You have an online store, and you want to serve your customers as well as possible. You want them to easily find what they’re looking for, to get sufficient information about your products, and to be satisfied with their purchase. But how can you achieve this in a world where competition is increasing and expectations are rising? The answer is: with AI.
AI, or artificial intelligence, is a technique that enables computers to learn from data and to perform tasks that would normally require human intelligence. One of the areas where AI can add a lot of value is in dealing with image, sound, and text. These are also known as cognitive applications. In this blog, we explain what cognitive applications are, how they work, and how you can use them to make your online store smarter.
What is Cognitive AI?
Cognitive applications are AI applications that can recognize or generate image, sound, or text. These are forms of information that we, as humans, use daily to communicate, learn, and enjoy. Consider the following examples:
- You unlock your smartphone with your face. This is an example of image recognition, where an AI model analyzes and compares your face with a stored image.
- You ask Siri or Google Assistant to search for a restaurant nearby. This is an example of sound recognition, where an AI model records your voice, converts it into text, and then performs a search.
- You read a summary of a book on Bol.com. This is an example of text generation, where an AI model shortens a longer text and extracts the key points. Cognitive applications have two functions: recognition and generation.
We onderscheiden bij cognitieve toepassingen twee functies: herkennen en genereren.
1. Recognition
This is the ability of AI to recognize and interpret image, audio, or text. Think of facial recognition on your smartphone, identifying a song on the radio with Shazam, and ‘understanding’ natural language from a chatbot or Google Home.
2. Generation
This is the ability of AI to create or alter image, audio, or text. Consider a Snapchat filter that beautifies your face or applies makeup, reading aloud emails or Word texts, and automatically generating a summary of a text.
How can cognitive AI make your online store smarter?
Cognitive applications can make your online store smarter in several ways. Here are a few examples of how you can use cognitive AI to enrich your product data, analyze customer feedback, and create content.
1. Enrich product data
Online consumers often want to filter on various attributes in your product catalog. AI makes it possible to add more filter properties to your product catalog based on the images of the products.
An example is Bol, which uses AI to determine the sleeve length of t-shirts based on product photos. This allows customers to filter on sleeveless, long, short, or 3/4 sleeves. This not only speeds up the process of product information management but also offers customers more filtering options, resulting in a better shopping experience.
2. Generate product descriptions
The more customers can find your products, the better. To be well found in search engines, it is essential to have a good and unique product description. AI makes it possible to automatically generate these unique product texts.
An example is Sonepar, a global wholesaler of electrical products. They have a range of millions of products. From 2021, they wanted to offer their products online for the German market. However, writing product texts for 1 million products is a huge task.
Therefore, Sonepar uses AI algorithms to automatically generate unique product texts. This saves them a lot of time and costs. Moreover, it ensures that their products are more findable in Google.
3. Create new content
You can use AI to create new content based on your existing content. This way, you can surprise, inspire, and entertain your customers. An example is Netflix, which uses AI to generate trailers based on the movies and series they offer. This gives their customers a taste of what to expect.
Netflix uses an AI model that can combine images, sounds, and texts into an attractive video. The model analyzes the content, style, and atmosphere of the film or series, and selects the most interesting and exciting scenes. Then, the model adds appropriate music, voice-overs, and subtitles. The result is a trailer that makes viewers curious for more.
4. Analyse customer feedback
- A high level of customer satisfaction leads to repeat purchases. To respond to customer feedback, many organizations conduct customer satisfaction surveys (CSAT). Based on the outcomes, you can improve your service and processes for optimal customer satisfaction. AI makes it possible to analyze the main themes from the written results of the survey.
An example is the Nationale Loterij, which receives many completed CSAT surveys every month. From the open questions about what could be better and what customers are satisfied with, the National Lottery gathers the most information. But due to the high response rates, it is no longer possible to analyze all of them manually. Therefore, they use AI to analyze the answers with an algorithm. A combination of techniques filters the main topics per answer. These topics are displayed in a dashboard, so they can see exactly what is going well and what can be improved.
The Future of Cognitive AI in E-commerce
To implement these advanced technologies, companies need access to diverse datasets and powerful AI models. Fortunately, pretrained models from large technology companies make it easier than ever to get started with cognitive AI, even with a limited amount of own data. This opens the door for a wide range of companies, from startups to large retailers, to benefit from these technologies.
The future of e-commerce undoubtedly lies in the smart use of technologies such as cognitive AI. By personalizing and streamlining the way we shop online, companies can not only improve their operational efficiency but also create a more satisfying and engaging experience for their customers. As the technology evolves, we will undoubtedly see even more innovative applications that push the boundaries of what is possible in e-commerce.
Conclusion
In short, cognitive applications are AI applications that can recognize or generate image, audio, or text. They can make your online store smarter by enriching your product data, analyzing customer feedback, and creating content. This way, you can serve your customers better, stay ahead of the competition, and increase your revenue.
Contact
If you want to know more about how you can deploy cognitive applications in your online store, or if you have questions about how AI can improve your e-commerce business, you are at the right place with Squadra Machine Learning Company! Do not hesitate to contact us. We will help you leverage the power of AI to save costs and generate more revenue!