Episode 3 - Role of AI & Data Analytics in eCommerce Growth

[00:00:00] Host – Ladies & Gentlemen, welcome to the third episode of Commerce Connect, video podcast series by Krish. In today’s episode, we carry forward our conversation on the role of AI and Data analytics in e-commerce. with our esteemed guest Sadeq, a notable figure in the digital commerce in the marketing domain. For those of you who have just tuned in and may have missed the last two episodes, Sadeq provided us with valuable insights into the evolution of e-commerce, with AI and data analytics, coupled with some real time and real life examples of how AI helps in enhancing the overall customer experience that has led to the significant growth of the e-commerce businesses. We also discussed limitations, challenges and innovative solutions. We navigated to the crucial domains of data security, privacy and the ethical considerations around AI. In our latest episode, let us, explore the future of eCommerce. Covering emerging AI and data analytics Trends We’ll also discuss practical strategies for smaller eCommerce businesses to leverage AI without overwhelming their operations. Tune into some actionable insights shaping the Future of digital commerce. Buckle up. Here we go. Hi Sadeq! Welcome back!

Guest Speaker – Hi Zenul! It’s good to see you again.

Host – Sadeq, artificial intelligence is like a futuristic friend. You might not always understand what it’s saying, but makes your life cooler one algorithm at a time. What emerging trends in AI and Data analytics do you see foresee, shaping the future of e-commerce.

Guest Speaker – Well if we are going nowadays for the e-commerce usually I have to say we have to just see that the small and medium enterprises or companies they tends to have a more rapid, innovative and agile and possibility that they can adapt the changes or the technologies faster than the big guys. That’s all in this side. The other side we have seen how the startups sometimes just one startups comes to the platforms and it’s just, you know, implementing one specific niche of the e-commerce and they do something that direct people they haven’t done, if you will, think about like big companies such as Amazon, eBay, Alibaba or MercadoLibre, etc. for them, it’s not about doing tests or experiments of their users. If They will took that it will take them a lot of resources, extensive research, talent that they deploy something. But imagine if you are a startup you have probably 50, 100 to 1000 customers at your most. So you might get an idea and you might just develop it over one month or two and you just go live and see how things, how this clicks, and you keep developing within this idea. So that’s, that’s one of the things that we have seen right now. in the Overall, I recall one of the startups that I have seen that they have implemented a cool AI within their e-commerce. In fact, it’s like mainly it’s as an AI e-commerce project or a business. Okay? It’s as all about seeing the latest fashion models in Milan or in Paris. And based on what you are seeing there is like sort of icon of mosquito, simple, that it’s like your personal assistants. And asking this icon is that, for example, “which dresses, suits me?” Based on the persona, the personality, the characteristics, the previous pictures the exercise adapts over your social media and analyzing your pictures, it tells, you no, this doesn’t suit you. It looks quite classic. While your lifestyle is moral, or modern and youngster so it doesn’t suit you. So just imagine they have taken the project for like quite far to a level, That part of the business model has been monetized by getting an excerpt to your information from the large, just to describe their products. properly. Because for these big brands they describe their products. It has like – it’s there’s some sort of, I would call it DNA within their products, which this AI might not understand that you represent for example, the justice in your shares. Okay. So this is one one of the, I guess, cool examples that I have seen for. the AI in e-commerce.

Host – That’s really interesting, Sadeq. So, in the fast evolving landscape of e-commerce, emerging trends in the AI and data analytics, they are poised to redefine the future from predictive analytics and consumer personalized experiences to streamlined supply chain management, these trends promise to elevate the online shopping experiences. It will be a driving force behind innovative strategies shaping a dynamic and a customer centric e-commerce landscape. How can e-commerce businesses prepare for and adapt to the evolving landscape of AI and Data analytics?

Guest Speaker – I believe that it all starts with embracing, as we have mentioned in the second episode and it starts with embracing the culture of continuous learning and understanding what’s happening outside and understanding what’s happening outside from at least different perspective from technology side, from business side, from economics side Because at least in the past 3 to 4 years, I have seen a huge hype for the social commerce. Now we are in 2024. I’m no longer hearing about social commerce. I’m not saying it’s dead, but sometimes technology is good. But that depends on what’s your need? So you need to make sure that you are asking your team you need to make sure that they are always informed and up to date. That’s from one perspective, from one side., From another angle, I would call foster the data driven mindset because data because AI should present for you information and outputs, which helps you to take better decisions in your business. Think about it. You have thousands or tens of thousands of people checking out into your website or your mobile application every day. Nevertheless, without understanding their their behavior what they are doing, I recall one of the fashion brands, Perhaps some of my examples are dated upon fashion. they have seen like the majority of the people, they intend to do the search, the browsing for their products. within their mobile application. But the actual checkout it happens within their store. Okay. So by understanding that they were they were even able to having or improving the experience of how we are transitioning from the mobile application to the website. Number 3, I would say to invest with the right tools and with the right partners. That’s very important because since these tools are all these technologies are pretty new. So you wouldn’t find a company or a partner that they are saying we have ten years of experience. in AI, for example. You don’t have that, yes, AI have not it didn’t just came up, but nobody was investing that much
in artificial intelligence. So, for example, I’ll take when you are going to develop your e-commerce and you have locked the door on Krish, Hello guys, I want to develop applications, you need to also to consider partnering up with the right partner to assure that you need to have the right time
between your eCommerce to your eCommerce solution, and your AI solution

