Editorial
The Gist
- Consumer shift. Traditional ecommerce is evolving into conversational commerce.
- AI impact. Generative AI in ecommerce will change how consumers shop and brands interact.
- Tracking KPIs. Monitoring AI-driven shopping experiences is essential for growth.
Can you remember the first thing you purchased online? If you’re like me, you probably can’t. However, I do remember the awe and astonishment that came with the idea that I could enter a credit card on a website, and a few days (or maybe weeks) later, I would receive a package in the mail with what I ordered. This early form of digital shopping paves the way for what we now recognize as conversational commerce.
Let's take a look at the history of ecommerce and future of generative AI in ecommerce.
Related Article: How AI Is Changing Ecommerce Personalization
Will Generative AI in Ecommerce Change Shopping Forever?
What a crazy concept?
Well, this crazy concept doesn’t seem so crazy anymore. Over the last 25 years or so, ordering products online and having them delivered has become second nature. Everything from visiting a product home page, to a product landing page, to a product detail page and then through to the cart and checkout has pretty much remained the same.
Well, I’m here to tell you that’s all about to change thanks to our favorite two letter buzzword — AI.
Historically, AI in ecommerce has been around for quite some time — just not in the way we have seen it leveraged lately. For example, Google has built its business on search algorithms that are essentially artificial intelligence. When you shop online, that storefront personalizes products and recommendations based on who you are, what you like and what you’ve previously purchased.
Yes, AI in ecommerce isn’t new to the world of online shopping, but how it will be leveraged moving forward will fundamentally change the way you and I buy — forever.
Here’s how.
Related Article: It’s Time to Redefine Conversational Commerce
Ecommerce: Shifting to Conversational Commerce
The days of a traditional ecommerce experience — where you land on a home page, browse product catalogs, make multiple clicks, enter your credit card information and checkout — are starting to pivot. They will shift into what I’m calling "conversational commerce." (See where I’m going here?)
We, as humans, desire communication and conversation. A 2023 study detailed how “having one conversation a day with other humans boosts happiness and lowers stress.” I’m always up for more happiness and less stress, right?
Conversational commerce is a concept where consumers can talk, converse and describe to a brand what they want, what they are trying to do, or what is important to them to arrive at a product or service choice uniquely curated for who they are. Similar to some guided selling workflows like Ikea's Comfort Guide or the MAC Lipstick Finder, conversational commerce takes digital guided selling workflows and supercharges them with the introduction of generative AI and decision modeling in a conversational flow.
Austin-based AI tech startup Logictry is adopting this mindset with its platform. Its mission is simple: scaling the world's wisdom to give everyone the power of choice. Logictry is focused on providing a guided ordering workflow that takes what Ikea and MAC are doing to another level. Instead of offering a few selections to pick from, Logictry aims to make commerce conversational. It focuses on giving consumers the power to "talk" and "chat" with a brand in a human-like form.
Wait, what?
Related Article: How the Different Types of Conversational Marketing Tools Work Together
Generative AI: Redefining Ecommerce Decision-Making
Logictry has developed a consumer-facing interface where you can ask literally anything. Instead of generative AI just spitting out an answer, its platform displays various related questions around the initial query to better help you use logic to make a decision.
For example, I asked Logictry what the best pair of pants would be for giving a speech. Instead of providing a direct answer, the platform presented a set of questions to help me make my decision: What is the setting of this speech? What is the climate like? Are there any colors to avoid? How important is it for you to make a fashion statement with your pants?
The results of my conversation with Logictry included selected recommendations of pant styles and materials that would likely be the best fit for my event — unique to me and my question.
So, what exactly does this mean for the world of ecommerce? How will generative AI take over? Are ecommerce websites dead and gone? How can I leverage generative AI to deliver more brand connection and revenue growth?
Let me answer these questions for you:
Related Article: Reimagining Ecommerce with AI: Fast Transactions, Fun Interactions
What Does This Mean for the World of Ecommerce?
It means a lot will change. Traditional pages like home pages, product listing pages, and product detail pages will all take on new flows. Moving forward, the emphasis on natural language and conversational search within ecommerce sites will take center stage. You’ll be able to land on your favorite brand sites and “talk” to the brand as you would with an in-store associate through dynamic questions and queries. This means the way consumers want to shop online will start to change to fit into the mold of where generative AI works best — conversations.
Related Article: The Importance of Conversational Intelligence for Customer Experience
How Will Generative AI in Ecommerce Take Over?
Listen, I’m not here to say generative AI in ecommerce will lead to us fighting back against the Matrix anytime soon, but I do predict that in the next five years, most of our favorite brands will adopt generative AI in ecommerce as the primary way for consumers to shop digitally. This will be especially true for products we don’t know much about or items that require higher levels of decision-making. Sure, laundry detergent and toilet paper don’t need generative AI conversations for purchases to happen, but generative AI in ecommerce may proactively remind you to purchase or order for you based on your previous buying habits.
Related Article: 5 Ways AI Is Transforming Ecommerce
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Are Ecommerce Websites Dead and Gone?
Yes… and no. They will be gone in the sense of how consumers navigate them, and what they desire to see from a digital buying experience. But, they won’t be gone gone. Instead they will just evolve into what consumers are asking for.
Ecommerce sites will always need product detail pages, but the way in which customers find that product detail page will change. Remember, more conversation = more conversion.
How Can I Leverage Generative AI to Deliver More Brand Connection and Revenue Growth?
I get asked this question quite a bit, and I typically respond with, "It really depends." It depends on a lot, actually. It depends on how solid your product data and product information are. It depends on how much information and data you have about your customers and their buying journeys. It depends on your current tech and marketing stack roadmap.
But, most importantly, it depends on what your consumers desire — what problem is your brand there to solve for them? If you can start to answer these questions, you’ll begin to see what impact this could have on your bottom lines and brand connection.
What’s most important is this: When you start to incorporate generative AI into your buying and shopping experiences, you must track the response from customers. Are they buying more or less? Do they come back more frequently or less? Are they spending more or less? Are they buying new product categories that they haven’t purchased previously?
Continuous monitoring of key performance indicators (KPIs) surrounding this new conversational commerce play will help you pivot and redirect course as your customers and their desires are made known.
Generative AI: The Deep Dive Begins
The past two years have been filled with tons of AI in ecommerce concepts, ideas and strategies, and while I’ve mostly resisted the urge to write about this area, it’s now become irresistible. Not only will generative AI change the way consumers converse, chat and convert, but I also believe brands that do generative AI right will develop increased levels of anthropomorphism between consumer and brand. This will ultimately strengthen the bond between both parties in a humanistic way we have never seen before.
So, you have to ask yourself, do you… “take blue pill, and the story ends. You wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to. You take the red pill, you stay in Wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes.”
This rabbit hole of generative AI will go very, very deep and with that great power, comes great responsibility and great opportunity — and as Neo once said, “I don’t know the future. I didn’t come here to tell you how this is going to end. I came here to tell you how it’s going to begin.”
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