Not too long ago, there was a time when all the technologies we now take for granted would seem like pure magic. Imagine a person from the 70s time-traveling to the present day and witnessing you telling Alexa to dim the lights in your living room and turn on your TV – and that actually happening instantly with zero effort on your part.
From their perspective, you would seem like a true sorcerer with genuine superpowers.
Today, with the latest innovations based on AI and ML technologies, we can only imagine what life would look like 50 years from now. We are now that person from the 70s who perceives the ordinary present-day human as a magician.
One of the very first steps toward us becoming these future magicians is to understand the potential of AI innovations and implement them wisely (and early on).
As far as the online retail industry is concerned, novel AI and ML technologies are currently reshaping the industry, especially when it comes to optimisation of Ecommerce search with AI innovations. According to a very recent study by Statista, here are some of the key areas of online shopping experience that are highly likely to be improved by AI for ecommerce tools after 2024:
Visual AI infrastructures for enhanced product discovery can help your customers enjoy browsing and shopping via your online retail platform as much as they enjoy Pinterest or TikTok.
The Need for AI in E-commerce Search
The customer experience across your online store is among the most vital factors for its success, which is why using the latest innovations for AI in e-commerce search has become a necessity for this growing industry.
Why?
Traditional search methods that rely only on text-based are pretty limiting and leave your shoppers frustrated when they can’t quickly and easily locate the items they want. They end up angry at your online store, and you end up missing out on potential sales opportunities.
Here’s a great chart showing just how critical the speed and user-friendliness of your e-commerce platform really is:
Integrating AI into your search processes has become a must for a great online shopping experience. It helps your shoppers find exactly the products they want quickly and easily, providing a personalized and streamlined customer journey that keeps users engaged and satisfied.
The Limitations of Traditional E-commerce Search
Traditional e-commerce search methods fail to fully understand and meet shoppers’ desires. Here’s what’s been slowing down the growth of your online store:
- Keyword mismatches and false positives – When irrelevant or incorrect products are included in search results, your customers get frustrated and you miss sales, even though your overarching goal is to improve conversion rates.
- Too many filters – while search filters help in some instances, they often hide the product your customer would potentially buy.
- A limited understanding of user intent – when your search doesn’t understand your shoppers’ true intent, wants, needs, and style preferences, they try to find this understanding elsewhere.
These problems lead to search results that do not match the customer’s desire, which can lead to poor shopping experiences and missed opportunities for businesses to engage meaningfully with their shoppers.
Luckily, AI-powered search tools for e-commerce search optimization are able to understand the nuances of human language and desires through natural language processing (NLP) and visual search, revolutionizing how users find products online.
How AI Supercharges E-commerce Search
Natural Language Processing (NLP) and AI-powered visual search engines interpret and respond to customer’s search queries more accurately and allow them to find products using images.
They also aid in making your Personalized Recommendations more powerful by tailoring product suggestions to each shopper’s preferences and shopping habits, setting a new standard for customer satisfaction and engagement. This fosters a sense of being valued and understood by the brand, leading to increased customer loyalty and spending.
Miros.ai: the Best Real-World Example of Visual AI in E-commerce Search
Partnerships between large e-commerce platforms like Momox or Swap and Miros.ai are perfect examples of how visual AI in e-commerce search revolutionizes the online shopping experience, bringing many benefits to both the shoppers and online retailers.
These retailers use Miros’ visual AI in e-commerce search infrastructure to give their shoppers a quick and streamlined shopping experience, enabling them to locate and buy the items they want in under 60 seconds.
So, how does it work?
This Wordless Search and product discovery tool reads and understands what’s in a product photo the shopper clicks on and then provides a whole wall of similar items, all relevant to their search intent.
Watch this quick demo video here to better understand how Miros works:
It solves the problem of shoppers not being able to describe an item they want using limiting text-based search only, while it also minimizes the need for:
- website cookies
- metadata
- search filters
Take Momox, for example. Their GMV improved by almost 20%, AOV by 11%, and ARPU by 10% after just a short time of using the Miros AI-based e-commerce visual search. Swap experienced a similar KPI boost: AOV increased by 8%, GMV by 10%, and conversion rates went up by 4.5%.
Want to experience similar KPI boosts? Let’s book a demo with our friendly team now to learn more.
