AI rapidly seeping into all areas of e-commerce

I have covered the Singles Day shopping extravaganza, the world's largest online promotional campaign, for eight years running, but I found a noticeable and interesting trend this year.

Artificial intelligence technology is being increasingly leveraged in every aspect of the e-commerce segment.

The 11-11 or Double Eleven shopping carnival was just a 24-hour event on Nov 11 when it was unveiled by Alibaba Group in 2009, but has stretched into a weekslong shopping spree lasting from early-October to mid-November.

Unlike in the past, when record-smashing gross merchandise volume through discount-led sales had come to characterize the online shopping gala, chasing high GMV is no longer the focus now.

Currently, AI is penetrating quickly into all areas of e-commerce, including research and development, supply chain optimization, marketing and operations. It is noteworthy that major e-commerce platforms are shifting toward a technology-driven high-quality growth model that places emphasis on the improvement of efficiency and experience.

Experts told me that the large-scale adoption of AI is conducive to improving merchants' operational efficiency, offering shoppers personalized recommendations and bolstering sales.

I interviewed several merchants operating online stores on e-marketplaces during the shopping festival. Generative AI gives these retailers access to a powerful tool for increasing sales and lowering costs, as they prefer to use AI-enabled technology to generate product content, optimize the management of stores and deepen their customer engagement.

For instance, Alibaba has accelerated steps to promote the large-scale deployment of AI on Taobao and Tmall, and integrate large language models into the platforms' core search and recommendation engines to entice more consumers.

Online discounter PDD Holdings is leveraging AI to analyze market trends and consumer needs and preferences, while designing sales strategies to improve shopping experiences. JD's AI-powered digital humans assisted more than 40,000 merchants in their livestreaming sessions, and the number of inquiries handled by intelligent customer service chatbots surpassed 4.2 billion.

The State Council, China's Cabinet, has issued a guideline on deeply implementing the "AI Plus" initiative. The country will promote the use of AI in science and technology, industrial development, consumption, people's well-being, governance capability and global cooperation, according to the guideline.

AI is deeply reshaping the decision making process and operational efficiency in the e-commerce field. Consumers can select products using AI-enabled search tools, while AI helps merchants lower costs and improve efficiency in terms of product design, marketing and customer services, said Hong Yong, an associate research fellow at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation.

Hong said the large-scale use of AI during this year's Singles Day shopping festival not only offered consumers a smarter and more convenient shopping experience, but also created immense growth opportunities for brands and merchants.

Nurturing an AI-driven new consumption model is pivotal to expanding domestic demand, boosting consumption and promoting high-quality economic growth, he said, adding that AI has the potential to change the way people shop by providing interactive consumer experiences and propelling the digital transformation of traditional retailers.

Liu Yanfang, executive director of the research institute of the China International Electronic Commerce Center, emphasized the importance of AI in driving the expansion and upgrading of online services consumption.

She said AI not only gives rise to new service formats such as digital humans, virtual hosts and intelligent guidance, but also bolsters the upgrading of the traditional services industry and optimizes consumption structure. "Looking ahead, the integration of AI with online services consumption will be deeper."

Qiu Sheng, vice-president of Amazon China, said AI is becoming an accelerator for product innovation as sellers can use AI to capture consumption trends in time and better understand user needs.

Qiu said that his company is helping Chinese cross-border sellers expand their overseas presence through leveraging AI digital tools.

The cutting-edge digital technology can help merchants make business decisions more scientifically based on data analysis and trend predictions, and lower operational costs, while significantly improving resource allocation efficiency in fields like intelligent inventory management, logistics and delivery, Qiu added.