Trending

Jul 25, 2024 6 min to read

5 Generative AI Use Cases in eCommerce

Dive into the transformative power of Generative AI in eCommerce with this article from trusted Akeneo partner, Constructor, that unveils how cutting-edge technology is revolutionizing the eCommerce industry. This article provides a comprehensive guide on the most popular GenAI use cases that professionals across the world are already using to strategically enhance customer experiences and drive eCommerce innovation.

Generative AI is transforming industries, with eCommerce set for some of its most significant changes this decade.

One popular application of the emerging technology is in content creation, with over 80% of marketers using GenAI for social media copy and images. Within eCommerce merchandising specifically, GenAI is streamlining content creation by allowing teams to automatically enrich product attributes, improve data hygiene, enhance product descriptions, and more — all at the speed of AI.

But those aren’t its only applications. Let’s take a look at five more compelling use cases of GenAI in eCommerce below.

1. Conversational Commerce

Falling under the umbrella of “conversational commerce,” solutions like Constructor’s AI Shopping Assistant (ASA) are AI-based computer programs designed to respond to online queries in a way that mimics natural, human conversation. They’re often integrated into websites, apps, and customer service systems to provide immediate assistance and support. 

Thanks to advancements in AI and ML technologies, specifically GenAI, these solutions have come a long way in recent years. Within eCommerce specifically, their use is most common in the following two ways:

For Product Discovery

Constructor’s ASA offers online shoppers a way to express their product needs in natural language. Then, they receive product and content recommendations personalized to their preferences, history, and intent, and reflective of the eCommerce company’s real-time inventory —  in less time. 

Our AI Shopping Assistant gives online shoppers a new, useful way to discover items they need and love — disrupting the current search and product discovery paradigm. We already have good product discovery solutions for people who know what they want and just want to search for it, or people who just want to browse a category, or take a product finder quiz. But in cases where shoppers have a more complex need that they can only explain in natural language, like ‘I need healthy items for a picnic’ or ‘I want a trendy shirt to go out in,’ the current paradigms don’t work. There was no good way to explain that need to the search engines of the past. That’s where our AI Shopping Assistant comes in. ASA makes suggestions based on detailed requests from a shopper — like a trusted, in-store associate would — while also instantly factoring in everything it knows about the shopper at hand.

Eli Finkelshteyn CEO and Co-founder of Constructor

ASA is a win-win for all parties involved. The GenAI solution allows shoppers to find what they need easier and more quickly, instilling confidence in their purchases. It also helps eCommerce companies keep shoppers on-site, boosting their conversions and brand loyalty.

For Customer Support

In the same light, GenAI chatbots are handy for customer support, providing instant, 24/7 assistance to a worldwide audience. 

These chatbots leverage advanced natural language processing (NLP) to understand and respond to a wide array of customer inquiries, significantly reducing wait times. They can also personalize responses based on customer history and preferences, creating a more tailored and engaging experience. Plus, they can optimize operational efficiency as they can answer simple, repetitive questions. This saves humans time to focus on more strategic tasks.

2. Advanced Merchandising Capabilities

GenAI is the driving force behind advanced merchandising capabilities, such as:  

AI-Generated Rules

A product discovery tool like Constructor allows merchandisers to leverage AI to automatically generate rules for boosting, burying, slotting, and optimizing product result sets for their KPI of choice. 

Merchandisers then get granular, directional feedback on their work, allowing them to review and override the rules in the dashboard. This is possible via Rule Performance, a feature of Constructor’s Merchant Controls & Intelligence suite. This is true even on rules they institute on pages without a ton of data.

AI isn’t meant to replace merchandisers, nor will it ever. It works as a force multiplier that can help them optimize less visible areas so they can focus on strategic work.

AI-Generated Collections

Creating collections, or personalized landing pages, is a time-consuming, manual task for eCommerce teams to handle. 

This requires the merchandiser to have a list of SKUs selected, a deep understanding of the catalog, or  have meaningful attributes in the catalog to build collections based on conditional logic. 

With AI-generated Collections, merchandisers can describe the types of product, occasions, or styles and leverage the power of Generative AI to bring relevant items into a Collection. 

The prompt “show the customer the most attractive products for hosting a summer bbq” returned close to 300 products from the store catalog. Merchandisers can then edit the AI-generated list as they see fit. 

