AI offers huge opportunities for e-commerce trade, but emerging tech also poses challenges for firms, which will require collaboration with others and government to resolve – so said speakers at a panel session during last week’s E-Commerce Expo in London.
Grace Thompson, public affairs lead at the Chartered Institute of Export & International Trade, led the discussion on ‘Embracing AI and Emerging Tech’, which also featured Stacey van den Aardweg, director of UK fulfilment at Amazon, and Benjamin Lang, head of partnerships for Northern Europe at Shopify.
AI opportunity
"We’ve been using AI for almost 20 years and it’s central to a lot of the products that customers interact with,” van den Aardweg explained.
Now, however, Amazon is launching new tools including its ‘Rufus’ platform that offers consumers new ways to learn about and compare the products it provides.
“The sellers I work with have started to do things like simplification of product listings and detail pages using AI. Now, we have a tool that – in the click of a button – can enhance that page by also accessing what information you have on your direct-to-consumer websites.
“That saves time and gives [sellers] the time to focus on the things that grow their business as a whole.”
Small businesses in the UK have been slow to take up new technology, according to a recent report by the E-Commerce Trade Commission and Social Market Foundation.
Costs
Thompson pointed out that 37% of SMEs surveyed in the report – named ‘Small business, big world’ – said they believed AI would have a significant positive difference on their trading in the next few years, but raised the issue of costs of implementing technology as an example of the challenges still facing businesses.
“It’s the cost on the one side and the benefit on the other,” she said, as the cost of investing in these technologies was proving a barrier to many small businesses reaping the benefits.
While many off-the-shelf options are available, larger businesses such as Amazon are able to develop their own in-house products. Amazon’s Rufus, which is still in Beta, could be used to compare products online and provider a better experience for customers.
“This is a learning journey,” said van den Aardweg, a veteran of e-commerce technology. She predicted that Rufus will get more powerful as it gets more experience in the real world.
Other uses of AI include chatbots, personal assistants and enhancing websites, which could save time for SMEs.
Rising customer expectation
Lang said that AI was improving at a “crazy” scale, with FAQs and customer support functions already incorporating the use of this technology.
“The consumer is expecting to have AI-powered customer support. The expectation on the customer side is already high when it comes to AI.”
Because businesses had been slow to adopt AI, there is already a widening gap between consumers and businesses when it comes to the new technology.
When it comes to applying new tools, brands “might sometimes feel lonely” said Lang, but this journey does not have to be one that smaller businesses undertake alone.
“That part can be overcome by opening up chat and surrounding yourself with partners in an ecosystem that will give you tips and tricks on how to apply [new technologies].”