Host – A very interesting perspective, you mentioned Sadeq that every company needs to have a data driven mindset, so analyzing data again is quite complex. So considering the small to mid-size businesses they consider AI and data analytics beyond their scope of operations and that could be heavy on their wallets, investing of course into the tools, but then also into the resources. who can be understanding the data and then giving right decisions on to the business. So how can these smaller e-commerce businesses with limited resources leverage AI and data analytics?

Guest Speaker – well, see, I guess we are living nowadays in the heaven of having tons of solutions and tools, but if were both for the small and mid-sized companies, I would say, let them start small that to be very focused you shouldn’t think about how to use AI in everything. Be specific. Identify one particular goal and think about what sort of pains that you are trying to resolve within this area. For example, do you want to have a better recommendations for the customers. You are are you trying to have a better content, For example. Are you trying to understand the customers? Are you trying to segment the users in a better way? Do you want to optimize the website? What do you want to achieve in particular? Because within e-commerce you do have a hundred of different functionalities. Someone they might just came out with an AI which helps you into having a better wish list. Okay, so do you want to solve everything or do you want to start small and to be more specific? And from time to time you need to understand other things. Number 2. There are many tools nowadays. I always call it free or open tools opensource tools because more or less they are into experimental stages. So yes, it is good to invest in the right tools, but as you are right now, small or having a limited scope, probably it might be more wise to start with, uh – uh tools which you can afford and tolerate having some mistakes and errors. Think about all of those solutions that you don’t need to invest heavily into the setup and the configuration. Don’t go for your own brand of AI. Don’t start by implementing the large language model (LLM) from the scratch. You can go for some solutions, have a trial, have a seven days, 14 days, one month, two months. Go for even one year over Saas. Just try it out. See, because there is some bald guy, in the company he went for the top management and he say, “Hey, guys, if we have used this solution” it will help us to optimize our conversion rate by 5% to increase traffic, and to do 1-2-3 and, eventually, you want to see the results and you want to see the ROI first. So that’s why some of the Saas solutions is might be good advice to start using it, checking it out, see how this works and if there is a chance for tweaks then you might go and think about better solutions, bigger solutions. Ultimately, if your whole operations might be oriented or AI oriented and technological centric, then you might need to go and invest heavily into having your own solution with an AI.

Host- Rightly said! I mean, instead of focusing on the larger and the bigger objective, you know, it’s breaking it down into smaller pain areas and smaller goals that you want to achieve. And then go on for adoption of AI into those specific segments, helps the necessary ROI gain behind it and then go on for further implementations as well. So rightly said, I mean, to prepare and adapt businesses, must prioritize staying informed, fostering data literacy and investing in scalable IT solutions. Smaller e-commerce enterprises can leverage AI effectively by focusing on special applications, like you rightly mentioned, Sadeq, like Chatbots, personalization, streamlined customer support, and ensuring innovation without overwhelming the entire operations. Embracing these trends is not only a choice, but a necessity for the businesses aiming to thrive in the dynamic world of e-commerce.

Guest Speaker – Absolutely. Absolutely. Yes.

Host – Ladies and gentlemen, as we wrap up this enlightening podcast series on the role of AI and Data analytics in e-commerce growth, I want to extend a heartfelt thank you. to Sadeq Your expertise has been a guiding light in illuminating the intricate intersections of technology and commerce. Through your insights, our audience has gained a deeper understanding on how the AI and data analytics are catalysts for this unprecedented growth in the e-commerce universe. Your passion and dedication to sharing the knowledge has been truly inspiring. And as we conclude this series, we carry with us a wealth of insights and a renewed perspective of the transformative power of AI in shaping the future of online businesses.

Guest Speaker – One last word for any or all the audiences of this podcast, Don’t be late. Invest in your AI. Go online, find out the right partner. It was my pleasure to be your guest at the program And that too about, AI podcast. Thank you very much Zenul.

Host – Thank you so much Sadeq. To our listeners, thank you for tuning in. If you found today’s discussion insightful, stay tuned for more captivating, eCommerce talks. We have a lineup of fascinating topics in store for you. Don’t miss out on the latest trends, innovations and discussions shaping the e-commerce landscape. Until next time, stay curious, stay informed, Stay healthy, and stay tuned for more enriching conversations right here on. Commerce Connect by Krish. Thank you.