The AI revolution in e-commerce

According to a McKinsey Global Institute report, it is customer service that is changing most of all aspects of business operations due to generative AI. Artificial intelligence can increase its productivity by as much as 45 percent. It’s worth considering streamlining the BOK even in a small e-commerce business.

AI revolution in e-commerce – table of contents:

How does AI revolution influence e-commerce sales?

The small earthquake caused by the increasing use of artificial intelligence is not bypassing the retail industry, including online stores. According to data in the report “The economic potential of generative AI,” in this industry alone, the introduction of generative AI is a projected growth of $400 to $660 billion annually.

AI-based solutions make it possible:

Precisely target ads to the target audience,
Automatically prepare personalized offers,
Match prices in real-time to the market situation and even the individual customer, and above all
Convince potential customers to buy.

According to forecasts, with the implementation of artificial intelligence, sales departments will see a 3 to 5% annual growth. However, more sales also means more customers to serve. Fortunately, this area is where new technologies can be widely used. So they will improve not only online sales but also customer service.

How is AI revolutionizing customer service in online stores?

Customer service is one of the areas that stand to gain the most from using artificial intelligence-based tools in the coming years. Speed and accuracy of responses, as well as improving the customer experience, i.e. reliably giving them the feeling of “being taken care of” – regardless of the time of day or night – are the biggest advantages of chatbots, voicebots and virtual assistants that automate customer service in e-commerce.

How can customer service benefit from the introduction of AI in e-commerce?

What areas of running an online store are key to getting the most out of AI in e-commerce? Among the most relevant are:

Self-service systems – AI-based virtual assistants can offer concrete assistance, providing key information in real-time and giving practical advice for improving services,
Supporting customer service center employees – this is also where AI in e-commerce makes its greatest contribution. It not only offers employees the necessary information about the customer but also makes dynamic suggestions based on previous interactions and the available knowledge base.

If a company adapts self-service solutions, the customer communicates with a text or voice chatbot. The chatbot is integrated with a knowledge base of the store’s offerings and payment methods. It also has data on specific orders or shipments. The ability to respond quickly and in a personalized way to complex consumer questions ensures that brand communication remains consistent, regardless of the customer’s language or location.

An even more advanced tool equipped with AI in e-commerce is a system that supports interactions between a customer and a customer service center employee. Thanks to AI, agents talking to a customer for the first time immediately receive the customer’s data without the need for tedious identification. They also get access to scripts of previous conversations summarized by artificial intelligence. Another important change is the option of displaying to the agent suggestions for solving a problem based on a database of help articles, available not only during correspondence but also in real-time during phone calls.

A way for e-commerce to work effectively with AI is to develop employees’ customer service skills. With e-commerce AI, they have access to previous conversations that take into account issues identified and actions taken. This makes it easier to provide more targeted assistance. In addition, employees can benefit from individual recommendations for improving their performance, which includes suggestions for various training courses.

Top 3 e-commerce AI tools for customer service

Some of the most popular AI system solutions for customer service include:

Google Contact Center AI – one of the most innovative solutions running on Google Cloud,
AWS Agent Assist – for e-commerce based on Amazon solutions,
Accenture Solutions.AI for Customer Engagement – a cloud-agnostic solution that combines the best of different systems.

Let’s take a slightly closer look at each of them.

Google Contact Center AI

Google Contact Center AI (https://cloud.google.com/solutions/contact-center/), is an advanced solution applied in Verizon, Marks and Spencer, and Easyjet, among others. Google is a leader in Gartner’s Magic Quadrant 2023 ranking for good reason. Google Contact Center AI integrates with telephony platforms and lets you create virtual agents powered by Dialogflow CX, which is a tool for building advanced conversations based on generative artificial intelligence.

In addition, the system offers Agent Assist, which supports BOK employees during customer conversations by giving them relevant information and suggestions. The system also includes CCAI Insights, which analyzes call data and provides insights into service quality and customer satisfaction,

Source: Google Contact Center AI (https://cloud.google.com/solutions/contact-center/),

AWS Agent Assist

AWS Agent Assist is a complex solution combining AWS services such as Amazon Transcribe, Amazon Comprehend and Amazon Lex to transcribe and analyze live phone calls. The system helps BOK employees find answers to customer questions by searching for information in knowledge bases or documents. The system also suggests best practices and recommendations for improving service.

Source: AWS Agent Assist (https://aws.amazon.com/solutions/telecom/customer-care-agent-assist/)

Accenture Solutions.AI for Customer Engagement

Accenture Solutions.AI for Customer Engagement combines Accenture and Google Cloud services to create personalized and intelligent interactions with customers. According to Accenture statistics, it allows for a threefold increase in the Customer Satisfaction Index (CSAT), a 5 to 15% increase in Customer Lifetime Value (CLTV), and a reduction in BOK operating costs by up to 40%. The system is equipped with image recognition, text recognition and generation as well as speech production. Accenture’s solution can also process and analyze data from various sources.

Source: Accenture Solutions.AI for Customer Engagement(https://www.accenture.com/us-en/services/applied-intelligence/solutions-ai-customer-engagement)

Artificial Intelligence in customer service also means having built-in analytics modules to track the number of inquiries and resolved cases. This makes measuring the effects of implementing artificial intelligence in business relatively easy.

The AI revolution in e-commerce – summary

Artificial intelligence is not only impacting sales in the e-commerce sector but also changing the face of customer service. By using advanced AI tools such as Google Contact Center AI and AWS Agent Assist, e-commerce can increase efficiency in the BOK area by up to 40%. Personalization of offers, automation of tasks and real-time support are just some benefits of working with AI in e-commerce.

Developing employees’ customer service skills is also a very important aspect. This is because artificial intelligence provides them not only with the necessary information but also with individual recommendations for the application of best practices in e-commerce.

The application of AI in e-commerce will continue its rapid expansion in the coming years, creating new standards in customer relationship management. Shortly, we can expect to see the emergence of AI-based virtual shopping assistants that will be able to analyze customers’ shopping preferences in real-time, based on both their purchase history and emotions recognized in real-time by image and voice analysis. As a result, every shopping interaction will become almost like a dialogue with a personal stylist who knows our preferences and needs, perhaps even better than we do ourselves.

If you like our content, join our busy bees community on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube, Pinterest, TikTok.

Author: Robert Whitney
JavaScript expert and instructor who coaches IT departments. His main goal is to up-level team productivity by teaching others how to effectively cooperate while coding.
View all posts