Do you want to take your e-commerce sales and customer experiences to the next level?
Artificial Intelligence (AI) can help you achieve this.
This article will explore how AI can help you boost your e-commerce sales and customer experiences.
We will also provide best practices for implementing these strategies in your business.
Since you’re here, also see 7 outstanding benefits of bulk SMS for retail marketing and e-commerce businesses
What is AI?
AI enables computers to learn and make decisions like humans.
How?
For example, AI tools can help you in analysing customer data and understanding customer behaviour to determine the best product to promote in your SMS blasts.
More on this in the section on 5 ways to exploit AI.
Let’s explore how AI can help you sell more and satisfy your customers.
What are the benefits of AI for e-commerce businesses?
With AI-powered marketing and customer management tools, you can analyse large amounts of data and identify patterns.
What do you do with these patterns?
Humans are creatures of habit. If you can identify a pattern, you can use that pattern to improve customer experience, increase efficiency, and drive sales.
So, let’s look at the benefits of AI for your e-commerce business:
- Higher sales from better personalisation: With AI, you can suggest products to customers based on their interests. This makes your shoppers feel like you dig them and understand their needs. If you do this well, your shoppers will always buy more from you.
- Happier customers and a more effective team: AI chatbots can help you manage inquiries and customer queries on autopilot. This means your team can focus on tasks that require a human presence. Like fulfilling orders and answering the phone.
- Bigger carts from more precise product search: AI-powered search algorithms can help customers find the exact products they want faster. If your customers can find the product they want faster, they’ll add more to their carts.
- More revenue from better inventory management: AI-powered inventory management tools can predict product demand. This will help you know how to manage your inventory level to ensure you always have products to fulfil your customer orders.
- Stronger security through fraud detection: AI can flag fraud so your customers are safe. This helps build trust with your customers and minimises the risk of losses.
- Streamline operations: AI can automate order-payment processing and shipping tasks. You prevent errors and delays, which can improve customer satisfaction.
- Better data-informed decision-making: AI can analyse large volumes of data quickly. This helps identify patterns and insights humans would have taken ages to determine. With this information, you can tweak your strategy and decision-making.
Do big e-commerce brands use AI in their business?
Here are 4 major companies that are killing it in the AI game:
- Amazon: Amazon uses AI algorithms to personalise product recommendations and search results. They do this by using customers’ history and browsing behaviour.
- Stitch Fix: Stitch Fix uses AI algorithms to create personalised style recommendations. Using this data, they were able to improve customer satisfaction and retention.
- Wayfair: Wayfair uses AI to personalise product recommendations and optimise pricing. By analysing data on customer behaviour, they provide tailored recommendations for products.
- Sephora: Sephora uses AI-powered tools to provide personalised recommendations to customers. They use augmented reality to allow customers to try on different makeup looks.
Let’s explore five key areas you can use AI to make life easier and business more profitable.
5 ways to exploit AI tools for your e-commerce business
Below are five ways your business can exploit AI tools to do less work and get more results.
1. Use AI to market your products
AI-powered marketing tools (don’t worry, we also share some tools you can use) can help create more targeted and effective marketing campaigns.
Let’s explore how AI can help you do this.
1. Personalised marketing campaigns
Have you ever received an SMS, email or message from a brand that had nothing to do with you?
It can be frustrating, and we understand if you were tempted to unsubscribe.
With AI, you can avoid making this mistake. Using AI, you can create more targeted and effective marketing campaigns.
Here’s how AI can help you do this. AI can help you analyse these three core metrics to personalise your messages to your customers:
- Purchase history
- Browsing behaviour
- Customer preferences
You can do this for each person visiting your website.
Still using AI, you can pull out the best recommendation for each customer. Some AI tools can also help you create a customised message for each customer.
You can send such messages via email or SMS on autopilot using API.
For example, you can integrate SMSCountry SMS API into your marketing suite and send SMSes easily on autopilot.
2. Analysing customer behaviour
With AI, you can analyse data on how your customers/prospects interact with your website.
Such as:
- Which pages do they visit
- Which products are they viewing
Insight from your analysis will show you the popular product pages and the source of traffic to your website.
Imagine what this can do for your business in terms of ads targeting, inventory management, and identifying your winning product.
Let’s say you have a health supplements business.
