Ecommerce requires continuous innovation to thrive. So, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that businesses are turning to artificial intelligence (AI) as a powerful way to transform their operations and elevate customer experiences.
How does AI become a bigger part of your business? Let’s explore the possibilities to consider and the pitfall to avoid when incorporating this rapidly evolving technology.
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- Optimizing operations
- Elevating customer experience
- Enhancing brand and content
- Understanding customer perceptions of AI
- Alleviating customer concerns
Sources: Spring 2025 Business OMNI Survey conducted by Leger.
Spring 2024 eShopper Survey conducted by Phase 5 Consultation.
Optimizing operations
Unseen by your customers, AI is revolutionizing the very backbone of your ecommerce business. It streamlines internal processes, reduces costs and significantly boosts efficiency. Think of AI as the silent engine driving smarter, more agile operations.
Here’s how AI can sharpen your operational edge:
Smart inventory management
AI-powered systems analyze historical sales, current trends and even external factors to predict future demand with remarkable accuracy. This ensures optimal stock levels, minimizes waste and guarantees product availability.
Dynamic pricing strategies
AI tools analyze market conditions, competitor pricing and customer behaviour in real-time. This allows for agile price adjustments, keeping you competitive and maximizing profits.
Enhanced product descriptions
AI automates the creation of compelling product descriptions. It generates content based on product attributes and customer reviews, then personalizes it based on individual preferences and search queries, enriching the shopping experience.
Automated backend customer service
AI-powered chatbots efficiently handle routine customer inquiries, from answering FAQs to providing order updates. This frees your human customer service agents to focus on complex issues and deliver personalized, high-value interactions.
AI excels at automating repetitive tasks and analyzing vast datasets for operational efficiency. Human strategic oversight remains crucial to interpret AI’s recommendations, make final decisions and innovate beyond what algorithms can predict. AI augments human capabilities, empowering teams to focus on higher-value, strategic initiatives.
Many retailers are already using AI for various parts of their ecommerce operations
Source: Spring 2025 Business OMNI Survey conducted by Leger.
“Everywhere you look, there’s talk about the rise of AI tools and how they simplify jobs across all industries. Retail is no exception. AI is reshaping how retailers do business, and its application is changing how we engage with our customers, employees and suppliers.”
Milena Kumurdjieva
AVP, Applied AI and Automaton, Canadian Tire
Elevating customer experience
The modern online shopper expects seamless, personalized and efficient interactions. AI delivers on these expectations, transforming the customer journey into a truly engaging experience that drives conversions.
Consider these AI-driven enhancements for your customers:
Personalized recommendations
AI algorithms analyze browsing history, purchase patterns and other data points to suggest products perfectly aligned with individual preferences. This powerful capability drives discovery and increases sales.
Seamless search and discovery
AI-powered search functionality simplifies the quest for products. Visual search, for instance, allows customers to search using images, opening new avenues for product exploration.
Interactive shopping experiences
AI changes how customers engage with products online. Virtual design tools let customers visualize how items will look in their own space before purchase. Product personalization tools enable customization of features like colors and materials, catering to unique tastes. Virtual try-on tools reduce hesitation and boost buyer confidence.
Streamlined checkout
AI minimizes friction at the point of purchase. AI-powered tools pre-fill forms, offer personalized payment options and actively detect and prevent fraud, ensuring a smooth and secure transaction.
24/7 customer support
AI-powered chatbots provide instant assistance, answering questions, resolving issues, and guiding customers through the shopping process. This on-demand support enhances convenience and satisfaction.
Proactive personalization
AI anticipates customer needs by analyzing data. It proactively offers personalized product recommendations, order updates or exclusive promotions. This level of personalization fosters loyalty and encourages repeat purchases.
AI enhances customer experiences through personalization and instant support. The human element remains vital for complex problem-solving, emotional connection, and building genuine rapport. AI handles the routine, allowing human agents to focus on impactful, empathetic interactions that foster loyalty.
Canadian shoppers say they will use AI-powered tools when retailers offer them
Source: Spring 2024 eShopper Survey conducted by Phase 5 Consultation.
“Today, we need to bring our human intelligence to the table when we consider AI in the world, in our lives and in our organizations. ... It’s not enough to consider what it can do for us without considering what it does for our customers.”
Enhancing brand and content
In the digital age, compelling content is king. AI serves as a powerful ally, amplifying your brand message and connecting with your audience on a deeper level. It assists in content creation, personalization and strategic communication.
