Such technology is being viewed increasingly as a means of relieving a busy time of year with thoughtfulness in gift selection despite being rushed.
Industry analysts have termed this year a critical milestone in AI-enabled commerce. Although figures quantifying expenditures driven by AI are not available, a report by Salesforce reveals that AI-enabled activities have the potential to impact over one-twentieth of holiday sales globally, amounting to an expenditure in the order of hundreds of billions of dollars. Supportive evidence can be derived from a poll of consumers in countries such as America, Britain, and Ireland, where a majority of them have already adopted AI assistance in shopping, mainly for comparisons and recommendations.
Although AI adoption continues to gain pace, customer satisfaction with AI-driven retail experiences remains a mixed bag. With most consumers stating they have found AI solutions to be helpful, they have not come across experiences they find truly remarkable. Following this, retailers have endeavored to improve product representation in AI-driven recommendations. Experts have cautioned that inaccurate or old product information can work against them in AI-driven recommendations, especially among smaller brands where larger rivals have an advantage in resources.
The technology is also developing in other ways beyond recommenders. Some AI firms have already started working on in-chat checkout systems, which will enable consumers to make purchases without leaving the chat interface. OpenAI has started to integrate in-checkout capabilities into conversations using collaborations with leading platforms, which will allow consumers to browse products and make purchases without leaving chat conversations.
However, this is still in a nascent stage and available on a selective basis to vendors approved by AI firms.
The above trend gives a cause for concern with regards to concentration in the market. Experts have indicated that AI firms control gatekeeping, where they get to show which retailers appear on the platform and which do not. Those big brands with organized product information will benefit in this case, but small retailers will need to adjust before being considered.
On the other hand, some small businesses feel that AI shopping presents an opportunity rather than a threat. Through their investment in quality content online, small businesses hope to become more accessible to AI shopping systems without necessarily partnering with them.
As AI shopping continues to gain popularity, it will soon become important for a business to organize information coherently in order to succeed. Although AI-powered shopping assists consumers in being better informed and making better decisions, overdependence on such technology can prove counterproductive. Those consumers who do not cross-check the recommendations they receive will appear less well-informed, bringing into focus the need to balance personal acumen with technology in a newly AI-shaped retail market.
