How Is AI Improving Ecommerce Sites In 2020?

In 2020, many of us are using technology in almost every single aspect of our lives. It can be hard to switch off from things like our phones, our laptops and our home assistants when they can provide us with so much information and entertainment. One of the reasons why we now rely on this technology so much is due to the development of artificial intelligence tech.

For those in the world of online retail or ecommerce, AI has been changing the way that things work slowly but surely. Here, we are going to look at some of the ways that AI is improving ecommerce sites in 2020. Keep reading if this is something that you are interested in.

Email Marketing

Email marketing is one of the most effective ways to get your customers to come back to your site and to target those who have not yet made a purchase. So, how do you reach those customers without having to spend hours finding their email addresses – AI. Artificial intelligence allows ecommerce sites to segment their visitors and create lists that can be used for ecommerce email marketing. These brands can then use this information to send out personalised emails that are relevant to the recipient. This is extremely beneficial and is typically received well by customers who appreciate the personalised experience. Email marketing generated with the help of AI can offer high conversion rates and is something that all ecommerce stores should take a note of.

Improving Recommendations

When you visit a physical store, you have the ability to ask the employees for recommendations. Perhaps you might ask them for the best product, or you might even ask them for the cheapest product that they have. These recommendations are slightly harder to achieve when you are operating online as you won’t always have a staff member there to answer any questions.

Of course, in 2020, with the help of AI, we are able to generate these recommendations and provide customers with a much better experience. Take the online retailer Amazon, for example, this site is known for recommending products to users based on their activity on the site and their previous purchases. The recommendations are possible with AI and this is just the very beginning.

Finding Counterfeit

Products The last thing you want as a business is for others to be out there selling counterfeit products with your name on it. Not only can this affect your own sales, but it can also affect the reputation of your brand if the products do not match your quality. With the internet being such a large place, it has been very difficult over the years for companies to stop counterfeit sellers before others have already made a purchase.

With the help of artificial intelligence, it is now much easier for ecommerce retailers to find counterfeit products and get them offline in no time. The AI scans the internet and locates the products and passes on this information to the brand performing the search. While there are some problems with this technology achieving accurate results, it is expected to improve even more in the future.

Chatbots

Chatbots have become extremely common in recent years and many more ecommerce sites are starting to realise the full potential of this technology. If you have ever used a live chat box on an ecommerce site, then you will have probably experienced a chatbot before. Chatbots use artificial intelligence to act as a customer service representative and they can be very effective. Customer service can not only be costly but can also be very time-consuming. If you are running a small ecommerce business and need to have someone on hand to answer any questions 24/7 this can be very difficult.

Chatbots use AI to operate and they have recently become very advanced. A user can ask the chatbot a question and they will get answers based on this. While chatbots aren’t always effective if a customer asks a complicated question, the user can be put through to someone who can. This cuts down the need for multiple customer service representatives as only a small number of queries will need to be progressed to the next stage.

Removing Fake Reviews

Finally, you’ll find that AI is being used by ecommerce businesses to help remove fake reviews. When a disgruntled customer leaves a bad review on a website, on Google reviews or even on a social media site, it can have a massive effect on the brand. Other customers can see this review and it can put them off going through with a purchase. When you offer a review section on your site, you are opening yourself up to the possibility of this and it isn’t possible to please everyone.

Interestingly, 2020 has seen a lot more people leaving fake reviews on websites of companies they have never used. A disgruntled customer leaving a bad review is one thing but a fake one is much worse. With the help of AI, companies are able to search the internet for fake reviews and deal with them as soon as possible. This is becoming increasingly possible and is becoming very popular with brands who have had their reputation tarnished. Now, they can receive real reviews and deal with any complaints in the right way without fake reviews hanging over their heads.

Final Verdict

Artificial intelligence technology is used in many more of our devices than you might think. In the past, many members of the public were scared of AI due to its representation in movies and TV shows. Now, we rely on AI to help us get an answer from Alexa or to help us find what we need on an ecommerce store.

For those operating online, AI can be massively beneficial. With so many tools at your disposal in 2020 that utilise AI, there is really no excuse for having a sub-par website that doesn’t offer an excellent customer experience.