The best AI tools for e-commerce
November 14, 2024AI is transforming the way we shop online. It is always transforming the way we sell online. Here are the top AI tools for e-commerce success.
One of the biggest challenges many e-commerce brands face is moving from AI experimentation to successfully implementing the technology. If you’re reading this, you’ve probably already heard how AI is fundamentally changing the e-commerce space. You’re probably also eager to start seeing the benefits of this game-changing tech.
However, to get the most out of any new technology, there are a few things you need to understand first. This includes what your business actually needs, what your AI for e-commerce options are, and what you need to do ahead of time to ensure you get the most out of any AI e-commerce investment. So, where do you start turning AI potential into real-world results?
Getting started with AI for e-commerce
To get the most out of any AI investment for your e-commerce strategy, you need to start with a clear idea of what your potential AI-enabled use cases are. While the technology is already capable of amazing things, it can’t do everything for you. The key to successfully implementing AI for e-commerce is to start small and scale up. For example, AI can’t take over the running of your warehouse, but it can give you and your team targeted inventory management recommendations and predictive demand insights that help you make better decisions.
Once you have your use cases, you need some tools. And there are a lot of them out there. Unsurprisingly, the AI market is seeing huge growth right now, with a large number of companies and solutions claiming to be able to help e-commerce companies grow, reduce costs, and provide better customer experiences. Let’s look at some of the best available.
Creating product descriptions with AI
One of the most influential AI tools for e-commerce success is using Generative AI to create product descriptions. These product descriptions, which accompany product listings across all channels and marketplaces, are key to driving conversions. They provide potential customers with key product information and can bring your products to life across all markets and for all audiences. By using Generative AI, you can create detailed and engaging product descriptions in seconds, while also localizing these descriptions for individual markets and languages.
Key to this use of Generative AI is a centralized source of accurate, market-ready product information. Without this single source of truth, GenAI tools do not have the data they require to create correct and complete product descriptions. This is why Product Information Management (PIM) software is so essential to get the most out of any AI investment for e-commerce. PIM provides this single source of truth, ingesting raw data from across the supply chain and providing accurate, up-to-the-minute information for the AI tools to enhance.
AI tools for creating e-commerce product descriptions:
- Jasper: An AI-driven content generation tool that assists in creating product descriptions, marketing copy, and other content, streamlining the product development process.
- inriver Inspire: Leverages AI and the structured data held within your inriver PIM system to generate descriptions, social posts, SEO keywords, and much more. Discover more about inriver Inspire.
Inventory and supply chain management with AI
Warehouse management and maintaining optimal stock levels requires precise forecasting, efficient storage systems, and accurate tracking to prevent both stockouts and excess inventory. Doing this while also coordinating multiple vendors, manufacturers, and shipping partners requires sophisticated logistics planning and real-time monitoring – especially if you add seasonal demand fluctuations to the mix.
AI-driven tools for inventory and supply chain management can analyze patterns and predict future demand, allowing businesses to reduce waste, meet demand, and maximize profits.
AI tools for e-commerce inventory and supply chain management:
- Salesforce Einstein: Salesforce Einstein provides AI-powered insights to help businesses make informed decisions about inventory levels and supply chain optimization.
- Blue Yonder: Blue Yonder offers supply chain management solutions, including demand forecasting and inventory optimization, to enhance operational efficiency.
Digital sales and marketing with AI
Digital advertising costs continue to rise across platforms, while increasing privacy regulations and tracking restrictions make targeting and attribution more complex. Building customer loyalty in a space where competitors are just a click away requires ongoing engagement and exceptional service.
Targeted marketing campaigns, dynamic pricing, and customer segmentation have all become more efficient with AI. These tools allow businesses to better understand and respond to customer preferences and market trends, improving ROI on marketing spend.
AI tools for e-commerce sales and marketing:
- Bloomreach: Bloomreach enables personalized product recommendations, optimizes search results, and automates marketing campaigns.
- Surfer AI: AI-powered content optimization for search engines, improving organic traffic and sales through AI-driven content audit.
- Optimonk: An AI-driven platform that creates personalized pop-ups and A/B tests to enhance conversion rates and sales.
E-commerce customer experience with AI
Experience is everything in the e-commerce world. Consumers want intuitive website navigation, detailed product information, and seamless checkout processes with responsive customer support across various channels. Tools like chatbots and recommendation engines can make customer interactions smoother, tailored, and more impactful, driving customer satisfaction and loyalty. They can also help manage customer expectations around delivery times, product quality, and service response while collecting and acting on feedback.
AI tools for e-commerce customer experience:
- AI Wishlist: Leverage data from browsing behavior, visitor profiles, and sales trends to predict purchasing intentions. The solution shows the products a visitor has viewed in a neat-looking notification feed, ordered by the likelihood of purchase, starting with the item they are most likely to buy.
- Lyro by Tidio: 24/7 customer support and shopping assistance that can handle a wide range of queries, from product recommendations and inventory checks to troubleshooting and order tracking.
inriver: The complete AI-powered PIM for e-commerce success
Using AI tools in e-commerce can help you grow and work more efficiently – but only if you choose the right ones. Businesses today have the potential to use AI to improve everything from product management to customer experience and marketing. As a tool, it can help decision-makers stay competitive, adapt to market changes, and better engage customers. But it is not a case of flicking the switch and seeing the benefits. Like all successful tech adoption, you need a clear strategy and goals that you can measure.
Inriver understands how to help our customers succeed in the ultra-competitive e-commerce space, as well as the importance of helping them leverage new technologies to stay ahead of the competition. That’s why inriver offers the most flexible PIM software on the market, powered by the latest AI innovations. Alongside Generative AI content enhancement, the inriver platform contains API-based syndication and digital shelf analytics technology to provide the complete solution for brands and manufacturers wanting to take their e-commerce game to the next level. Get in touch today for a personalized demo on how the inriver PIM can help you achieve success in the competitive e-commerce space.
want to see the inriver PIM in action?
Schedule a personalized, guided demo with an inriver expert today to see how the inriver PIM can get more value from your product information.