This feature has many benefits, including, but not limited to: 

• Improving eCommerce SEO coverage.
• Enhancing the existing manual or logic-based Collection creation workflows.
• Improving operational efficiency, as merchandisers can move at the speed of AI.
• Lowering dependency on perfect product data, as Collections are generated automatically based on merchandiser-enter prompt.

3. Virtual Try-On Experiences

Thanks to advanced algorithms and ML, GenAI can create virtual try-on experiences for products like clothing and furniture. These realistic, interactive models allow customers to see how an item will look on them or fit in their home.

For instance, shoppers can visualize furniture in their living spaces, adjusting size and placement to see how it complements their existing decor. When it comes to apparel, they can even upload their photos and virtually try on clothes, getting a sense of fit, style, and color before committing. This is also true of shoes, as seen on Birkenstock’s mobile site below.

Birkenstock lets shoppers virtually try-on select models via their mobile site.

These virtual try-on experiences not only enhance the shopping experience, but also help customers make more informed purchasing decisions, reducing the likelihood of returns and increasing overall satisfaction.

4. Search 

What started off as a search bar has evolved into much more, thanks to the advent of GenAI. In addition to the chatbot functionalities, GenAI-powered ASA can also power the Search experience, taking the shape of:  

Autocompletion

Improve the utility and impact of autocomplete functionality with ASA intent-based suggestions. For a query such as “office clothes,” ASA could suggest search terms including “office clothes for summer,” “office clothes for women – business casual,” “office clothes comfort fit,” and so on. 

These suggestions likely wouldn’t appear in traditional autocomplete due to incomplete product catalog data. But when suggesting the “office clothes comfort fit” query, ASA infers beyond product catalog details. The Generative AI-powered tool recognizes the material in product images, content from reviews, and more to populate suggestions. Then, when shoppers select a suggested search query, the results shown are personalized to them.

Use ASA to help autocomplete fulfill shopper intent more accurately, building value to shoppers and your business.

Search Modes

When shoppers have a complex need and aren’t sure how to address it, ASA can generate intent-based recommendations, acting as a personal shopping assistant. These various search modes include:

• Recipe. E.g., “What’s a good peach cobbler recipe for someone who’s gluten free?” or “gluten-free peach cobbler recipe.” In addition to generating recipes with items the grocer has available, ASA makes personalized recommendations for each ingredient. (So, if the recipe calls for flour, and the shopper tends to buy organically, then options for organic gluten-free flour are shown.) Customers can easily add every product to cart from the recipe page.
• List. E.g., “Blush, eyeshadow, mascara” or “litter box, scratching post, collar.” In the first example, makeup recommendations map to the shopper’s preferred brands, colors, and palettes. In the second, ASA infers meaning based on other items listed and the shopper’s history to return cat collars (not dog collars) among the other recommended items.
• Complete the Look. E.g., “What goes with chinos?” ASA automatically generates in-stock suggestions across categories (shirts, ties, shoes, etc.) that’ll complement the chinos and reflect the shopper’s preferred styles, colors, price points, etc. This is possible via clickstream, or first-party behavioral data.
• Style Assistant. E.g., “I’m attending a state fair in August. What can I wear in the heat?” Again, ASA recommendations are easy to navigate, make sense contextually, are personalized, and span various in-stock products and categories (dresses, shoes, hats, etc.) to promote bundling.
• Suggestion. E.g., “I’m going camping with my kids for the first time at Yosemite National Park in October. What do we need?” or “What do I need to mount a 60-inch TV to my wall?” Suggestions highlight relevant products across categories. Recommendations are often based not only on product data and shopper affinities, but also on on-site content. In the last example, DIY wall-mounting guides can also be displayed to the shopper, alongside product suggestions.
  

5. Supply Chain Optimization

Generative AI can predict supply chain disruptions and provide intelligent inventory forecasting, enabling businesses to manage their stock with greater efficiency and precision. 

The technology leverages vast amounts of data from market trends, historical sales figures, weather patterns, global events, and other sources to identify potential disruptions in the supply chain before they occur. This allows companies to take preemptive measures to mitigate risks, like adjusting procurement strategies or finding alternative suppliers. 

GenAI can also forecast inventory needs with high accuracy, ensuring that businesses maintain optimal stock levels to meet customer demand. This not only reduces costs associated with excess inventory and stockouts, but also enhances overall operational efficiency, leading to improved customer satisfaction and profitability.

