The e-commerce world is highly saturated, making it harder for independent businesses to stand out from their competitors. Even if you have the latest and greatest product or an entire new lineup of services, shoppers may pass you by if you’re not providing them with a unique, personal shopping experience. Customers want to be treated like a unique shopper with specific needs and wants. They are looking for brands to meet and exceed their needs by supporting them during every step of their buying journey.
This is a big demand for brands. Staying on top of the latest trends and providing unparalleled service, after all, isn’t exactly easy. Even more so, figuring out what your consumers want and when is just one of the main challenges of running an online business. Fortunately, AI has seeped into this world and is helping CEOs, marketers, social media creators, and others streamline processes.
One of the many beauties of AI is that it can be applied to nearly every industry. Through machine learning and data processing, AI will quickly learn your industry and pick up on patterns and trends to provide accurate, data-driven recommendations. Of course, these recommendations will vary based on your specific industry. AI for car dealerships, for example, can assist in increasing showroom appointments by responding promptly to inbound inquiries. For hospitals and medical providers, AI can find diagnoses more quickly and assist in providing personalized treatment plans.
Any retailer with an online presence can lean on AI’s teachings to ensure their products and services are reaching the right audience at the right time. Through personalization tactics, AI can meet consumers where they are in their shopping journeys. This can lead to more efficient marketing tactics and more conversions. Here are three tips to personalize interactions with online shoppers using AI.
Table of Contents
1. Audience Segmentation
One of the best ways to leverage AI for personalized interactions is to create audience segments. These segments are smaller, more niche targets within your broader audience pool. They can be separated based on specific characteristics, such as demographics, geographical location, behaviors, interests, and more. By segmenting your audience, you can deliver more tailored and direct messaging to resonate with specific audiences.
While there are different ways to segment your audience, AI is especially helpful in narrowing these segments effectively. This technology can analyze large amounts of data, distilling different characteristics and behaviors. It can know, for example, which users are most likely to purchase in the next couple of days versus months based on their site and search behaviors.
AI can also analyze from various sources, including your website, social media, and email newsletters. This allows for a full picture of each user, rather than relying on just one specific data source. Once your segments are in place, you can create different marketing campaigns relevant to a group’s particular needs. This hyper-personalized marketing will save you time and money as you efficiently reach your intended audiences.
2. Product Recommendations
Wouldn’t it be great if a product that you were looking for showed up directly in your email inbox? Well, with the power of AI retailers can do just that. Product recommendations can help entice users to make a purchase that they may not have been thinking of making shortly. Someone looking for a new television may be prompted to buy a new stereo system to enhance their watching experience as a whole.
By looking at a user’s recent online behavior, AI can suggest which types of products a user may be most interested in and when. For instance, AI tools will pick up on when a particular user tends to shop. Through targeted product ads, you can then deliver a recommendation during a certain time window that they may find most enticing.
Product recommendations can lead to an increase in conversion rates and higher average order values. Additionally, it can trigger more time spent on your website and deeper engagement with your brand.
3. 24/7 Support
A major challenge for online retailers is having customer support to help users at all times of the day. Just a few decades ago, it was commonplace to order items via the telephone and receive a lengthy tracking number over the phone! These days are behind us, meaning that consumers are expecting to get help with their orders and other needs any time of the day.
AI-powered webchat and virtual assistants can take the lead for your customer support center, directing shoppers and answering their various questions. A chatbot can let a customer know where their order is and when they can expect it to arrive. A virtual assistant can resolve simple issues such as initiating a return or exchange.
Each time a user comes to your site, the chatbot or virtual assistant can remember their prior conversations. This makes the dialogue more streamlined, effectively reducing any unnecessary back-and-forths and getting straight to the user’s query.
Takeaways
Personalized interactions are one way to improve the shopping experience. By putting the customer at the forefront, brands are showing that they are catering to each shopper’s individual needs. Leaning into AI can significantly help with these efforts while creating a more enjoyable, seamless experience for the customer.
