In Part 2 of our two-part feature of the Magico AB Commerce Retailer Summit, which took place in Athlone in March, we look at some of the key upcoming features expected to improve efficiencies for business owners, particularly AI and automation.
Leveraging your data for better customer experience
Jack Johnson from Klaviyo reminded attendees that Email Marketing plays a crucial role in the success of every e-Commerce business. “It is the foundation of your loyalty strategy with strong links to customer retention, conversion, and overall business growth” he noted, while providing insights into their intelligent marketing automation platform, highlighting some great examples of marketing automation at work.
Jack demonstrated how using customer data captured, such as demographics and interactions, including reviews, purchases and other activities, can enable segmentation and hyper-personalisation, which can in turn help a retailer apply personalised communications that are specific to that customers’ buying journey.
Jack highlighted the importance of a personalised buying experience, noting that 78% of customers say they are more likely to spend when they are treated like an individual.
Effective Order Fulfilment
Ciaran Crean from Wave OMS introduced their Wave Retail order fulfilment service, designed for retailers who don’t need a full warehouse system like the Wave OMS full service. Ciaran provided a helpful presentation on how their order fulfilment software captures company data and produces a company-specific solution to help retailers bypass user-error and maximise efficiency.
Unleash the Power of AI
Alan Gormley from ShopBox AI delivered an enlightening presentation on the power of AI, and how it can create a truly personalised shopping experience. He explained how their software can create “a unique store for every customer.” and reminded retailers that they need to ensure their store adapts to and evolves with their customers.
Kicking in from the first click, their software captures real-time customer data to create DNA profiles that are added to the customer journey in the form of recommendations based on the customer’s search. This proves helpful for upselling and crossselling: “If someone is buying a ladder, they don’t want to buy a ladder, they need to climb to a height to do something!.” New AI software is advancing to a level where it’s anticipating the needs of customers and is continuously learning and capturing information to continue to evolve.
Paul Montwill from AB Commerce expanded further on the subject of AI, quoting the stark statistic that AI is now the equivalent of 30 times Albert Einstein’s IQ, and now even Google is facing pressure from Chat GPT as a search engine with its latest update allowing the AI tool to search the internet in real time. (Source: www.theverge.com/2023/9/27/23892781/openaichatgpt-live-web-results-browse-with-bing)
Upcoming Trends from Panel Discussion
The day wrapped up with an enlightening panel discussion (chaired by Breige Grogan) with presenters Paul Walsh (Adhere Digital), Alan Gormley (ShopBox AI), Jack Johnson (Klaviyo), Orla Cooney (Magico), and Jamie Heaslip (Stripe).
In terms of upcoming trends Alan and Orla both noted hyper-personalisation as key upcoming demands, with Orla also noting the influx of more eco-conscious consumers. Alan Gormley reminded attendees of the importance of data, to be respectful of it, and how quickly it can go stale. “Behavioural data is much better to use that data provided directly by consumers, as the latter can sometimes be inaccurate anyway!”
Paul from Adhere Digital hailed the influx of PMAX (Performance Campaigns), which focus on consent and tracking. The new GA4 service from Google Analytics provides even more accurate information than ever before for users.
When asked about how to help retailers get started in AI and personalisation, Alan recommended starting small, making more use of AI gradually: “The more you work with AI the less AI you are working with” – meaning, the more interactions you have with AI, the more effectively it works for you with even richer information!
As for what’s next in tech for bricks and mortar stores, Paul noted that organic reach is going to become more of a challenge, with paid media becoming more cost-effective and accessible, and more competitive.
