Seamless eCommerce omnichannel experiences and personalization are the two most notable core corporate strategies that have emerged since AI took over the world. Data from Forbes claims that 65% of businesses are using AI to improve their customer experience, they’ve also gathered that almost all Fortune 1000 companies are investing in AI. In just the past couple of years we’ve seen AI become an even more integral part of our daily lives, and it clearly isn’t going away anytime soon. This probably won’t be the last time we talk about it, so we hope you’re not tired of listening. Today we’re out to tackle how AI has impacted the customer experience, and we’ll discuss some of the ways brands are using it to their advantage. The following are just a few of the things that AI can do to make your customer experience better.
24/7 Support
Customers will feel cared for and appreciated the faster they can receive help with their inquiries. That’s one of the great things about AI. It never takes a break, it’s always ready to help customers with whatever questions or concerns are weighing on them. This allows the rest of your team to focus on tasks that are of higher value. Even if it isn’t capable of solving a customer’s issue immediately, it can help to summarize a customer’s message or even draft a response making the process more streamlined for customer service agents. Customers love options, they want to choose when and how they reach out for information. They appreciate the flexibility that automated systems offer and have learned to expect a consistent experience across all channels.
A real-world example of AI in customer service is Walmart. They use customer service chatbots across channels that transcends out to the in-person shopping experience. It can help customers locate products in the store and suggest complementary products. This can help personalize the customer experience while boosting sales as well.
Efficiency
If many of your team’s tasks require considerable human-power, once these systems become automated your team will be free to tackle more complex issues. Rather than focusing precious time on repetitive tasks that can easily be automated, you can save on labor and leave the high-level tasks to your team. AI can also help with training your staff, compiling loads of customer data as well as inventory management data, and so many other repetitive tasks that take up too much of your team’s time. AI can digest information much faster than a human can, and it can consume data across channels to get a well-rounded view of all of the information that is integral to a personalized customer experience in seconds.
Security
AI can help brands optimize fraud detection and security online and in-store. This is a valuable tool for the safety of your customers’ information as well as preventing fraudulent transactions that will impact your business. In 2023, fraudulent activity resulted in over $100 billion in lost revenue and has thus resulted in retailers raising prices to make up for that loss. Using historical data from previous fraudulent transactions, retailers can better identify if a transaction is fraudulent before it’s too late. AI surveillance is becoming more prevalent in-store as well, which can analyze suspicious behaviors in real-time. This can significantly reduce shoplifting and increase safety in stores by utilizing facial recognition technology and alerting your team automatically.
Forecasting
By analyzing historical data and customer behaviors, AI can predict when and how much support will be appropriate at any given time. This can help prepare your customer service team for periods of particularly high volume. Predictive AI can help retailers with demand forecasting also as predictive models can use tons of data from different channels to accurately assume the quantity and frequency of inventory needed to keep up.
An example of how AI can aid in demand forecasting is popular Swedish fashion retailer H&M. They use predictive AI to learn how much product is needed based on historical data, where the product should be placed, and help to indicate when specific items become popular and which customers to best market those items to. This can help brands switch to more sustainable decision making as it can help with reducing waste from leftover products.
Personalization
As mentioned earlier, personalization is one of the core strategies for brands who are interested in distinguishing themselves as front runners in their industry. Personalization can be extremely powerful in catering the customer experience to each individual and making everyone feel special. Rather than taking the place of human interaction, AI can support agents with the context needed to deliver faster and more personalized customer experiences. AI can analyze data like purchase history and demographics to target advertisements and special offers that are explicitly relevant to each individual customer. All types of content including text, images, video and audio can all be personalized based on customer data in real time. This can help with targeting customers across multiple different channels.
The consensus about how AI can help your business and why it’s one of the best ways to improve the customer experience and increase eCommerce sales is that AI can simply take a lot of monotonous tasks off of your team’s plate. AI is capable of compiling lots of information about your customers quickly and can provide us with insights we wouldn’t have had before. These things are all helpful in improving your customer experience. Since all business operations can be executed more efficiently than before you can use human power for the things that really matter. If the power of AI is harnessed correctly, it can improve your business, and the experience of both your team and your customers. Work smarter, not harder, it’s a win-win!
With decades of experience under our belt, there’s pretty much nothing we haven’t seen. Whether you’re looking for ways to increase sales or ways to improve the customer experience, learn more about how AI can help your business grow by contacting Team Virid, we make eCommerce work!
