Once upon a time, finding the perfect product online was like wandering the aisles of a library without a card catalog. But the advent of artificial intelligence (AI) has transformed the quest for the perfect online purchase and unleashed a remarkable evolution in ecommerce.
From its first rudimentary keyword-based tools to today’s ability to decipher intent and deliver personalized results, the evolution of AI in ecommerce has been nothing short of revolutionary. It has fundamentally altered the way we explore, discover and embrace products in the ever-shifting landscape of online shopping.
The use of AI in ecommerce has uncovered numerous lessons about how modern businesses should operate and engage with their customers. Here are some key insights that can be applied to any industry building with AI.
Data Quality is Critical
Successfully selling products online requires that companies produce, consume and make sense of a massive amount of data. And they have to do it quickly and accurately to meet consumers’ expectations.
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That’s why the ecommerce industry was an early adopter of AI. It can process data to identify matches, recognize patterns and take action 50 times faster than humans. Multiply that by the 33.4 million products sold on Amazon — in clothing, shoes and jewelry alone — and it’s clear that ecommerce as we know it wouldn’t be possible without AI.
AI’s effectiveness hinges on the quality and quantity of data available. Ecommerce businesses have realized that clean, accurate and diverse data is essential for training AI models to make accurate predictions and recommendations. Without reliable data, AI outcomes can be skewed or ineffective.
Personalization is Paramount
In an era when you can stream TV shows recommended specifically for you, consumers have come to expect a high degree of personalization in everything they do. And it’s no secret that customers are more likely to engage and purchase when they encounter product recommendations, content and shopping experiences customized to their individual preferences.
Luckily, AI-powered algorithms excel at understanding individual behaviors and preferences. Like an attentive personal shopping assistant, AI has revolutionized search and discovery in ecommerce over the years to meet demand for personalized experiences. Here’s how:
Natural Language Processing and Predictive AI Search
The first iteration of AI-powered search was natural language processing (NLP), which lets shoppers search in natural language rather than using keywords and Boolean operators (e.g. AND, OR) to limit or expand search results. It accounts for spelling mistakes, typos, synonyms and antonyms, which has become even more important with the rise of shoppers searching on mobile apps.
Its partner, predictive search, autocompletes keywords and phrases when users type in a search box. It works in real time, using machine learning based on the initial characters typed to improve the time to result.
Vector Search
And now we’ve entered the realm of vector search, which uses NLP and machine learning to translate text, images and audio into vectors that capture semantic meaning, enabling matching between queries and documents beyond just keywords in order to account for concepts like synonyms and intent. This allows vector search to return relevant results even for queries without an exact match, reducing “no results” occurrences.
AI-powered search functions play a crucial role in personalizing ecommerce experiences. NLP enables platforms to comprehend and respond to human language, while predictive search anticipates user needs by analyzing historical data. Visual search empowers customers to explore products using images and vector search leverages mathematical representations to offer nuanced recommendations.
Together, these technologies streamline search processes, understand user intent, provide visual discovery and offer context-based recommendations, all contributing to a more personalized and efficient user experience.
Visual Search
The next evolution was visual search, which uses AI to identify key elements in a photo and translate them into descriptive attributes like product category, color, texture, material, style, cut or occasion. These attributes are then mapped to items in the product database to show similar results. Powered by deep learning and neural networks, visual search engines can now process millions of images and even detect subtle details and patterns, which produces an extremely nuanced and accurate matching capability.
Doing it at Scale
Scalability and resource allocation are the backbone of successful AI implementation. Businesses have realized that as AI systems grow in complexity, a strategic approach to resources is paramount. Infrastructure scalability, whether via cloud-based solutions or on-premises hardware, is crucial to meet the evolving demands of AI workloads.
Accommodating the ever-expanding datasets, ensuring data quality and effectively allocating computational and human resources are core considerations. Budget allocation and ongoing optimization play significant roles — ChatGPT is rumored to cost $700,000 a day to run — and developing scalable algorithms and models that can efficiently handle larger datasets without exponential increases in computational demands is key.
All these efforts must maintain the highest standards of data privacy and security to protect customer information — something ecommerce brands know well as they handle personally identifiable information (PII).
AI has transformed online shopping from a static, one-dimensional experience to a dynamic, personalized journey. Ecommerce businesses have realized what’s possible when AI is applied to understanding customers, meeting their needs and optimizing their experiences. By prioritizing data quality, leveraging AI to make interactions more personal and architecting systems to operate efficiently at scale, companies across sectors can leverage these strategies to transform static user journeys into dynamic, customized experiences that consumers crave.
Beyond ecommerce, these recommendations can be used to personalize user experience, understand intent and offer context-based recommendations. How will you apply them to your business?
Zohar Gilad is the CEO and Co-founder of Fast Simon, Inc., a leader in AI-powered shopping optimization. Throughout his career, Gilad has been the driving force behind over 20 software products that have since been used by millions of users worldwide.
