Artificial Intelligence in eCommerce. Tips On Why It Is Worth It

Systems based on artificial intelligence, despite the advanced principle of operation, allow stores to easily increase sales and conversion rates.

For online store owners, the increase in sales in online stores in the year 2020 caused by the pandemic is a signal for long-term planning of a strategy containing the latest solutions to boost sales. In addition to investing in SEO and omnichannel sales, a very important element in expanding your store and improving sales rates is investing in solutions based on artificial intelligence and machine learning.

In this article, we are going to present you 4 reasons why an investment in artificial intelligence and machine learning may turn out to be highly beneficial for any eCommerce platform.

How the eCommerce Industry Changed In The Year 2020

The eCommerce market in 2020 recorded the highest growth in history, growing by 40.3% and constituting as much as 16.4% of global sales. Last year, over 150 million people did shopping online for the first time and the platforms saw record traffic. The coronavirus pandemic and restrictions are responsible for these changes in the eCommerce industry, which - by restricting the possibilities of movement - forced many to buy through online stores. Experts claim that the upward trend will continue, and by 2022 the online sales market will reach new heights and will gradually increase its share in total retail sales.

Why Is It Worth Investing In Artificial Intelligence In an Online Store

1. Improve Sales In Your Store

Thanks to comprehensive systems based on artificial intelligence, for example, a product recommendation system, the store can expect to increase its revenues by about 5-10% at a relatively low cost. The share of recommended products in total revenues can be as high as 30%.

The key to success is the appropriate configuration of the intelligent system, adjusting its appearance to the overall design of the website, and selecting the most effective model depending on the store tab being viewed. In order to be able to independently measure the effectiveness of intelligent sales support systems, it is worth connecting them to Google Analytics and objectively interpret the impact of additional tools on sales.

2. Improved In-Store Navigation

When customers search for a specific product in an online store, they have most likely already decided to buy it and are looking for something that will meet their expectations. Ensuring that the customer finds exactly what they came for quickly and efficiently is necessary to maintain the quality of service and develop sales.

SLI Systems research shows that 73% of customers leave the store’s website after just 2 minutes if they still have not found what they are looking for. Moreover, mobile users are even less patient. Optimizing the product search process is therefore crucial to maintaining interest and turning website visitors into regular shoppers. Search engines based on artificial intelligence technologies can come in handy. Intelligent search engines anticipate what the customer has in mind after entering an imprecise phrase and display the best-matched products. These solutions shorten the customer shopping journey, improve navigation through the store's tabs and increase the likelihood of making a purchase.

3. Customer Loyalty

Recommendation systems are an example of the use of artificial intelligence, which easily personalizes the store and thus improves the shopping experience of customers and increases their loyalty and trust.

Statistics show that as many as 80% of customers are willing to shop in an online store that offers some form of personalization, and 44% of customers claim that they will be happy to return to the store if it customizes their shopping experience to their needs.

Product recommendation engines based on AI technology and machine learning are able to provide customers with offers tailored to their needs in real-time.

4. Better management of product inventory

For online stores, managing your inventory is important, but, at the same time, difficult. Inventory management applications based on Artificial Intelligence use historical data to predict trends and create correlations between current and future requirements. This allows store owners to save money on stockpiling unnecessary inventory and optimize the supply chain.

Summary

Artificial intelligence is one of the hottest trends in eCommerce along with personalization. There are already a number of tools and systems based on advanced AI technologies that eCommerce website owners can install in their stores without specialized IT knowledge. Thanks to their use, they can easily increase the attractiveness of their store, boost sales and remain competitive in this rapidly growing market.