Using AI to Improve Your eCommerce Business

We’re in an exciting age of rapid technological development, especially as it concerns AI.

Unless you have been completely out of the loop, you are likely already aware of how much of an impact AI is making, whether in image generation, voice changers, social media algorithms, or language models like ChatGPT.

What does it all mean for eCommerce store owners however? Is there a way to leverage this new AI technology in order to improve your business?

That’s exactly what I will be delving into in this article.

While the process of using AI in this manner is still extremely new, it is already showing promise as a means of rapidly speeding up workflow, collecting and synthesizing data, research, and other applications. If you want to stay ahead of the curve, it’s worth it to learn as much about AI as possible right now.

Why Use AI in eCommerce?

eCommerce has always leveraged the latest digital technology in order to improve upon its original concept, which is that of an online store.

This includes using social media for brand building and outreach, email marketing apps like Mailchimp and Constant Contact for newsletters and sales promotions, QuickBooks and similar apps for bookkeeping, Google Drive for keeping track of digital assets, and so on.

You also have to factor in that eCommerce relies heavily on various SaaS technology platforms, such as WooCommerce and more recently, Shopify and BigCommerce.

The use of cutting edge digital technology is nothing new in eCommerce. In fact, you could say it’s an industry staple.

5 Simple Ways AI Can Improve Your Business

Personalized product recommendations

AI can easily analyze customer data, browsing behavior, and purchase history to provide personalized product recommendations. This can lead to higher sales and increased customer satisfaction.

Chatbots

AI-powered chatbots can provide 24/7 customer support, helping customers with their queries and problems. This can improve customer service, reduce response time, and increase customer engagement.

Over the past few years chatbot apps have been growing in usage as a means of providing a minimal amount of customer service for eCommerce shops, but up until recently the responses were very basic and pre-programmed.

Now with AI, users can get an experience that is much closer to speaking with a live rep, 24/7, which can be a real game changer, especially for smaller businesses that aren’t staffed to provide this kind of service.

Keyword Research

One of the most promising uses of AI is in SEO. Apps such as ChatGPT are useful for performing quick keyword research that can help you build out the pages on your website for better organic traffic.

You can ask ChatGPT to find keyword clusters, blog topics related to certain keywords, meta title optimizations, and much more. Although ChatGPT is not connected to the Internet, it still has a massive data set to work with that can provide meaningful answers to most queries.

That being said, any SEO research you do with AI should be checked against Google Search, the Google Keyword Planner Tool, and professional SEO tools such as SEMrush, if possible.

Inventory management

AI can analyze data on sales trends, demand patterns, and supply chain management to optimize inventory management. This can help eCommerce businesses to reduce inventory costs, avoid stock outs, and improve delivery times.

Artificial intelligence in inventory management is already taking off as a robust sub-niche of AI apps, as this is one of the most practical applications of the tech. Why this is important for businesses is because the logistics behind inventory is often one of the biggest pain points for eCommerce merchants. Both from a business management standpoint as well as on the digital marketing front.

Understanding when you are able to push advertising to certain products, mastering your lead times, managing customer expectations in terms of availability and shipping times – all of these points are critical for running a successful eCommerce operation, which is why this sector of AI is taking off.

Customer segmentation

AI can also analyze customer data to segment customers based on their preferences, behaviors, and buying patterns. This can help eCommerce businesses to target specific customer groups with personalized marketing campaigns, increasing customer loyalty and retention.

One place where eCommerce store owners struggle with is in understanding the data that can be unearthed in places like Google Analytics.

This is extremely powerful, valuable data but knowing how and when to use it can be tough.

AI is great at collecting, parsing, and synthesizing data in a meaningful way that makes sense, and can even give you the directions as to how to best put it to use.

Using AI Like a Business Companion

You might be surprised at what AI is actually capable of. In a few short months, this tech has gone from obscure to mainstream, with apps like ChatGPT dominating the news and big players like Google announcing their own AI apps.

So the question isn’t “can AI help me?” but more so, “how can AI help me?”

There are certainly many ways that you can leverage artificial intelligence in your own eCommerce business, even if you are well established and have a reliable system in place.

ChatGPT can be used to quickly drum up email or blog topics in your niche, saving your marketing team valuable time every week. These apps can also create social media copy that is as witty, silly, or professional as you need it to be.

Need a document re-written with more elegant prose? ChatGPT can do that as well.

There are also specific apps for creating voiceovers, images, and videos using AI technology.

The applications are truly limitless – let’s say no one on your current team has a great “speaking voice” but you want to make a voiceover explainer video about your product or service. There are apps you can use to generate AI voices with text input. No need to pay anyone for voice acting, AI gives you to power to narrate an entire video in an easy and affordable manner.

This is just one example. If you get creative and really ask yourself what your business needs to move ahead, chances are there are several ways that you can bring AI into the picture in order to cut down on costs, streamline your workflow, improve your digital marketing, and more.

Mastering AI in eCommerce

While many new AI apps are trying to make this new tech as accessible as possible, there is still a lot to learn. There’s also the fact that there are literally hundreds of apps already – where do you even begin?

If you want to improve your business with AI, there are several points to consider.

First, you will want to start using an app like ChatGPT if nothing else. This kind of an app can allow you to do quick industry research, keyword research, can help you write marketing copy, and more. It’s affordable and a time saver, if nothing else.

Most people aren’t using ChatGPT to its full capabilities, of course. Don’t worry about becoming a prompt master overnight. You can ask ChatGPT relatively simple and straightforward questions and still get useful answers back. Just understanding that the true value of this AI app is in how creative you can get with the prompts.

As for all of the other apps out there, think about what might make sense the most for your eCommerce business. Do you need help with inventory management? Customer segmentation? Voiceovers? Marketing copy? There are a ton of different AI apps on the market now, so before testing them out and getting bogged down with option overload, think about your business needs first and then proceed from there.

If you spend some time trying to get used to these tools and you are still struggling to utilize them efficiently, then give us a call. We have a deep bench of eCommerce experts at the ready that are well-acquainted with this new AI tech and can help you find solutions that meet your business needs.

Our expertise extends well beyond AI, of course. While we are leveraging AI apps for eCommerce purposes, our true strength rests in our strategic capabilities. Whether you are looking to improve your business operations, digital marketing, or anything else under the umbrella of eCommerce, we have you covered.

Don’t forget, AI for eCommerce is a brand new niche on the extreme cutting edge, so tips and tactics that work one day might not be the best next week. This is why it pays to start staying on top of the latest AI trends now, and why reaching out to an agency knowledgeable in AI isn’t a bad idea either.