Get ready for AI
Oh no… not another ChatGPT article, some might say. Although it might seem scary for many, especially those ones who are reluctant to change, we have to acknowledge that humanity is living some of its best days when it comes to tech breakthroughs. Space travel is not something out of ordinary anymore, the use of robotics in the manufacturing industry is well underway, and also… ChatGPT happened. So, we thought that it was a great idea to write an article explaining why retailers should not waste any more time boarding the AI train.
If you want to find out more about our eCommerce projects, we are here to help.
The retail sector is becoming increasingly tech-forward. Recent studies run by the National Retail Federation show that more than 75% of retailers plan to invest in AI technology in the next three years. Some, of course, want to use AI to improve customer service and increase efficiency, but big retailers are even thinking about using it to run autonomous stores.
As a personal opinion, 3 years is a long time, and giving the speed that technology is moving – openAI, the company behind ChatGPT announced the release of an even more powerful solution in the next few months – let’s not be surprised if by this time next year, having some sort of AI integration will be a prerequisite for retail businesses.
There are various departments inside an ecommerce business where AI can be applied.
Using AI for Customer Service
AI has been used for a few good years now to provide automated customer service. Any online retail business can connect its own Knowledge Database or simply parse the website content to make it a data source for a chatbot.
The chatbot will use this information as a source to provide company-specific information.
With the development of the latest GPT model, if integrated, existing chatbots start to understand unpredictable human inputs with its huge training database.
In other words, they can generate unique responses, write emails, reminders, and polite replies – anything that requires addressing a human, giving ecommerce businesses exactly what they lack – the human interaction factor.
Add to it the fact that it is also multilingual, and you can easily understand how beneficial this can be, if you are planning to expand your business internationally.
Using AI to improve your logistics
All parts of an online retailing business have a certain degree of complexity, but any retailer will agree that having efficient logistics is key .
Things like having enough inventory that is high up on the list of customers’ preferred products, predicting future demand so that you don’t end-up with unwanted items, considering the most efficient ways to deliver your items, or providing smart ideas for better warehousing… all that involves a huge cost when calculated in man hours.
This is where AI comes in handy. It can easily analyze data on past sales to predict future demand and optimize inventory management or better the layout of your warehouse to minimize labor costs.
Using AI for all you marketing needs
This is a subject we have been touching extensively over the last few months, due, for the most part, to the fact that we have been working assiduously to integrate Cupio’s website, one of our most important clients, with Aqurate.ai
Aqurate.ai is a platform that offers a set of three complex AI-driven eCommerce tools which can help online shops convert visitors into shoppers with personalized recommendations and segmented communication. In addition, it creates precise insights and saves hours of reporting time.
So, yes, personalization is key for any eCommerce website, and this is where AI can step in to help you eliminate all that manual labour setting up recommended products for each item by analyzing your shoppers behaviour and delivering them exactly what they want to see.
There are many who argue that recent AI developments like ChatGPT can be used to handle content creation tasks. Written content is valuable, but at this moment, turning it into high quality, fresh and relevant content requires the human touch.
Now, Chat GPT can be used as a virtual assistant more suitable for making repetitive tasks efficient. Its abilities come in handy when it comes to Social media marketing. AI-driven solutions can be successfully employed to write social media posts, and schedule them. AI can be best employed to provide analytics and insights, this way social media managers are able to optimise their content for maximum reach and engagement, by using the right keywords, hashtags, and phrases that will resonate with their audience.
As with every new kid on the block, ChatGPT receives a lot of attention, especially for its ability to generate content. Some have rushed with the assumption that through its ability to generate creative content, ChatGPT can assist merchants to strengthen their SEO positioning so that their store is organically displayed before the competition. We say this is half true. Its full potential will be unleashed by the ones that know how to use it to generate high quality content.
However, Google will find a way to differentiate, in fact it has already begun to take into consideration a new organic ranking factor – page experience. When the ability to write good content, using the right keywords is at everyone’s fingertips, judging websites by what a user feels when interacting with a page makes a lot more sense.
Website development
Although there are some who argue that AI is capable of doing coding tasks and see it replacing the whole Silicon Valley, we are reluctant in saying that. At this stage, the coding capabilities don’t match human industry experts, and creativity from using AI can be limited. Because the technology is fairly new, users might end up spending more time proof-reading the work carried out by the bot to make sure all the information is accurate, which is not really time-effective. But this does not mean we have to eliminate it completely, as ChatGPT can help developers improve their coding skills by providing explanations or debugging code.
However, where AI can be used successfully, is in fraud detection and prevention. By analyzing customer data, AI can identify patterns and anomalies that may indicate fraudulent activity. This can help ecommerce companies to take action before fraud occurs and protect their customers’ information.
Conclusions
Although considered as being in its early stages, AI is seen as the future. Its capability to learn and advance constantly makes it the best candidate for applications which seek to increase customer satisfaction and sales. At the same time, the ability to analyze data on customer behavior and market trends, or to identify and prevent fraudulent activity, will allow companies to make more informed decisions and optimize their operations.
If you want to know more about our list of services at Clever++, please visit our website.