And you integrate an AI-powered marketing tool like Marketo. You can track how each product page performs and the demographics of users who like each product. As well as where they are coming from.
So when you want to execute a marketing campaign, you’d know where and who to target and where to put more of your ad budget.
Examples of AI tools for marketing
Here are four AI-powered tools you can use to get more from your e-commerce marketing effort:
- Marketo
- Acquisio
- IBM Watson Marketing
- Phrasee
Here are some examples of companies using AI to streamline their marketing.
1. Starbucks
The coffee giant uses AI-powered algorithms to personalise their app experience. Using AI, they provide personalised recommendations for drinks, food items, and special offers to their customers.
2. Coca-Cola
With AI, Coca-Cola created personalised packaging for its “Share a Coke” campaign. After analysing customer data such as name popularity and location, they made millions of unique bottle labels with personalised names and messages.
3. Amazon
Amazon use AI-powered recommendations to increase sales and improve customer engagement. Amazon provides personalised recommendations for products to their customers which drives sales.
Also Read: Increase Your Revenue With These Powerful eCommerce SMS Templates
2. Use AI to provide satisfactory customer service
AI chatbots can change how you provide customer service.
Let’s explore ways AI can help your customer service.
1. Chatbots and Virtual Assistants
Chatbots and Virtual Assistants are AI-powered tools that can help improve customer service.
With GPT-3, you can train AI chatbots to provide the best answers to customers’ queries on your website chatbots.
Providing accurate answers to your customers’ queries helps reduce response times and provide quick and accurate customer answers.
2. Quality and consistency of customer service
AI can help your business improve the quality and consistency of customer service. All this while reducing costs.
How?
By automating routine tasks and providing your customers with personalised support.
For example, AI can analyse customer feedback and identify areas for improvement. Such as common pain points or issues.
You can use this information to improve customer service for your customers.
Examples of AI tools for customer service
Here are 4 AI-powered tools you can use to provide customer service that’ll make your customers love you more.
- Zendesk
- Ada
- Amelia
- Helpshift
Here are some examples of companies using AI to streamline their customer services.
1. Amazon
Amazon’s AI-powered chatbot, Alexa, help customers with order tracking. Their voice assistant, Echo, helps customers place orders and track deliveries.
2. Sephora
Sephora uses AI-powered chatbots to give customers personalised recommendations and beauty tips. Customers can chat with the bot to get fashion and clothing advice.
3. Zappos
Zappos uses predictive analytics to predict customer needs and provide proactive support. They track customer behaviour and use the data to offer personalised support.
Also Read: 10 Free SMS Templates For Excellent Customer Service Experience
3. Use AI to manage your business finance
Below are three ways AI can help your finance team.
1. Automating routine tasks
One of the major benefits of AI for finance is automating routine tasks. This includes tasks like invoice processing, payment matching, and bank reconciliations.
By automating these tasks, your team can focus on higher-level tasks.
For example, AI can extract invoice data and update your accounting system. It reduces manual errors and helps your team focus on other essential tasks.
2. Detecting fraudulent transactions
Fraudulent transactions can impact your e-commerce business’s bottom line. AI can help detect fraudulent patterns in your transactions.
Machine learning algorithms can flag suspicious transactions and prevent them.
3. Improving financial planning and forecasting
AI can help your team to improve financial planning and forecasting.
By analysing data and identifying trends with AI, you can generate more accurate forecasts. This enables you to make informed decisions and plans.
For example, you can use Kount, an AI-powered financial software, to monitor your business transaction to detect and prevent fraud.
Examples of AI tools for finance
These are the AI tools you need for your finance team:
- Ayasdi
- XAI Analytics
- Gridspace
- Kount
Here are some examples of companies using AI to streamline their finance team.
1. Amazon
Amazon uses AI-powered financial tools to streamline its financial processes. They use AI to automate financial reporting and detect fraudulent activity.
2. Shopify
Shopify uses AI analytics tools to track financial data and sales trends. They also use AI to automate accounting processes.
3. Alibaba
Alibaba uses AI-powered financial tools to track transactions and detect fraudulent activity. They also use AI to automate financial reporting and forecasting.
Also Read: The Best SMS Templates For Financial Services
4. Use AI to improve sales
One of the best applications of AI is in sales.
