How AI Shop Assistants Are Changing the Retail Industry

With the rise of eCommerce and the accessibility of shopping online, the retail industry has seen radical change over the past several years. One of the most significant changes currently impacting the market is the seamless integration of AI shop assistants into the shopping process.

AI shopping assistants rely on deep learning to build up a comprehensive user profile based on the shopper’s behaviour. This allows them to recommend products that the customers are statistically more likely to enjoy. Shopbox takes this one step further, integrating its AI into eCommerce pages and allowing customers to browse for similar products with the tap of a button.

Shopping AI has brought a new sense of efficiency to the retail experience by giving personalised product recommendations and streamlining the sales funnel. That said, recommending products is far from the only positive effect AI shopping assistants can have on an eCommerce platform.

Let’s take a look at how AI shop assistants are changing the face of eCommerce.

How Are AI Shopping Assistants Solving Problems within the Retail Industry?

From decreasing customer loyalty to falling attention spans, the current retail space is undergoing a radical shift in consumer habits. What’s more, considering that the modern shopper has a whole world of choice at their fingertips, meaning retail competition is as tough as ever.

These modern problems require modern solutions, with the widespread integration of AI shopping assistants rising to the challenge.

Here are four current trends in retail that are being combated by the introduction of AI-powered shopping

• Falling Attention Spans
• Decreasing Customer Loyalty
• Higher Customer Expectations
• Changing Customer Experiences

Let’s explore each of these in more detail.

Customers' attention spans have fallen year upon year for the last 5 years

From 5 second clips to an email a minute, the increasing prevalence of social media and continual interconnectivity has led to a decrease in the average attention span. While these changes originate from media contexts, they also impact the retail industry as the average customer’s interest is harder to capture and even more difficult to maintain.

While shopping used to involve browsing through the isles in search of the perfect product, eCommerce has meant that products can be found quicker than ever. With this comes an increased impatience of the consumer, with the expectation being that a product should only take moments to find.

To face this trend, AI shopping assistants can help recommend products to customers based on their interests. This hyper-personalized shopping experience allows you to capture and sustain user attention, creating a flow of products for them to consume.

Coupling eCommerce with shopping AI has led to more engagement with products. The fast flow of information that an integrated AI shop assistant can offer is helping customers find exactly what they're looking for.

Gone are the days of endless searching. Customers want the right product, and they want it now.

Without personalisation, your customers are seconds away from leaving your site

eCommerce has moved through an incredible period of growth over the past several years. In fact, it’s currently estimated that there are a total of between 12 and 24 million eCommerce shops online today.

With numbers like that, the sheer quantity of products available is overwhelming. If a customer enters your store, return customer or not, and doesn’t find what they’re looking for quickly, there is a high chance they’ll exit and continue their search in another store.

With ample choice and the whole world of eCommerce accessible with the click of a button, customer loyalty is fast becoming a relic of the past. Due to this, it’s more essential than ever to quickly and effectively capture a customer's attention once they enter your store.

While a customer may not be loyal to a store, they are to a fantastic experience – with the integration of online shopping assistants allowing you to satisfy your customers’ desire for fast product recommendations every single time.

AI shop assistants are changing customer experience for the better

When shopping online, as most people do nowadays, the in-person experience of a shop assistant is much harder to replicate. Instead of someone who you can directly ask questions to and gain advice from, you’re left on your own in a catalogue of hundreds, if not thousands, of products.

Due to this, the customer experience is quickly becoming a more solitary pursuit. Yet, by utilising AI shop assistants, you’ll be able to reclaim a sense of the old sales strategy.

Instead of leaving your customers alone on your eCommerce store, most likely overwhelmed by choice, you’ll be able to guide them through the shopping process.

Not only does attaching a Shopbox AI shopping assistant lower the customer bounce rate, but it will also lead to a higher add to cart rate, boosted AOV, and increase conversion rate. With online shopping assistants, your customers will feel supported through the sales funnel, making sure they have a fantastic experience in your eCommerce store.

AI shop assistants are rising to meet higher customer expectations

With increased availability also comes a rising bar for customer expectations. If your store isn’t meeting customer expectations, the reality is that another brand will move to take your place.

Two vital expectations are automatic product recommendations and a readily available history. Customers are unlikely to log in to a store to save products; they expect the site to automatically save their search history for when they return to the site. Without automation, the customer experience is dramatically reduced, losing your clients

Currently, there is a race to perfection, with brands having to continually improve what they’re offering to stay in line with their competitors.

AI shop assistants can recommend products to a user based on what they’re currently looking at. For example, by clicking on the Shopbox ‘Find Similar’ button, your customer will be given a whole range of products with a similar quality, style, and function.

The power of AI shopping gives your customer a narrowed view of your products, showing them things they’re more likely to be interested in. By doing this, you give your customers a tailored experience, ensuring they get the very best of your store.

The power of personalisation cannot be overlooked, with an incredible 91% of shoppers preferring personalised recommendations when shopping. By personalising the online shopping experience, AI shop assistants can help meet your customers’ expectations.

Final Thoughts

While the retail industry is becoming more competitive and consumers are becoming harder to please, shopping AI has risen to alleviate these changes and support eCommerce stores. Not only can integrating an online shopping assistant into your eCommerce store boost conversion, but you’ll also be seeing a decreased bounce rate, increased revenue, and a larger average order value.

If you want to get started with the power of AI today, why not Book a Demo with Shopbox and see exactly what an AI shop assistant can do for your eCommerce retail business.

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