{"id":14418,"date":"2024-12-17T19:58:49","date_gmt":"2024-12-17T19:58:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dmsretail.com\/RetailNews\/how-ai-assistants-are-already-reshaping-shopping\/"},"modified":"2024-12-17T19:58:49","modified_gmt":"2024-12-17T19:58:49","slug":"how-ai-assistants-are-already-reshaping-shopping","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dmsretail.com\/RetailNews\/how-ai-assistants-are-already-reshaping-shopping\/","title":{"rendered":"How AI Assistants are Already Reshaping Shopping"},"content":{"rendered":"

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2024 is set to go down in history as the year of the AI assistant. Amid all the ongoing furor around new artificial intelligence applications, when it comes to actual utility for both brands and consumers, the cream that has risen to the top appears to be AI-powered agents<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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Amazon was one of the first retailers to launch an AI shopping assistant, but others swiftly followed. (Image courtesy Amazon)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Pick a retailer and they likely already have an AI shopping assistant, or are working on one. That list already includes Walmart<\/strong>, Amazon<\/strong>, Target<\/strong>, Victoria\u2019s Secret<\/strong>, Ikea<\/strong> and Instacart<\/strong>. And Amazon\u2019s cloud-division, Amazon Web Services, which has long offered technology it has built in-house for use by other companies, just released a white-label AI shopping assistant<\/strong> for retailers and other businesses.<\/p>\n

But perhaps even more interesting than retailers\u2019 usage of advanced AI is how non-retailers are leveraging this technology to place themselves squarely at the center of commerce:<\/strong> the AI search engine Perplexity\u2019s Shop Like a Pro<\/strong> tool is the most obvious example, but Google<\/strong>, Apple<\/strong>, FedEx<\/strong> and Yahoo Mail<\/strong> also are getting in on the action, among many others.<\/p>\n

This is more than just some gimmicky new tech. If AI agents take off in the way that many industry insiders and analysts predict they will, it could lead to seismic changes in the way people shop.<\/p>\n

OpenAI<\/strong> CEO Sam Altman called AI agents \u201cthe next giant breakthrough\u201d in a recent Reddit ask-me-anything session. That\u2019s because \u201cthese autonomous systems build a unique private knowledge base within consumer devices that can adapt to individual needs and enhance productivity without requiring any technical expertise to operate<\/strong>,\u201d explained\u00a0Yang Yuanqing, CEO of\u00a0Lenovo\u00a0Group in an interview with Observer<\/em>.<\/p>\n

2024 Holiday Season has Proven AI Shopping Agents\u2019 Utility<\/strong><\/h2>\n

This \u201cagentic\u201d revolution will impact any number of industries, from personal computing to finance, but some of the most immediate results already are on display in retail \u2014 prompting Jason Goldberg, Chief Commerce Strategy Officer at Publicis Groupe to declare that \u201cwe\u2019re on the brink of a commerce revolution.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAI shopping assistants are ushering in a new era of commerce,\u201d Goldberg said on LinkedIn. \u201cAI agents don\u2019t just suggest products \u2014 they personalize recommendations, streamline decision-making and handle routine tasks like grocery replenishment<\/strong>. This shift could eliminate the gap between research and purchase entirely, creating a more intuitive consumer journey.\u201d<\/p>\n

And this holiday season has shone a spotlight on these AI-powered tools, proving consumers\u2019 eagerness to use them. Salesforce reported that AI and AI agents drove\u00a0$14.1 billion<\/strong>\u00a0in online sales globally on Black Friday this year, with the usage of AI-enabled online chat services growing\u00a031%<\/strong>\u00a0year over year. Additionally,\u00a0traffic to retail sites from chatbots on Black Friday increased by 1,800%<\/strong>\u00a0compared to Black Friday last year, according to Adobe Analytics.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Enter the \u2018Agentic Era\u2019<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The swift proliferation of AI agents across a number of verticals (in addition to shopping) has led to the coining of a new term \u2014 the \u201cAgentic Era,\u201d that is, the ongoing shift in AI development from making \u201cbigger\u201d models into building assistants for specific purposes.<\/p>\n

Likely most consumers\u2019 first encounter with this was Google\u2019s somewhat bumpy rollout of its AI Overview results experience, which, instead of presenting users with a list of links, summarizes content in the form of an AI-generated answer. The kinks appear to getting worked out and consumers seem to be getting used to the new interface, to the point that this holiday season, Google touted the new search functionality as a quick and easy way to get better gift ideas<\/strong> on the same platform where many people already start their online shopping.<\/p>\n

Outside of Google, the AI shopping agent that\u2019s been getting the most buzz this holiday season has been Perplexity\u2019s Shop Like a Pro tool, available only to its Pro subscribers.<\/p>\n