Amazon Prime boasts 100 million subscribers to its pay-for-privileges service. One of the key advantages, for which people pony up $12.99 monthly (or $119 annually), is fast free delivery.
Amazon has enlisted a host of cutting edge technologies such as robotics to accomplish this. The company is also famously experimenting with drones and self-driving trucks.
Developments such as these are why people should be appreciative of robots, AI (artificial intelligence) and ML (machine learning) in ecommerce. In fact, the ability to leverage leading technologies, whether as complex as one of those above, or as simple as a logo creator like Shopify’s Hatchful, is one of the key advantages of ecommerce.
Robots
Any tour of an Amazon fulfilment center leaves visitors marvelling at the degree of automation they encounter. Offering rapid delivery means Amazon must get products out of its warehouses and into the hands of customers as quickly as possible. The company has turned to robotics to accomplish this.
In an interview with PYMNTS.com, Christopher Cacioppo, chief technology officer of order fulfilment automation service provider 6 River Systems said warehouse robot assistants can be a safer bet to help warehouses up their speed, while adapting to changing business trends.
“Robotics is very flexible,” Cacioppo said. “You want to change your operations? We can just remap your robots, give them different areas to be in and they’ll take on the new work you have.”
Artificial intelligence (AI)
One of the biggest problems facing ecommerce retailers is abandoned shopping carts. Customers spend time on their sites, make selections, place them in shopping carts—and leave without making purchases. This indicates the shopper had an interest in the item(s), but decided against making the purchase at the last minute. By some estimates, upwards of 70 percent of shopping carts are abandoned.
One of the ways ecommerce business owners are trying to combat this is to personalise the shopping experience to a greater degree. According to the digital marketing news and information site ClickZ, online retailers have partnered with IBM to personalise their customer experiences with AI.
IBM’s renowned Watson creates a psychoanalytic profile of customer data in less than a second. It them asks where, when, and for what activities customers will be using the product in question. It then provides personalised suggestions ranked from “High Match” to “Low Match,” saving customers from scrolling through hundreds of images trying to decide if the purchase will be right for them.
Machine learning (ML)
Ecommerce is one of the most price-sensitive aspects of retailing. After all, the ease with which comparisons can be conducted is one of the key advantages of shopping online for consumers. Online sellers can’t rely upon fixed prices in the face of such fierce competition. They need to keep an eye on their competitors and make adjustments to ensure their numbers remain within the realm of competitiveness.
With machine learning technology, sellers can set their prices to vary based upon a number of different factors—all of which can be taken into consideration at once. Competitors’ prices, the degree of demand from consumers, the time of day and the nature of the customer inquiring about the product could all be employed to determine the selling price.
Another useful application of machine learning in ecommerce is in customer support. A large number of customer concerns tend to be repetitive. Intelligent chatbots can be employed to communicate with customers to identify their issues and resolve them—all in natural language.
Giving customers self-service support in this fashion can resolve their concerns quickly, without subjecting them to holding interminably on the phone, while listening to music so mind numbing they lose their ability to have civil conversations.
These are but a few of the reasons why humans should love robots, AI and ML in ecommerce. These technologies have made deliveries faster, shopping easier, pricing more competitive and customer service more satisfying.
Graphic by Sean Batty