How to Prioritize GenAI Use Cases in eCommerce 

From content creation to conversational commerce, advanced merchandising abilities, virtual try-on experiences, and more, GenAI will continue to offer the eCommerce industry a world of opportunities. 

Before diving head first into a digital transformation project, companies should strategically decide where GenAI offers the most benefit. This often takes the shape of a customer-centric approach.  

“[eCommerce companies] will need to think wisely about where AI can help their business and how,” shares Finkelshteyn. “It won’t be about using AI for its own sake but instead about making smart bets on where AI can genuinely improve the user experience for their shoppers. [Ecommerce companies] will need to tread carefully between two extremes: they will need to ensure they don’t use AI as a gimmick in places where it looks flashy but doesn’t actually help users, while also not being so afraid of getting AI wrong that they’re the last to use it.” 

By thoughtfully integrating GenAI where it can truly enhance the customer experience, eCommerce companies can harness its full potential to drive innovation and growth.

The State of Generative AI

This report conducted by Forrester dives into how this revolutionary technology is impacting the B2C commerce industry and the tangible benefits of genAI.

Download Now

Nate Roy, Director of Brand and Content

Constructor

Akeneo Product Cloud Support

Jul 22, 2024 6 min to read

Simplifying Onboarding with Supplier Data Manager

Discover how Akeneo’s AI-powered Supplier Data Manager can enable brands and manufacturers to simplify supplier relations, accelerate time to market, and improve the accuracy and quality of your supplier-provided data through a concrete example.

Introducing Supplier Data Manager

Akeneo’s Supplier Data Manager is designed to address this challenge. Featuring a user-friendly portal for collecting, managing, and enriching supplier-provided product information  and assets, our AI-powered SDM solution automates and simplifies supplier onboarding to accelerate time to market for brand manufacturers exactly like Zigolf.

The Demo

In the presentation, Virginie Blot, Akeneo’s Sr. Product Marketing Manager,  demonstrates how Zigolf Category Manager, Julia, can set up the Supplier Data Manager interface to invite and collaborate with new suppliers, creating multiple portals to work with trusted suppliers like Motocaddy.

Motocaddy’s eCommerce Marketing Manager, Jimmy, received an email inviting him to upload product files for the new kids’ golf collection. The Supplier Data Manager portal guided him through uploading files, selecting media assets, and mapping product attributes to match Zigolf’s requirements, as well as pre-validated data through the power of AI, saving significant time and effort for both Jimmy and Julia.

Julia received the validated data from Jimmy, checked it, and finalized it for import into the PIM. The native AI capabilities within SDM even categorized and normalized the data, ensuring high-quality product information.

Watch the full demo here. 

The Results

Thanks to the Supplier Data Manager, Zigolf’s team no longer struggles with messy spreadsheets and chaotic supplier communication! They’re able to successfully onboard and enrich product data, and can showcase their products better, faster, and anywhere.

While Zigolf may be a fictional example, real-life companies like Rexel and InterSport have seen a 70% increase in automated tasks and saved 75 hours a month per person using Akeneo’s Supplier Data Manager solution.

Explore even more new features to enhance your product experience strategy and drive your business success.

Akeneo Supplier Data Manager

A simple, scalable, and collaborative way to collect product data from all your suppliers. Configure your suppliers, map catalog format to yours, and correct, classify, and enrich products data into Akeneo PIM, all in one place.

Request a Demo

Samira McDonald, Senior Manager, Community

Akeneo

Akeneo News

Jul 19, 2024 6 min to read

Dodge Industrial Sets New Standard of B2B Manufacturing Excellence with Akeneo

Discover how Dodge Industrial, a leading manufacturer of mechanical power transmission products, revolutionized their product information management (PIM), transitioned to new systems, ensured accurate and accessible product data, and automated data updates for seamless product launches with Akeneo.

In the B2B manufacturing sector, accurate and timely product information is critical. Dodge Industrial, a leading manufacturer of mechanical power transmission products, faced a significant challenge when they needed to swiftly implement new systems following a corporate acquisition. 

Their solution? Partnering with Akeneo to transform their Product Information Management (PIM) and Digital Asset Management (DAM) processes, setting a new standard for B2B manufacturing excellence.

The Challenge

Dodge Industrial’s products are essential for moving materials efficiently across various industries, so ensuring accurate and accessible product information is vital to preventing costly downtime. 

