that they are most likely to purchase anything having a personal user chat.
♦ It’s high time to break the connotation that people tend to buy more stuff if it’s cheaper. Statistics have to say that by the year 2020, price and products will be overtaken by the customer experience. Just in case, you are thinking that you’re ready to keep an edge with your competitors, it’s worthy to note that a customer is 4 times more likely to go to the competitor service provider if they have had any unpleasant experiences with the former one.
♦ When it comes down to shopping, there is no debate left on gender differences here. Males and females have a different set of expectations from their shopping experiences and hence it’s advisable to create an interface which can serve on the common ground.
After acknowledging such realistic data?, there must be one thing hovering around your mind, ‘what is that I can do to make things better’? Well, the solution lies right in the topic that we’ve been discussing so far.
It’s the internet and the advances that are taking place in the form of Artificial Intelligence. But first, let’s have a brief but comprehensive view of what are the possibilities that Artificial intelligence has with E-commerce growth and if it’s really going to be your pill for the wound!
Artificial Intelligence and E-commerce Industry?
Assuming that you’ll are well-versed with the concept of Artificial Intelligence, let’s skip right on the part where we can discuss how it’s contributing to the E-commerce growth.
In the previous section, we have discussed one major aspect of the E-commerce, which is ‘user experience’. Now, to understand the psychology behind the customer’s buying behavior, selection process, a preferred method of connecting with the service providers and the particular needs from the variety of products.
There can’t be one person sitting behind the screen to monitor every little activity of that user. To make use of such user data, the artificial intelligence intrudes in and makes an effective use of this rich data provided by the user, consciously and subconsciously.
Leading E-commerce giants like Amazon Go, eBay’s Shopbot and other titans in the field are relying on the magic of artificial intelligence. Maintaining your leads is just as essentials as creating one and fair enough, it can be a daunting task for many companies.
Artificial intelligence can work as a tonic in such a situation where it can help in creating a very personalized and customized user interface and give a great deal of satisfactory user experience?.
This process can be understood by breaking it down into the smallest applications. First comes first, machine learning is a vital part of artificial intelligence which “is the science of getting computers to act without being explicitly programmed, but instead letting them learn a few tricks on their own.”, as Dr. Danko Nikolic defines it.
Machine learning is very useful when it comes to making your program learn about the customer’s shopping behavior. Second, creating an automated process to reduce the waiting time for the user can be of a great deal.
This also helps in cutting down the cost by 30% and generate a better client-centric view. AI can help in getting a better perspective of what a customer like of see and what are the needs of the customer by using its algorithms.
Also, artificial intelligence has now enabled the user to search for a certain product using any related photograph. Sounds great, isn’t it?
Now that we’ve learned that much about artificial intelligence’s application for the support of E-commerce growth, let’s talk about how it can get you a winning formula to become the best in your industry!
Your Winning Philosophy?
Now that AI is no more a topic of fictional debates, it’s time to implement it in your business model to boost your growth in the E-commerce industry.
1. ChatBots
As seen in a lot of data and statistics, a customer’s prime reason to dislike any company can be the way they resort queries. ChatBots? are human-like chat boxes which can reduce this problem to zero.
These function 24/7 and already possess all the relevant information about the user. This can effectively work in tracking their likings and thus responding accordingly.
This creates better brand continuity and gives them a tailor-made response which put the ball in your court. Anyone can ask their problems out and get it resolved within no time; satisfied customer, and more sales!
2. Nurturing Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
Applying AI in your business can save you from the vigorous task of laying out a perfect strategy to improve CRM, which is undoubtedly an essential part of your business.AI has the right traction of your customer and it will look after what is going where and how.
3. Visual Search Engines
It can be disheartening for your customers to spend hours on the internet and still not find the product that they are looking for, even on their favorite site ( it can be you).
Having an AI empowered visual search engines can enable them to find matching products having the exact size, color, pattern or shape and hence, greatly boost up the sales and engagement on your site.
4. Feedback
No matter whether a feedback is posted on your feedback form or at anywhere else on the internet. AI can monitor the views ?and opinions expressed by a user about any certain product.
This might come as a bit useless to you at first but this can prove to be the biggest asset for you. It will add up to the valuable insights about any customer’s attitude towards a brand or product and help you in meeting customer’s expectations at par.
