How Can AI Propel Ecommerce Business Growth?

Back in the days when we were children, Artificial Intelligence seemed too futuristic and probably take years to develop. Fast forward to 2020; Artificial Intelligence is no longer the distant future, but the present.

In fact, AI has entered our everyday lives and is continuously impacting how we perform our simple day-to-day tasks. But we are not here to speak about the impact of AI on our daily routine. We are here to discuss how this technology has impacted the eCommerce industry and has led to business growth.

If you look closely, you will see that AI has taken over every aspect of the e-commerce industry. Whether you talk about advertisement campaigns or customer care, AI is everywhere.

If you have still not incorporated AI into your business operations, then it’s time that you start paying attention to this aspect of your business. Simply put, if you are not incorporating AI into your business operations, then sooner or later, you will be left out in the market as compared to your competitors who can adopt this technology.

Now is the right time to learn about the powerful benefits of AI. Let’s look at all the ways how AI will propel eCommerce business growth.

1.    AI Makes Personalized Sales Possible

The current marketing era is all about making your customers feel valued and providing them a personalized sales experience. Artificial Intelligence has gracefully taken care of this aspect. Automated mediums of customer interaction have made the entire process smooth and more efficient than human customer representatives.

Automated systems can reply to emails, attend queries through phone calls or chat. Automated representatives are also able to respond to comments on social media quicker.

It is, however, difficult to comprehend how machines can mimic humans to this extent. Moreover, automated systems are more competent when it comes to using the right kind of words and direct the customer to the required link.

The lack of human errors is highly effective in improving the overall conversion rate. However, in some cases, all efforts from an AI system will fall flat and human intervention will become necessary.

2.    Increase Brand Awareness

Social platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc., are indeed providing brands with a great way to market their products. With the help of well-designs ad campaigns, brands can reach out to millions and develop brand awareness. By using catchy phrases as captions and appealing graphics, even small businesses can reach a much bigger audience.

Social platforms like Facebook have the advantage of being able to reach out to the targeted audience. Automation helps these sites generate even more leads and successfully convert them as well. For most internet marketing services, the real challenge lies in constantly adapting to the changing algorithms of Facebook, Google, etc. Online platforms are constantly embedding new functions to improve user experience.

AI and other related technologies like Augmented Reality are playing an important role in improving customer experiences. An example of a brand using AR to market their products is a makeup company called We Makeup, which used this AR to create a filter for their customers for different lipstick shades.

By using the filter through their phone-cameras, customers could see which shade looked best on them and were able to purchase without having to visit the store and try on the lipstick in real. This feature helped We Makeup make record-breaking sales during that period.

3.    Predicting Sales Outcome

Artificial Intelligence has unfolded the extremely important aspect of predictive sales and marketing. Business forecasting is not an easy task – it requires complex analysis and is extremely detail-oriented. One small mistake can lead to incorrect forecasting, and the entire campaign can fall flat.

Moreover, businesses are constantly under pressure to work on minimum resources and budget. If many resources are allocated to this sector, then little outcome can be expected from other channels.

Fortunately for businessmen, AI has made data management and analysis simpler. More importantly, AI has removed the possibility of human error, which eventually saves a lot of time and hassle. Moreover, it also removes the requirement of collecting and processing data multiple times, which is common when the system is handled manually.

One can expect optimal results when using AI, which eventually leads to well-informed decision-making and higher chances of running successful marketing campaigns. AI enables marketers to forecast sales in a better way that helps to frame campaigns more strategically.

4.    Tailored Recommendations

Have you ever been convinced to purchase something because of a recommendation popped up on your social media or on the website itself? Well, if you did, then you are not alone! You shouldn’t feel guilty for giving in because online shops are primarily made up of recommendations based on your liking.

It is these recommendations that pull customers to the website and walk them through the entire sales process. In fact, Amazon claims that about 35% of its revenue is due to these recommendations.

A popular feature on websites is when you have placed something in your cart, you get a popup that says: “customers who bought this item also bought.” This is done simply by analyzing the list of customers who have made a purchase earlier and then giving recommendations on the basis of that. The function of this popup is similar to a sales representative who suggests products based on customer types.

AI – Does it Work?

If you are still not convinced whether to use AI to streamline your business processes, then it is worth mentioning that some of the biggest companies are relying upon Artificial Intelligence to make their business processes more smooth and error-free.

It is only a matter of time that this technology will take over the entire eCommerce industry. Integrating AI with your business’s operations does not mean that you won’t be using humans anymore for running your business operations; instead, you will be making your current operations more efficient.