When Dodge was acquired by a new company, they needed to quickly transition away from their old SaaS solutions and establish new PIM and DAM systems. This was a daunting task, but one that was essential for maintaining their high standards of product information accuracy.

The Solution

Dodge Industrial selected Akeneo for its ease of use and rapid deployment capabilities. They partnered with an integration expert, Bounteous, to assist in the implementation. The result was a seamless onboarding experience that allowed Dodge to quickly set up their new systems. 

Akeneo’s intuitive Family Templates and data management tools enabled Dodge to reassess and improve the quality of its data, making significant enhancements during the implementation process.

Trenton Triola, Selection Tools and eCommerce Manager at Dodge Industrial, noted, “Akeneo seemed like the easiest option and the fastest to get up and going, and that definitely proved to be true.”

Remarkable Key Outcomes

• 97% complete attribute/asset coverage by product order volume (+2%).
• 82% of US distributor partner revenue receiving syndicated content (+4%).
• 86% reduction in development time for database updates to PT Wizard and OPTIFY.

Streamlined Product Launches 

Since implementing Akeneo, Dodge Industrial has seen a dramatic improvement in its ability to quickly and efficiently launch new products. The PIM system makes it easy for their product management and engineering teams to create and manage product attributes, ensuring that accurate information is rolled out to their eCommerce site swiftly. What was once a major blocker is now the easiest part of launching new products, thanks to Akeneo’s user-friendly interface and robust capabilities!

“For every new product that we’ve launched since, it’s been a very easy process for them to go in and find the family that it should go into or create a new family, create the new attributes that are needed, populate the information, and roll it out easily to our eCommerce site.”  – Trent Triola, Selection Tools and eCommerce Manager, Dodge Industrial

A Single Source of Truth 

For Dodge Industrial, having a single source of truth for all of its product data was crucial.  Akeneo serves this role perfectly, allowing the engineering team to own and maintain the technical data while remaining accessible to the wider team. This centralized approach ensures that accurate product information is distributed to all necessary teams and platforms, including internal applications, eCommerce sites, and distribution partners. This has not only improved the accuracy of product information but has also facilitated better decision-making across the company.

Triola emphasized, “Having a single source of truth is very important for us as an engineering company making mechanical power transmission products.”

Automated Data Updates 

One of the standout benefits of Akeneo for Dodge Industrial has been the ability to automate data updates. Scheduled exports from Akeneo ensure that any corrections made by engineers are reflected on their eCommerce site the next day. This rapid turnaround time has been a significant win for Dodge, allowing them to maintain the highest standards of data accuracy and customer satisfaction.

Success with IntelliLube 

Looking for a concrete example of Dodge Industrial’s success with Akeneo? Look no further than the launch of their IntelliLube product, an automatic greasing device for mounted bearings. Akeneo provided the accurate product data needed for both the automation platform and the grease calculator program, ensuring that customers can configure and maintain the IntelliLube device effectively.

The Future for Dodge Industrial

As Dodge Industrial continues on its journey of digital transformation, with plans to soon upgrade its ERP system, Akeneo continues to be the perfect solution for managing their product data. 

By maintaining a single source of truth, Dodge Industrial is well-positioned to meet the future needs of their industry, ensuring that accurate and accessible product information remains a cornerstone of their operations.

Dodge Industrial’s partnership with Akeneo has revolutionized its approach to product information management. The ease of implementation, enhanced data quality, and streamlined processes have all contributed to significant improvements in their operations. 

For other B2B manufacturing companies facing similar challenges, Dodge Industrial’s story is a testament to the power of accurate, accessible data and the transformative potential of a robust PIM solution like Akeneo.

You can listen to the full story of Dodge Industrial here, and for more information about how Akeneo can transform your product information management, you can request a demo to meet with a dedicated expert.

The Dodge Industrial Story

Discover how Akeneo helped Dodge Industrial implement a quick rollout of their digital transformation, launch products to market faster and more efficiently, and improve product data accuracy and completeness.

Watch Now

Samira McDonald, Senior Manager, Community

Akeneo

Trending

Jul 17, 2024 6 min to read

The Downside of Disposable

Explore the issues of reckless consumerism and its impact on the environment and economy, and discover how detailed product information can empower consumers to make sustainable choices and drive positive change.

A Shift in the Market

Consumers today are increasingly aware that their choices have consequences. However, despite this awareness, there remains a critical gap in the information needed to make well-informed decisions. 

