Artificial Intelligence (AI), Customer Experience (CX), and Digital Transformation (DX) are the most talked-about terms these days. Artificial Intelligence plays a major role as an enabler of digital transformation in the eCommerce sector. Whether it is about voice recognition, chatbots, or predictive analytics, the best artificial intelligence solutions have digitally transformed the way eCommerce businesses promote & sell their products, provide customer support and make decisions. The digital transformation driven by Artificial Intelligence is helping eCommerce businesses to deliver better customer experiences, followed by improved sales and augmented profits.
Quick Links
In today’s competitive eCommerce business landscape, excellence in delivering the best shopping experience is one of the most significant brand differentiators. Now, as the customers have easy access to a plethora of brands at their fingertips, they evaluate, engage, and transact with only those online stores that are progressive in terms of technology and digital transformation. AI can be considered by many as the technology of the future, but it is already there – a significant part of digitally transformed eCommerce businesses delivering excellent customer experiences.
This article covers:
- What is CX (Customer Experience)?
- Why is CX important for the success of an eCommerce Business?
- Defining Digital Transformation (DX)
- Why do eCommerce Businesses Need Digital Transformation?
- The Role AI Plays in Shaping CX and DX in eCommerce
What is CX (Customer Experience)?
Customer Experience is the way a customer has felt during their entire purchase journey, starting from the second they have been introduced to the brand to after-sales services. Whether it is about interacting with the salespeople, products & services quality, or how long the customer has been waiting for the response from the support team are all the inclusions of the customer experience. When it comes to eCommerce, the navigation structure, look and feel, and technical performance of the online store are the important factors that impact the customer experience. Besides that, accurate inventory management, easy checkout, prompt customer support, quick order fulfillment, easy returns & refunds add fuel to an excellent customer experience.
Why is CX Important for the Success of an eCommerce Business?
The Covid-19 outbreak has changed the market conditions and the way consumers react to eCommerce. Due to stay-at-home orders and lockdown mandates, people started depending on online stores for all their essential and non-essential purchases. At the same time, the competition in online shopping is also consistently increasing with new brands emerging in the market. The only aspect that helps eCommerce stores to differentiate themselves from their competitors is customer experience. The eCommerce stores that excel in customer experience win the game, and others lag behind. As per the recent Salesforce survey, 79% of consumers believe that the experience remains a key differentiator even during the crisis. Thus, customer experience functions as a revenue accelerator and cannot be ignored.
Defining Digital Transformation (DX)
Digital transformation is all about adopting the new technology that helps businesses to improvise their processes, strategies, and methodologies. Digitally transforming helps eCommerce businesses to streamline their operational activities and enhance their efficiency and productivity to serve consumers using the best methods possible. Digital transformation is a game-changing concept that has evolved the technology’s role in the progressive eCommerce stores. More than that, it is a revolutionary move that has encouraged eCommerce businesses to innovate, unfold opportunities, grow, and gain competitive benefits.
Why Do eCommerce Businesses Need Digital Transformation?
When it comes to handling a profitable eCommerce business, you cannot afford to be stagnant in terms of technology. Your customers have smartphones in their hands with so many apps easy to access. A single flaw in your store can take them to your competitors for their purchases. Even though the Covid-19 outbreak increased online shopping demand, the eCommerce businesses that were digitally transformed reaped profitable rewards, and the rest of them struggled even to survive. So, it is just not enough to have an online store up and running. You need to consistently execute digital transformation strategies to differentiate your brand in this industry.
A wide range of technologies like artificial intelligence, machine learning, cloud computing, Internet of Things (IoT), Augmented & Virtual Reality, and many more are contributing to excellent digital transformation in the eCommerce sector. Among these, one of the most highly adopted technologies by eCommerce stores is Artificial Intelligence.
So, now let’s have a look at how AI (Artificial Intelligence) is shaping DX (Digital Transformation) in eCommerce that ultimately helps in enhancing CX (Customer Experience).
The Role AI Plays in Shaping CX and DX in eCommerce
You may already be aware of AI as the technology used by eCommerce giants like Amazon and their success stories. The truth is that many eCommerce businesses are using AI to digitally transform and improve customer experiences. Let’s look at the different methods AI is driving better CX and DX in eCommerce.
Chatbots
eCommerce stores are executing chatbots that help them provide 24/7 customer support to their customers. Powered by AI, these chatbots are getting more intelligent day by day and thus helping in delivering a better customer experience. So, no more a team of customer representatives working in different shifts is required, or collaborating with a call center is needed. Integrating chatbot with your eCommerce store would help you make a major move towards digital transformation and improve customer experiences.
Product Recommendations
AI can help you identify the browsing patterns, searched products, and purchase history of every customer on your online store. Based on that, you can set up a system that can display personalized product recommendations to the customers while browsing your eCommerce store. This would help you provide a personalized shopping experience to your customers, boost their loyalty and gain more conversions.
Inventory Management
An eCommerce store that integrates AI-enabled inventory management software can help in identifying anticipated changes in consumer demands and projected supply chain issues that can impact the inventory levels. Based on that data, you can make proactive decisions that can help your store eliminate common stock issues and order fulfillment mistakes. Moreover, instead of human resources, AI robots that work 24/7 are used to store and pick up stocks to speed up the workflow and processes of eCommerce stores. This can make your eCommerce store future-ready and help provide better customer experiences in terms of quick and flawless order fulfillment.
Voice Recognition
The voice recognition powered by AI enables the customers to search for the products they require with just their voice. So, now the language is not the barrier. You speak, and the products you are looking for are in front of you. This makes the search process easier and quicker for your customers. The voice search facility in eCommerce stores is not the future; it is the present. Many stores have already executed voice recognition being a significant step towards digital transformation to provide an excellent shopping experience to their customers.
Predictive Analytics
The predictive analytics powered by AI helps eCommerce businesses to gain in-depth insights and understanding of consumer habits and preferences. Based on that, they can tweak and twist their marketing strategy, improvise their products and services, and make many other decisions that allow them to boost sales and gain a competitive advantage. Also, with the help of predictive analytics, eCommerce companies gain real-time information about every customer’s unique journey in their store. Thus, they can help their customers at every step, starting from product information to the checkout process, and deliver the best shopping experiences.
It’s Time to Digitally Transform to Deliver Better CX
Digital transformation and customer experience go hand-in-hand. With all the different ways AI drives digital transformation and customer experience, your eCommerce business can gain an edge over the competition. As an online retailer, if you plan to invest in the best AI solution for your business, then the time is now. Just don’t procrastinate your progress; make your online store future-ready to gain financial benefits and more success.
_______________________________________________________________________
Author Bio
Jemimah Rodrigues
Jemimah Rodriguez is senior content writer working with GoodFirms – a reliable platform helping businesses in selecting right Software Companies & Products. For further information, you can get in touch with her on Jemimah@goodfirms.com