How to Integrate AI into eCommerce Processes

Learn how to integrate AI into eCommerce processes to improve tasks like; product recommendations, tracking and customer engagement.

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From digital marketing to eCommerce, AI can help improve your online business operations freeing up your time to focus more on business growth. This post is going to look at a few essential processes that you can automate with AI to improve your eCommerce business starting today.

Artificial intelligence is much more than a cool trends. Integrating AI into eCommerce has the potential to impact any number of business functions across your organization.

Amazon has long recognized the benefits of artificial intelligence and related technologies. The behemoth ecommerce company uses machine learning to improve product selection and user experience and to optimize logistics.

A recent publication from McKinsey & Company and the Retail Industry Leaders Association named seven imperatives for rethinking retail in 2021, and every single one could in some way be supported by some type of AI-informed technology.

Though AI might seem intimidating to some, with advancements in tech, integrating it into eCommerce is not that difficult. As it has become somewhat of a staple for digital marketers and businesses looking to optimize their processes, there are already lots of tools and resources out there to guide you. If you want to grow your business, you need to integrate AI into your eCommerce processes. 

How AI Benefits Businesses

If you aren’t familiar with AI, it is essentially technology that uses algorithms and machine learning to enhance our capabilities. High-performing AI systems can use what they learn to perform tasks and respond more efficiently than human beings. This is not to say that AI will replace real workers altogether, but it can help businesses optimize their processes and cut costs. 

For example, small businesses that cannot afford entire customer service teams can use AI-powered customer service bots to help out when a live person is unavailable. In some situations, AI bots can even solve customer issues entirely on their own without the need to ever get a live person involved, meaning your staff can focus on other, more important tasks. 

Some of the benefits of using AI for your eCommerce business include:

• Improved customer satisfaction
• More efficient and automated processes
• Enhanced tracking and monitoring
• Increased sales

Uses of AI in eCommerce

When it comes to AI, there are so many ways businesses can apply it to their eCommerce processes. AI is a powerful tool that can help you optimize overall operations and improve your customer service. Some of its uses for eCommerce include:

Product Recommendations

To improve the customer experience and boost sales, you can use AI in your eCommerce store to offer product recommendations. AI technology can learn from your customers’ past behaviors to make suggestions based on their previous purchases and items they have viewed. 

Improve Customer Service

As previously mentioned, you can use AI-powered bots to help your customers when live representatives are not available. Even if live customer reps are available, bots can help reduce incoming calls by answering customer questions and solving issues before the issue escalates. For example, bots can ping your customers from a message bubble or chat platform on your site to see if they have any questions or if there is anything they can help with, allowing them to intervene before any issues arise. 

Product Tracking 

The freight industry is using AI these days to help drivers stay operate more efficiently and keep track of deliveries. As an eCommerce business, you can also use AI to connect with the company that is transporting your products to keep customers up to date on their purchase and when they will arrive. 

Better Products

AI enables businesses to better engage with and research their customers by providing them with access to more data. In turn, this provides businesses with the insights they need to create quality products designed to more specifically meet the needs of their customers. 

How to Integrate AI Into eCommerce Process

AI is an exciting new tool that many businesses are quickly implementing into their processes. However, using AI effectively means developing a strategy that works best for your business and your customers. If you simply start using it wherever you can without putting much thought into it, you may find it ineffective and could even end up losing money. 

• Develop a strategy: Before diving in headfirst, do your research. Look at how your competitors are using AI and consider what you specifically want it to do for your company. The ultimate goal is to increase revenue, so look at your current processes and determine where you are succeeding and where you could use some help. You want to implement AI in smart ways a little at a time to ensure that the changes you are making work for you and are successful. 

• Hire an AI expert: As AI has been around for a while, there are third-party experts out there who have experience helping other businesses understand how it works and how best to integrate it into their current systems. If you aren’t quite sure what to do, an AI professional can help you get started. 

• Build a long-term solution: When implementing AI, it’s helpful to think long-term. Initially, it might not work exactly as you’d expect, so it helps to prepare yourself for ups and downs. If you expect immediate success, you will likely get let down. However, the more you use it and become comfortable with how it works, the more you’ll be able to implement it in ways that will help you succeed long-term. 

Wrapping Up

There is no doubt that AI will forever change the future of eCommerce. It’s already having a significant impact, and as technology advances, the capabilities of the industry will only continue to grow. Even if AI still seems foreign to you, implementing it now will help your business stay ahead of the market and help you evolve rather than get left behind. This powerful technological tool is a must if you want to grow your business and succeed in the digital world of eCommerce.