This lack of transparency and guidance has long hindered efforts to shift towards more sustainable consumption patterns, yet the tide is turning. Younger generations in particular are driving this change, with 27% more likely to buy if they believe a brand cares about its impact on people and the planet. 

These individual changes in behavior are the driving force behind a revolution in consumerism. As more people choose quality, transparency, and sustainability, they collectively push businesses to adopt better practices; 66% of consumers now spend more time researching information and validating purchases than before. 

By making informed choices, consumers are not only improving their own lives but also contributing to a larger global effort to combat reckless consumerism and its detrimental impacts.

It Starts With Product Information

Empowering consumers with the right information is crucial for mitigating this trend of reckless consumerism. People want to spend their money on products they know will last, so providing them with detailed, transparent information such as a comprehensive supply chain report, raw materials data, and details about end-of-life disposability or recycling/resell programs enables informed, data-driven purchases.

Particularly when it comes to serial returners, providing accurate information about size, fit, and color, along with abundant user-generated content (UGC), can significantly reduce return rates. When consumers feel confident in their purchases, they are less likely to order multiple items with the intention of returning those that don’t meet their expectations. This not only reduces waste but also encourages more sustainable buying habits. 

By equipping consumers with the knowledge they need, businesses can foster trust and loyalty, ultimately contributing to a more sustainable future.

The Future of Disposable

This throwaway culture we’ve found ourselves in not only strains our finances but also contributes significantly to environmental degradation, and promises to only get worse over time unless we take action now. 

The best way to combat this trend of reckless consumerism is to establish a foundation of trust with consumers and provide them with the right information in the right way for the right products. By doing so, we empower them to make responsible, informed decisions.

If you’re looking to learn more about how product information and a product experience (PX) strategy can help your organization empower consumers to make sustainable decisions, download our eBook, ‘The PX Revolution’ today!

The PX Revolution

Discover the latest shift in consumer behavior, and learn how your organization can combat reckless consumerism with detailed product information and an enhanced product experience offering.

Download Now

Casey Paxton, Content Marketing Manager

Akeneo

Akeneo News

Jul 02, 2024 4 min to read

Announcing Akeneo’s New App Store Partner Program

Akeneo has launched a new partner program for our developer ecosystem that includes Independent Software Vendor partners, System Integrators, and independent developers that contribute to Akeneo’s App Store. Below, we’ve outlined the top things we’re most excited about with this new program.

I am thrilled to announce the launch of Akeneo’s new App Store Partner Program!

Since day one, Akeneo has been bullish on partnerships. But this launch is a special moment for our ecosystem and customers as it marks the next phase of Akeneo’s very intentional investment in partnerships, to both accelerate our noteworthy success with existing technology partners (many of whom are in the MACH Alliance) and to welcome new partners, including system integrators and developers, providing new innovative solutions to our customers via Akeneo’s App Store.

Akeneo’s App Store isn’t just any hub for integrations – it’s the most connected and extensible Product Experience Management (PXM) marketplace with 200+ integrations, allowing our joint customers to activate product information in marketing, sales, and customer support channels, onboard new data sets, enrich product experiences with AI, and generally customize the Akeneo Product Cloud to meet their unique business needs.

With the new App Store Partner Program, I am especially excited to:

1 – Speed and scale the development of apps for the Akeneo App Store with investment in new technology, like GraphQL and a design system to guide app UI development, plus new technical resources, like on-demand enablement videos and a Helpdesk for support questions related to app development.

2 – Accelerate joint customer success with focus on providing new enablement opportunities for partners with our field team and directly with customers in order to drive app adoption and value (yes, even better than the 10x increase in app adoption we saw in 2023!).

3 – Identify and influence new business opportunities by doubling down on some of our tried and true partnership tactics, plus providing new enablement and co-marketing opportunities to build awareness and demand for our partners and their apps — not to mention, a referral model for higher tier partners!

4 – Expand our partner ecosystem with new partners that solve for new use cases and industry-specific needs for our customers, both by integrating with more of our customers’ existing tech stacks and also by helping them discover new technology to uplevel their Product Experience.

5 – Support dedicated program management with a new operational infrastructure, including better internal tracking of our partner success metrics and stronger feedback loop with our partners.

This new program is designed so that, as we are more successful together with partners driving joint customer success, pipeline impact, and innovation, our partners will graduate through our new partner tiers and unlock more benefits.

Meredith Kivett, Director, Technology Partnerships

Akeneo