The term artificial intelligence or AI, in short, began to be a buzzword; the implantation of it has grown rapidly.
Businesses that want to set themselves apart from the competition have been investing heavily in this technology. One area where it is exceedingly useful is within the e-commerce sector. I originally began analysing AI as part of my ongoing research into marketing automation, which is indeed fascinating. Let’s take a deep dive into AI.
What is AI?
Artificial intelligence might not have everyone excited. There are the technophobes warning about the doom it will bring on job security over the next ten to twenty years, and how this technology that is able to replicate human behaviour will change our lives. Even tech giants like Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg have voiced their concerns about the use of this technology. But, still, this technology is developing as institutions such the University of Oxford and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are working on mapping out the human brain. Their goal is emulating the human brain. Still, it cannot be ignored, as the infrastructure is already here – from the internet, smartphones and other devices.
As this technology is spreading, one area of application where AI has been found to be effective is within the e-commerce sector, where chatbots have been used to increase and make online shopping easier. More so, the return on investment seen as the Boston Consulting Group has reported, that some retailers that have implemented cognitive computing to use personalization strategies have lead sales to gain 6% -10% more than those without of AI.
How this cognitive computing technology works is by integrating online shopping with messaging apps such as WeChat, Facebook Messenger, or WhatsApp, but other voice technologies can also be utilized, like Amazon Echo. In practice, the online shopper would chat to the AI robot asking it questions. The chatbot in return would then provide the customer answers, as well as make recommendations based on the customers shopping history and profile. Sometimes a human voice is used, but in other times there is only an image for the customer to see.
An example of one of these that made use of chatbots in an e-commerce site was that of ShopBot. ShopBot is the cognitive system of eBay and was launched a year ago in October. The use of ShopBot came as a result of declining growth of the company. The focus of this application was therefore to expand eBay’s marketplace awareness and to reach out to a new market with the use of messaging applications such as Facebook Messenger.
Although eBay found AI useful as a strategy to restructure its focus, AI can also be used to differentiate some companies by offering a more curated experience for a customer using an online portal as it has more of the feel of an in-store experience. This can be seen with the example above of ShopBot. A more personalised experience allows the customer to save time while shopping online since they can ask questions and get information.
A key element in the smooth operation of servicing a customer is payment. As such, many retailers have partnered with payment players such as MasterCard, which has a digital payment service called Masterpass, to allow for a single retail channel experience as the customer does not need to leave the application for paying for the goods.
Even though ChatBots are in their beginning adoption stage, the possible reward of a smoother customer experience is clear, even if the invested amounts aren’t that immediately visible.
But one market that might lead the way is China. Around 200 million Chinese have added their payment information on WeChat. This is a large number, but it will grow even more as there are upgrades to the telecommunications networks, particularly the mobile networks, which can allow faster transfer of data to the robot clouds. This will also speed up the response time, which is needed for a more natural speech.
Still, there is an increasing adoption of cognitive computing. For instance, in 2015, 65% of American smartphone users were using voice assistants, which was a jump of 30% in two years. That trend will increase remarkably through 2020.
As these different barriers of technological challenges and societal hurdles are being overcome there will be a greater mass adoption of ChatBots. Nonetheless, the trend of the use of this type of technology and the possible rewards it can allow should be monitored, particularly by shrewd investors and companies that want a competitive edge.
Don’t be scared of AI – learn how to take the drivers’ seat. There are plenty of ways to re-qualify yourself to be at the cutting edge of AI.
Ghostwriter of article. Published in thesouthafrican.com. [Text altered].
Comments
Post a Comment