As 2023 concludes, AI’s wave of transformation will have just left its mark on the business landscape. While some online retailers have been quick to adopt new technologies, many others have been skeptical. The early adopters of Generative AI and LLM technologies have leveraged them for data analysis, product insights, and website optimization. But this is just the beginning for wider-spread AI adoption in retail. When it comes to online retail, the customer journey remains the priority. Here’s how AI can enhance ecommerce, unlocking new potential at each level of the sales funnel, in 2024 and beyond.

Top Funnel: The Rise of GenAI To Drive Site Traffic And The Emergence of Bing

For ecommerce, website traffic remains paramount. Customers can’t buy your products if they can’t find you. SEO evolved into a content-focused game, but the rise of AI throws a curveball at content authenticity. Savvy (or some might say sneaky) marketers have hacked web traffic with AI-generated content. This recalibrated the algorithm for the undisputed search engine champion, Google. But OpenAI’s Chat GPT brings a new competitor into the arena: Bing.

Bing, once an SEO afterthought, is poised for a GPT-powered resurgence. Ecommerce brands will navigate a new landscape, juggling Google’s dominance with Bing’s emerging potential. The dilemma? Leveraging GPT for content creation, tempting for its efficiency, but potentially triggering penalties from Google and other search engines. Can AI work against itself to allow authentic, compelling content to thrive? 

Prediction: Small businesses will focus on detailed, target-audience landing pages to increase web traffic. Concerns about AI-generated content diminishing search quality will continue. Despite risking a penalty from search engines, some companies will experiment heavily with AI in content marketing and Bing-specific SEO. 

Product Focus: LLM Creates Personalized Product Explanations To Drive Sales

Attracting visitors to your site through Google or Bing’s GPT is just the first step. Now you need to generate their interest in your various product offerings. This is where AI shines. Thanks to tools like LLM’s, your product messaging can adapt to each unique customer. A regional shopper might crave different highlights than a city dweller, and AI tools can deliver the most relevant information to each individual shopper. Interactive Q&A features powered by GenAI take it even further, allowing customers to personalize their product experience and make informed purchase decisions. The result? Higher conversion rates and boosted sales, fueled by the magic of AI-driven personalization.

Prediction: Retailers will launch the first successful branded GPT apps for product discovery. GPT product-matching apps will form a new opportunity in affiliate marketing. Large Language Models (LLMs) will enhance customer assistance at e-commerce checkouts. Browser extensions arise to simplify webpages and filter unwanted content.

Beyond Conversion: Where AI-Powered Data Analytics Rise Above

The GenAI trend isn’t just a traffic driver; it also creates brand loyalists who want to experience your brand over and over again, going beyond the motions from awareness to sales to loyalty. GenAI’s personalized communication and support engender satisfaction and retention, ensuring that the “buy” button isn’t the final destination for customers.

The real strength of AI lies in post-purchase. AI-powered data analysis tools unlock hidden trends and product insights, making them accessible to everyone in the organization. The same set of data can immediately reach all departments to work in tandem to achieve better results across the entire customer journey. Marketing teams can craft targeted campaigns based on real-time customer data, and customer service representatives can anticipate needs before they arise. This data-driven understanding fuels operational improvements across the board, leading to informed, knowledgeable employees who can better support loyal, satisfied customers.

Prediction: Personalized data insight explanations will enhance customer understanding for businesses. AI assistance in mundane tasks will allow marketers to focus on retail innovation.

Next year, GenAI ascends to true retail co-pilot, optimizing the customer journey from awareness to loyalty. The ecommerce brands who recognize how to incorporate AI authentically and strategically will soar.

About the author

Georgios Grigoriadis is the founder and CEO of Baresquare, an AI-powered analytics platform that transforms data into instant clarity and actionable insights for the world’s leading consumer brands. Prior to founding Baresquare in 2014, Georgios was a senior web analyst at Sony Europe. Baresquare recently released a free custom GPT-powered tool, the “eCom Product Analyst,” to assist online retail brands with daily product insights and emerging trends. Baresquare has offices in the United Kingdom, Greece and the United States.