From Zalando’s AI chatbot to Amazon’s AI-generated reviews, online marketplaces have well and truly jumped on the AI bandwagon. This is good news for sellers with AI features making it easier to find customers and increase sales.
However, as more AI features are rolled out on marketplaces’ shop floors, sellers need to know how to harness their power to best effect. To get ahead of the game, here’s three ways AI chatbots will help improve your marketplace sales.
Historically, marketplace sales performance has been heavily reliant on listing optimisation. Ensuring you had the right product descriptions, the right keywords and the right images was essential for catching the eye of the right customers. But AI chatbots are changing the game.
Now, customers can ask marketplace chatbots to search for a product as if they were speaking to them in a shop - without thinking what keywords best describe the product. For example, you could ask for a ‘soft cosy autumn jumper’ instead of a ‘cable-knit merino cardigan’.
What’s more, AI chatbots are pioneering the concept of ‘snap ‘n’ search’. Instead of trying to type a description of that floral dress you saw into a search engine, you can now take a photo, send it to the chatbot and it will search for either the real thing or similar items. For example, Poshmark - the second-hand clothes retailer - recently launched Posh Lens, so customers can find items even if they don’t know the brand or style.
Shoppers don’t just prefer personalisation, they expect it. According to Insider Intelligence, three quarters of consumers expect brands to understand their unique needs, while a McKinsey study found that 71% of consumers expect brands to deliver personalised interactions. Luckily for marketplace sellers, AI chatbots and personalisation are a match made in heaven.
That’s because chatbots are becoming less customer service personnel and more personal assistants, enabling customers to ask for outfit recommendations based on their previous buying history, style preferences and budget. Chatbots can even give unprompted personal recommendations based on a customer’s behaviour on the platform. It’s the equivalent of the shop assistant watching a customer peruse a row of hats and producing a bonnet from another part of the store.
To take advantage of this real-time interaction, sellers will need to ensure all their listings and, increasingly crucially, images are up-to-date so that the marketplace assistant knows to produce your brand’s product when a customer is looking at alternatives. AI chatbots are also more likely to provide recommendations that have previously been searched, have higher ratings and feature on other customers' wishlists, so it’s worth updating your listings now.
If there’s one area that eCommerce still lags behind physically shopping: it’s cart abandonment. Whereas dumping a basket full of goods in the checkout queue is unlikely, clicking off a purchase online is extremely likely. In fact, cart abandonment is 77% for retail and a whopping 88% for luxury fashion. But AI could swing the dial back in favour of the cart.
Most abandonment happens at the point of sale when the final price (shipping included) is displayed as customers hesitate about whether they really need the item. AI chatbots could recognise a wavering hover and spring into action producing a video of the product in action or 3D image of the clothing in question. AI chatbots could also pop up after a set period of time reminding browsers that their cart is still full. Most importantly, though, AI chatbots are on hand to answer any last minute questions customers might have (i.e. is this dress machine washable?) With Forrester finding that 53% of online shoppers abandon their carts if they can’t get instant responses, AI Chatbots could be your online closer.
AI has the power to respond to live requests, but also enhance your wider operations through gathering and analysing data. As more and more marketplaces roll out different AI features, brands should make sure they know how to leverage their power to boost their marketplace sales.
If you need support understanding AI on marketplaces, get in touch.