AI can help your business sell more products and make your sales process leaner and more profitable.
1. Lead scoring
AI can help you identify potential customers most likely to pay you. Based on their preferences and interaction with your business, AI-powered CRMs can help you score your leads and focus on the low-hanging fruits.
2. Sales forecasting and pricing
With machine learning, you can predict future sales trends and optimise your pricing strategies.
This could be information on which products or services are most in demand and when. This will help you forecast future sales trends and adjust your pricing.
Also, with an AI-powered sales enablement tool like Gong, you can monitor the activities of your sales reps to understand what’s working. So you can replicate it across your team.
Examples of AI tools for sales
Here are 4 AI-powered tools you can use to sell more:
- Conversica
- SalesPredict
- Gong
- InsideSales
Here are some examples of companies using AI to streamline their sales team.
1. Salesforce
Salesforce is a leading provider of CRM software. They have developed an AI-powered platform called Einstein. Einstein helps you analyse customer data and make more informed sales decisions.
2. Amazon
Amazon uses AI to personalise their product recommendations. They use each customer’s history and browsing behaviour. This has helped Amazon increase their sales revenue and improve the customer experience.
Also Read: How to Prepare For and Handle Unprecedented Order Volume (4 Expert Tips)
5. Use AI for hiring and HR
AI can help you streamline your HR processes and make more data-driven decisions.
1. Recruitment
Recruitment AI tools can help you find the best candidates for your open positions. AI will analyse resumes and job descriptions and identify the best candidates.
This can save you time and help you find the best talent for your organisation.
2. Employee engagement and retention
Employee engagement AI tools can help identify patterns from employee data and understand employee engagement levels. Such as insights into what motivates your employees.
Using this information, you can create retention strategies for your employees.
3. Performance management
AI tools can help you set goals, track progress, and provide employee feedback.
You can get insights into employee strengths and weaknesses by analysing performance data. This will help you spot areas for improvement and provide more effective feedback.
Examples of AI tools for HR
Here are the AI tools you can use for your HR team:
- Textio
- Eightfold AI
- Mya
- LeapGen
Many companies are already leveraging AI tools to improve their HR processes.
Here are a few examples.
1. Hilton Hotels
Hilton uses an AI-powered chatbot called “Connie”. This bot helps with recruitment and employee training. Connie can also answer common HR-related questions as well.
2. Unilever
Unilever uses AI-powered tools to identify the most qualified candidates for open positions. They have been able to improve the diversity and quality of their hires.
3. IBM
IBM uses an AI-powered performance management tool called “Watson”. Watson helps provide employee feedback. Watson analyses performance data and provides personalised feedback to each employee.
Common challenges of using AI tools in E-commerce
There’s a lot of good stuff you can get from AI. But using AI in your e-commerce business also has its fair share of challenges.
Let’s discuss some of the common challenges of using AI tools in e-commerce:
- AI requires enormous amounts of high-quality data to function.
- A lack of transparency in AI algorithms can be problematic.
- Integration of AI into existing e-commerce systems can be complex.
- AI tools can be expensive to install and maintain.
- AI still may have the risk of bias or discrimination in decision-making.
Common mistakes to avoid when implementing AI tools in your E-commerce business
While implementing AI tools can benefit your businesses. It’s essential to avoid common mistakes to ensure you use them efficiently.
Here are the mistakes to avoid while implementing AI tools:
- Implementing AI tools without first identifying clear business goals.
- Failing to ensure that your data is accurate and high-quality. This can lead to inaccurate results.
- Forgetting to train and educate your employees working with AI tools.
- Not considering the potential ethical and legal implications of using AI.
- Not testing AI tools before integrating them into your systems.
Supercharge your e-commerce game with SMSCountry
We’ve covered the 5 primary functions where AI tools can help your business.
These tools are a total game-changer for making things easier and more efficient. The bottom line is if you’re running an e-commerce business, you’d use at least one AI tool in your life.
SMSCountry’s fast and reliable bulk SMS service can help you make the best of AI tools.
You can integrate our SMS API into your AI marketing or customer support tool to trigger SMS to your customers that get delivered in less than 3 seconds.
Sounds like something you want for your business?
Schedule a free demo with us to see how SMSCountry can help you.
