{"id":22601,"date":"2024-01-03T14:14:38","date_gmt":"2023-06-20T22:50:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bloomreach.com\/library\/how-generative-ai-will-transform-commerce-and-marketing"},"modified":"2024-10-17T08:44:50","modified_gmt":"2024-10-17T08:44:50","slug":"how-generative-ai-will-transform-commerce-and-marketing","status":"publish","type":"library","link":"https:\/\/www.bloomreach.com\/en\/blog\/how-generative-ai-will-transform-commerce-and-marketing","title":{"rendered":"How Generative AI Will Transform Commerce and Marketing"},"content":{"rendered":"

Right now, generative AI is clearly having its moment<\/u><\/a>. Big tech companies like Microsoft, Google, and Amazon are investing in generative AI startups and technology. You\u2019ve probably already seen countless stories about AI models (and more specifically, ChatGPT) popping up in your news feeds. Moreover, these generative AI models have proven extremely successful. For example, ChatGPT reached 100 million active users in under 60 days. Meanwhile, it took Facebook four years to do the same.<\/p>\n

\"Chart<\/p>\n

And if you\u2019re in marketing or commerce? You\u2019re probably trying to figure out how generative AI can be used most effectively to produce the highest ROI. This is key because AI isn\u2019t simply a passing fad like some of the other new technology we\u2019ve seen in recent years \u2014 it represents the evolution of how technology can supplement (and in some cases, even replace) the work we do.<\/p>\n

To that end, it\u2019s also critical for you to know what generative AI can and cannot do in its current state, as well as what this means for the future of commerce and marketing. Read on for my thoughts.<\/p>\n

The Current State of Generative AI<\/h2>\n

While you can dive deeper into the intricacies of how ChatGPT works<\/u><\/a>, even a surface-level interaction with the tool shows how impressive it is. Recent advancements in the generative AI industry have the potential to radically alter how commerce and marketing professionals approach content development. Anyone thinking about creating customer-focused content has probably already started discussing how they can use generative AI models to increase productivity and revenue.<\/p>\n

But, we also can\u2019t forget that despite the splash that ChatGPT and generative AI has made, it\u2019s still really early days for the technology. ChatGPT may not even be the ultimate \u201cwinner\u201d of the generative AI battles, but it\u2019s definitely paving the way. There are still a lot of wrinkles to iron out (such as limitations to the data being indexed), but the technology will only continue to improve.<\/p>\n

So yes, it\u2019s early days, but the potential impact we\u2019ll likely see from this technology in the near future is astounding.<\/p>\n

The Potential To Transform<\/h2>\n

There\u2019s already a wide range of applications for generative AI models: content generation (text, images, video, etc.), coding and development, automation (customer support, search results, manual tasks, etc.), and much more. AI models will soon be saving businesses everywhere time, resources, and money.<\/p>\n

So, what does that mean for commerce and marketing?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"AI<\/p>\n

Personalization and Content<\/h3>\n

Customers seek personalized content<\/a>, and generative AI can be an incredibly useful tool here. In a McKinsey study<\/u><\/a>, 71% of customers want personalization<\/a> and 76% get frustrated when their experience is not personalized. AI plays a role in omnichannel marketing<\/u><\/a> by customizing and improving the whole customer experience across numerous channels. It collects and analyzes data on customers and goods to drive marketing efforts, anticipate channels on which customers are more likely to convert, and automate repetitive processes.<\/p>\n

To understand how generative AI can help with personalization, you must first look at content. Generative AI can enable marketers and merchandisers to scale multiple variations of product descriptions and texts. You can already see this being applied to email subject line testing, with more to follow soon.<\/p>\n

\"Example<\/p>\n

In general, you need to remember that the tighter your segmentation and the more sophisticated your personalization goals, the more material you\u2019ll require. Even creating several variants of site banners, merchandising assets, and email content is often too time-consuming and labor-intensive for most companies. For ecommerce businesses, simply getting the resources together to deliver one version of everything on time can be a struggle.<\/p>\n

As a result of too few content variations, personalization gets hampered. And that\u2019s where generative AI can step up \u2014 by helping ecommerce brands scale up their content efforts quickly and efficiently.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s critical to remember that content alone will not suffice for personalization. You need a powerful, real-time machine-learning application to test all that content and optimize it at scale to maximize engagement<\/u><\/a>. After all, generative AI is simply a tool you can use. It will not replace high-quality content and a personalized and optimized marketing plan.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s potential and opportunity for generative AI to do a lot more with graphical content in ecommerce too, such as producing images and videos at scale. Eventually, generative AI can also help create content like product demos, tutorials, lifestyle\/brand content, website images, marketing assets (e.g., emails, ads, and social posts), and more. It\u2019s still early in the evolution of AI models, but generative AI will eventually be able to produce images and videos of similar quality to the written content it can already generate. In short, generative AI will be able to create a whole range of marketing collateral that is personalized and engaging for customers.<\/p>\n