You’re not imagining it: People are worried about AI taking their jobs.
This concern is evident in frenzied LinkedIn posts, conversations among friends, and even roundtable discussions at work. AI is on everyone’s mind, and not always for the right reasons.
The numbers show that most of us are apprehensive about AI replacing our jobs. A recent study found that nearly 55% of full-time workers have increased concerns about AI and job security. This is especially true for workers in IT, software development, and advertising.
Even if you’re not worried about being replaced by AI, you might be curious about how your role will evolve. Over 40% of workers anticipate significant changes to their roles due to AI in the next five years, and 39% are worried about not receiving the training they need to adapt to these new technologies.
At Bloomreach, we envision a future where ecommerce merchandisers embrace AI and use it to their advantage. We believe that with the proper tools and education, ecommerce professionals can excel in a world driven by automation. Here’s our vision for the future of merchandising and our recommendations for becoming the merchandiser reimagined.
How Merchandisers Can Stay Relevant and Continuously Expand Their Skill Set
Staying relevant in ecommerce can feel like a never-ending race, especially when there’s always a new tool on the horizon. By embracing AI and new technology, though, merchandisers can make their jobs easier and deliver better results.
To lead the pack, you need to:
Master New Tools and Technologies
When it comes to AI, the adage “If you can’t beat them, join them” holds true. AI is introducing us to a new era of digital commerce, and the most successful teams will be those who effectively use technology to boost performance and drive results.
In particular, AI is useful for enhancing the work of merchandisers — who currently drive 9 to 13 meaningful connections per month — by boosting those numbers and scaling your business.
Loomi AI is great for this purpose. As Bloomreach’s proprietary ecommerce AI engine, it’s integrated into every product we offer. With Loomi AI, merchandisers and their teams can add next-level capabilities to their marketing campaigns. For example, a top opportunities report helps merchandisers identify lucrative sales opportunities and optimize their campaigns accordingly. Loomi AI also detects seasonal trends and provides “soft boosts” to subtly promote products, so your marketing efforts are effective, not aggressive.
Prioritize Content Curation
Humans tell great stories, and AI amplifies them by personalizing and scaling each one to reach the right audience at the right time. By combining human creativity with AI, you can elevate the shopping experience and create an immersive buying journey that engages customers and entices them to make a purchase.
The merchandiser reimagined will expand their skillset with:
- Product descriptions: Be creative and provide essential details about your products and what your customers really need to know about them. Loomi AI can help generate engaging content that encourages purchases.
- Images and videos: Compelling product images and videos are vital to ecommerce sales. Next-generation merchandisers should create compelling visuals that trigger an “I’ve gotta have that” reaction. AI can enhance this by generating color variations, optimizing backgrounds, adjusting lighting, and refining angles to ensure your product looks its best.
- User-generated content: 86% of customers say they’re more likely to trust a brand that posts user-generated content (UGC). AI can amplify UGC by analyzing and curating the most relevant reviews, images, and videos to inspire potential customers.
Focus on Personalized Customer Experiences
Personalization is key in ecommerce. Customers now expect a tailored experience, and when you deliver, they respond with more purchases and positive word of mouth.
AI and machine learning can keep tabs on what your customers are browsing, buying, writing reviews about, and more. This helps you break out of hyper-focusing on 1:1 personalization and all the challenges that come with it, allowing you to target customers with products and offers they really want.
AI also predicts trends that help optimize inventory, so you’re always ready to meet demand. For instance, data might reveal that customers consistently buy a specific type of shoe when summer turns to fall. This insight can guide inventory decisions, so you possess enough of the must-have boot without overstocking.
By creating personalized experiences, AI helps businesses build stronger relationships with customers, increase loyalty, and boost sales.
Why Merchandisers Should Shift from Product-Centric to Customer-Centric Approaches
With customer preferences changing faster than ever, it’s time to stop focusing just on your products and start thinking about what truly matters to your shoppers. By putting customers at the center of your strategy, you can better meet their needs and stay ahead of your competitors.
Here’s what merchandisers can do today to excel tomorrow:
Adapt to Changing Trends in Real Time
AI and machine learning move at lightning speed — much faster than humans. That’s why AI is the perfect partner for the marketers and merchandisers of the future.
AI can instantly analyze vast amounts of data to identify emerging trends and shopper preferences. This agility allows you to proactively adjust your strategies, delivering exactly what customers want, when they want it — sometimes before they realize it themselves.
These days, traditional, seasonal strategies fall short, and new approaches like merchandising storytelling and “searchandising” have taken center stage. AI-driven insights allow you to quickly align your offerings with current trends, whether you want to capitalize on a viral pop culture moment or respond to an unexpected shift. With AI, you’re not just keeping up with trends, you’re setting them.
Upsell and Cross-Sell To Drive More ROI
Maximizing revenue from each customer interaction is crucial for driving ROI, and AI-powered tools make this easier than ever. By analyzing customer behavior in real time, an AI recommendation engine can pinpoint the perfect opportunities for upsells and cross-sells. Whether it’s suggesting a premium version of a product or bundling complementary items together, these tailored recommendations are delivered at just the right moment in the shopping journey.
Let’s say a customer is purchasing a laptop. An AI-powered recommendation engine might suggest a higher-end model with enhanced features. It might also suggest bundling the laptop with essential accessories like a protective case and extended warranty services.
By presenting these options at the ideal moment, you enhance the customer’s purchase and boost the overall transaction value. In other words, with AI, you can turn every interaction into an opportunity to increase ROI.
Look Beyond Brand Loyalty
In today’s economy, counting on brand loyalty won’t cut it for long-term success. In particular, younger generations are less inclined to stick with a single brand, with 62% admitting they often consider products from various brands, even if they have a preferred choice. Plus, 50% would be willing to shop with a different brand if it offered a higher quality product or lower prices.
This is why it’s essential to focus on strategies that go beyond traditional loyalty programs. To drive higher customer lifetime value (CLTV), average order value (AOV), and overall profitability, you need to offer more than a familiar name. You must deliver personalized experiences and value-driven offerings that build a deeper connection with your customers.
Loomi AI makes it simple to manage metrics like CLTV and AOV while delivering a seamless front-end user experience that feels like magic. Our solutions process shopper data in milliseconds, giving you a clear view of how these metrics are performing and suggestions to drive them even higher. By understanding and adapting to customers’ evolving needs and preferences, Loomi AI helps merchandisers build stronger retention and encourage repeat purchases, even in an era where brand loyalty isn’t guaranteed.
Bloomreach Shapes the Future of Merchandising
As AI rocks the ecommerce landscape, it’s clear that the role of merchandisers is quickly changing. But there’s good news. By leveraging AI and automation for tasks like product discovery, personalization, and customer engagement, merchandisers can focus on what they do best and create more impactful interactions.
The key to success in this new era is embracing AI. Industry-leading tools like Loomi AI can help you stay ahead of trends and deliver personalized experiences that delight your customers and significantly boost ROI.
Discover how our latest features like AI Studio can help you streamline workflows, personalize product recommendations, and optimize your inventory management. Start driving sales and enhancing customer satisfaction today.