Explore how AI can sharpen your brand’s voice:
Ideation and research
AI-powered tools analyze search trends, identify relevant keywords and suggest topics based on your target audience’s interests. This allows content creators to focus on the creative aspects of development.
Content creation assistance
AI writing tools generate product descriptions, social media captions, email marketing copy and even blog post outlines. These tools save time and resources, allowing creators to refine messaging and ensure brand alignment.
Personalized content delivery
AI empowers businesses to deliver tailored content experiences at scale. It customizes website content, email campaigns, social media interactions and more to individual preferences, significantly improving engagement and conversion rates.
Enhanced chatbot engagement
Chatbots are increasingly sophisticated, providing personalized customer service and product recommendations. AI enhances these conversations by providing relevant information and anticipating customer needs.
Social media management
AI streamlines social media efforts by scheduling posts, analyzing performance and generating algorithm-friendly content. These tools help maintain a consistent presence and optimize strategy.
AI is a powerful tool for content generation and optimization. Human creativity, emotional intelligence, and strategic vision are indispensable for crafting authentic brand narratives. AI assists in scaling and efficiency, while humans infuse the content with unique voice, empathy, and the nuanced understanding required to truly resonate with an audience.
Top 5 tasks marketers are using AI tools and software to help perform
Source: 28 AI marketing statistics you need to know in 2025, SurveyMonkey, 2024.
“Remember, technology should be a means to an end, not the end itself. Before jumping onto the next big thing, take a moment to reflect: Does this tool align with our core marketing objectives and values? By grounding your decisions in empathy and strategic thinking, you can ensure that technology serves to strengthen – not overshadow – the human touch that sets your brand apart.”
Understanding customer perceptions of AI
Artificial intelligence is rapidly transforming ecommerce and your customers are already feeling its impact. Many shoppers interact with AI frequently, even if they don’t consciously realize it. This widespread presence creates both opportunities and challenges for businesses.
Consider these key aspects of customer perception:
Ubiquitous interaction
Customers interact with AI through personalized product recommendations, AI-powered search results, chatbots and virtual assistants. This pervasive presence highlights the need for clear communication about AI’s role.
Familiarity vs. comfort
While many shoppers are familiar with AI, this familiarity does not always translate into comfort. Businesses face the task of building trust in this evolving landscape.
Core apprehensions
Customers hold several significant concerns about AI technology, including worries about fraud, hacking and data breaches; fear AI will replace human jobs; and concerns about AI making mistakes, providing inaccurate information or perpetuating biases.
In total, many people are concerned about a technology they view as lacking emotion or empathy becoming “smarter than humans” and taking over important aspects of their lives.
While AI provides data and insights into customer perceptions, human empathy and understanding truly interpret these insights. They shape the strategy for building trust. The initial connection and understanding of customer sentiment remain inherently human.
AI’s rise raises concerns for online shoppers
Source: Spring 2024 eShopper Survey conducted by Phase 5 Consultation.
“While concerns over AI’s potential impact on jobs persist, most industry players are confident that the human touch will remain vital in this evolving landscape.”
Alleviating customer concerns with AI
To fully embrace AI’s potential, ecommerce businesses must actively prioritize trust and transparency with their customers. Addressing apprehensions directly builds confidence and fosters a positive relationship with intelligent shopping.
Here’s how to build trust and mitigate concerns:
Be upfront about AI use
Clearly communicate how you are using AI and what data you are collecting. Transparency is foundational to trust.
Prioritize data security and privacy
Implement robust security measures and ensure strict compliance with data privacy regulations. This protects customer information and reinforces reliability.
Focus on customer benefits
Highlight how AI genuinely enhances the shopping experience, making it more personalized, convenient and efficient for the customer.
Provide human interaction options
Offer multiple channels for customer support, including human agents. This addresses complex issues, builds rapport and provides a crucial safety net for customers.
Emphasize augmentation, not replacement
Communicate how AI augments human capabilities rather than replacing them entirely, addressing job displacement fears.
Ensure accuracy and fairness
Implement rigorous testing and maintain transparency to mitigate risks of inaccuracy and bias in AI systems.
Alleviating concerns is fundamentally about human reassurance.AI can enable transparency and security measures, but human communication, ethical guidelines, and the availability of human support ultimately build and maintain customer trust.
How do businesses measure ROI of AI?
Source: Spring 2025 Business OMNI Survey conducted by Leger.
Source: Spring 2024 eShopper Survey conducted by Phase 5 Consultation.