How Artificial Intelligence Can Benefit E-Commerce Businesses

Unless you’ve been on a sabbatical deep in the rainforests of Peru, you’ve probably heard about Artificial Intelligence (AI). But if you still relate it to all things science fiction and robotic, it’s time to look further. Whether you know it or not, AI is gradually filtering into all aspects of our lives. From security checks at the airport to enhanced user experience and self-checkout cash registers, AI is everywhere.

According to Business Insider, 85% of customer interactions will be handled without a human by 2020. And why not? When phone calls, emails, social comments and chats can all be responded to faster and more efficiently by an automated system taught to replicate human functions. It makes sense to focus human talent on other areas. Artificial Intelligence may be changing the way businesses serve their customers, but how is it changing the face e-commerce?

Creating A More Personalized Customer Experience

While “artificial” tends to imply something negative or dehumanized, Artificial Intelligence actually allows sales people to provide a more personalized experience for their customers. How so? AI can analyze vast data sets way more efficiently than a human being. This means that it can rapidly identify clusters and patterns in the information - such as similarities between customers, past purchasing behavior, credit checks and other common threads. Millions of transactions can be analyzed every day to target offers down to a single customer.

Key information that may have previously remained in cyberspace can be put to good use. Through actionable sales intelligence, companies have access to rich insights regarding client behavior before, during and after a purchase. This allows them to create a more personalized experience and create a form of intelligent customer engagement at every point of contact.

Predictive marketing companies like Mintigo provide AI solutions for marketing, sales and CRM systems. Explains Chief Product Officer, Atul Kumar: “We offer predictive intelligence and contextual sales messages that help companies engage their customers in a real and impactful way.” Sales teams are empowered with information like never before. They can personalize the sales cycle through AI-driven applications that are “helping sellers to engage the right prospects with the right message at the right time.”

Getty Images uses Mintigo to identify potential clients using intelligence showing which companies have websites featuring images from Getty's competitors. This gives Getty’s sales team a leg up to better target prospects and win new business. Actionable sales intelligence is delivered at scale to the Getty sales team across millions of potential customer records. Without AI and machine learning the Getty system would not be possible at these volumes.

AI technologies will help arm e-commerce companies with timely intelligence to help solve their business challenges. Using Artificial Intelligence, sales teams can identify who is most likely to buy their product (based on past purchase history, demographics, etc). This way, when they do have a conversation with a prospective buyer, they are well informed as to what the customer actually needs - and therefore, more successful with their sales.

Retargeting Potential Customers

According to Conversica, at least one third of all marketing leads fail to be followed up by sales staff. Which means that pre-qualified potential buyers interested in your product fall through the cracks.

Furthermore, many companies are overloaded with customer data that they do little or nothing with. This is a goldmine of intel that can be used to enhance the sales cycle for.

Look at AI in retailing for example, facial recognition is now being used not only to deter shoplifters by scanning their images on CCTV cameras. Facial recognition is now capturing customers’ “dwell times” as well. That means that if you linger for a notable length of time by a certain product - say, a coffeemaker - that information will be stored for use upon your next visit.

As AI improves and develops, you could even start seeing special offers on your computer screen based on your in-store dwell time. In other words, omnichannel retailers are gaining ground on the ability to remarket their products to customers. The face of sales is changing by responding to the customers’ lead and impulses. Almost like reading their minds.

Creating An Efficient Sales Process

Gone are the days of picking up the Yellow Pages and cold-calling clients, or turning up on their doorstep unannounced with products they don’t want or need. Sales techniques have thankfully moved on beyond such time-consuming methods. Consumers’ lives are now influenced by so many more types of media, from TV commercials to social media. Even Snapchat has become a viable sales and marketing tool.

If you want to customize your solutions and craft a sales message that reaches customers at the right time on the right platform, integrating AI into your CRM may be the way to go. If your AI system enables natural language learning and voice input, like Siri or Alexa, your CRM will answer customer queries, solve problems and even identify new opportunities for sales. Better than that? An effective AI-driven CRM can multitask to handle all these functions and more.

The North Face is an example of one company stepping up their game using AI to get to know their customers better while offering tailored solutions. With the help of IBM’s Watson, their goal is to help online shoppers find the perfect jacket. How? By asking customers questions using voice input AI technology, such as where and when they will be using the jacket. Watson then scans through over 350 products to find the ones that best fit the situation based on customer input and its own research - such as chances of precipitation or harsh weather conditions in the area.

Without a doubt, Artificial Intelligence is changing the face of sales for the better by evolving the sales process intelligently so customers will no longer be offered solutions that are neither tailored nor appropriate. It's making drastic changes to the way companies deal with their clients, getting quicker access to information and harnessing their employees’ talent for better use.

Jia is the CEO and Founder of Studio 15, a socially responsible fashion brand. Follow her on Twitter @JiaWertz and LinkedIn.