Welcome to the debut of our new blog series, “E-Commerce Innovators” – where we spotlight the visionaries driving change and shaping the future of online retail. In this series, we bring together thought leaders from across the e-commerce landscape to share their insights, breakthroughs, and unique perspectives on the trends transforming our industry.
We are thrilled to feature Ashutosh Shukla, a visionary leader and Director of Product Management at Carousell Group. Carousell is pioneering Southeast Asia’s recommerce and classifieds market, transforming how people buy and sell secondhand goods online. As a leader in the region, Carousell leverages its robust platform to promote sustainable consumption by encouraging the reuse and resale of items, from fashion to electronics.
Hey, Ashutosh! Great to have you with us today! Let’s start with the top level, so – what is the most exciting e-commerce business or technology trend today, and why?
Conversational e-commerce is, in my view, one of the most exciting technology-driven trends. With the rise of LLM capabilities, it has the potential to be a complete game changer. Users will be able to rely on a virtual assistant to handle virtually any task, including shopping.
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Which aspects of e-commerce will AI affect the most: search, customer support, personalization, or something else?
I believe search will experience the most dramatic transformation. Instead of everyone using keywords or images to search, AI assistants will take on that role for users. Imagine a scenario where an AI assistant can create shortlists, curate collections, place orders (new or repeat), and manage tasks end-to-end. It would be like everyone having their own personal assistant in their pocket.
Chatbot-type user interfaces have made a huge comeback with GPT technology. Will users learn to love chatting, or will AIs find new ways of communicating with users?
Chatbots are set to evolve and become much smarter over time, eventually becoming like a personal butler that manages various aspects of life. Communication will be multimodal, integrating text, voice, images, video, and more. These chatbots will work seamlessly across devices—whether it’s a home camera, phone, laptop, or even a physical robot. They’ll become omnipresent, learning user preferences and making it easy to handle daily tasks. However, as this technology advances, personal health, data privacy, and ethics will require serious investment and attention from both companies and regulators.
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