① Alibaba has established an AI e-commerce team and is developing an AI e-commerce product called "Hua Frog" for merchants and influencers. Designers from JD Retail's relevant business departments have transferred to commodity operations, promoting comprehensive AIGCization of design work; ② At present, the development of AI e-commerce still requires manual assistance, and the ability to solve complex scenarios still needs to be improved.
"The era of AI e-commerce has just begun, and it is both an opportunity and a challenge for everyone." In late November last year, Alibaba founder Jack Ma's rare speech on the Alibaba intranet drew attention to the concept of "AI e-commerce".
At present, Alibaba has established an AI e-commerce team and is creating an AI e-commerce product called "Hua Frog" for merchants and influencers. This will improve the creative efficiency of Taobao, Tmall merchants and influencers in generating marketing copy, training exclusive AI models, and other aspects, so that products can be quickly promoted.
Recently, the reporter also learned from the relevant business departments of JD Retail that some designers have transferred to commodity operations. "Our department needs to promote the comprehensive AIGCization of design work," revealed a designer.
Several insiders told the reporter of Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily that AI e-commerce is a new opportunity for e-commerce platforms such as Alibaba in the traditional Internet era, and it is also conducive to improving the investment value of enterprises through forward-looking business layout. However, the development of AI e-commerce still requires manual assistance, and the ability to solve complex scenarios still needs to be improved.
Open book AI e-commerce platforms such as Alibaba and JD.com
Zhang Yi, CEO and Chief Analyst of iMedia Consulting, believes that the establishment of an AI e-commerce team by Alibaba is an opportunity for them. "This year's government work report mentioned the new quality productivity, which is one of the most important tasks this year and even for a long time. Alibaba's efforts in AI e-commerce can also be said to seize the momentum. On the other hand, the dividends of e-commerce brought by the Internet and mobile Internet in the past have almost been eaten up. In the past two years, Ali has been pursued by live broadcast e-commerce represented by Tiktok and social e-commerce represented by Pinduoduo very hard, and is overwhelmed. For Alibaba, its productivity must undergo new changes
From the perspective of capital value, Zhang Yi believes that Alibaba's e-commerce productivity or production relations are outdated and lack attractiveness, which is also the reason for its sluggish market value performance. "So, it needs to lay out industry trends or new formats with strong foresight, which is naturally AI. Alibaba started with e-commerce, and AI needs to make a difference, among which the most important is probably AI e-commerce."
In addition to Ali, Internet enterprises such as JD and Baidu have also carried out relevant exploration of AI e-commerce.
JD has adopted technologies such as digital live streaming and AI outbound calls to provide brand marketing for a large number of merchants. He Xiaodong, Vice President of JD.com Group, revealed in an interview with the Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily that JD.com has achieved impressive results by using AI to generate copy for businesses, generating revenue in the tens of millions.
Baidu Youxuan, an AI e-commerce brand under Baidu, launched the AI full stack digital human live streaming solution "Huibo Star" and the first generative AI shopping guide "Intelligent Shopping Guide" in China last year. According to data released by Baidu in January, the GMV of Baidu's preferred products increased by 594% year-on-year in 2023, with the number of trading users and active sellers increasing by four and three times, respectively. Among them, transactions facilitated by AI models accounted for 20% of the total transactions.
In addition to leading manufacturers, other Internet e-commerce platforms are also exploring AI e-commerce. On February 29th, the self-developed AI shopping assistant "Little Value" was officially launched on the "What is Worth Buying" app. In addition, a series of AI decision-making tools for C-end consumers, such as "AI comment robots" and "AI purchase suggestions", have also been launched on the "What is Worth Buying" app. Its subsidiary, Xingluo, has also launched the AI creation tool "Divine Lamp Material Assistant" to provide services to B-end customers.
CTO Wang Yunfeng said in an interview that the company's overall investment in AI this year is 2-3 times that of last year. At present, the company has established an AI business unit with about 50 people. "The work of traditional e-commerce may become the infrastructure of new AI e-commerce. The application of AI in the e-commerce field should start from the front-end, building a new interactive form of e-commerce in the front-end, such as' helping users do homework ', and ultimately providing users with new ways of experience." Wang Yunfeng said.
Zhuang Shuai, an expert in the retail e-commerce industry and founder of Bailian Consulting, believes that the value of AI e-commerce lies in helping businesses reduce costs and improve user experience, and even changing user habits.
"Nowadays, searching for products on platforms may become interactive shopping in the future. Users will chat with robots provided by the platform, watch SORA generated product explanation videos, and then make purchases, or watch digital live streaming for shopping."
The development of AI e-commerce still requires manual assistance
According to the 2024 research report on China's AI e-commerce industry by iMedia Consulting, the high-quality development of e-commerce in China has achieved positive results in 2023, with AI related applications rapidly landing and significant results. Multiple e-commerce platforms have applied intelligent product selection functions, and AI e-commerce plays a positive role in reducing operating costs and increasing sales for merchants. The e-commerce industry has become one of the core commercial application scenarios of AIGC. The AI e-commerce industry will achieve a comprehensive intelligent transformation from the e-commerce operation end, supply chain end, and consumer end, empowering e-commerce with high-tech.
Among them, digital people have become a key direction for various parties to layout AI e-commerce. Driven by the demand for digital transformation and cost reduction and efficiency improvement in traditional industries, the demand for AI digital human business in China is further released. In the future, AI digital humans will develop towards emotional and humanization, providing services that are more in line with user needs for enterprises and individuals.
According to data from iMedia Consulting, shopping convenience (67.2%), personalized services (63.5%), and interaction and socialization (48.8%) are the main advantages of AI e-commerce in attracting consumers; Service and after-sales, data security and privacy protection are also important considerations for attracting consumers to make purchases. Analysts from iMedia Consulting believe that in terms of the functional layout of future AI e-commerce, businesses can enhance user stickiness by improving shopping convenience, developing personalized services, and creating innovative experiences
However, in the use of AI e-commerce, consumers still have a significant demand for manual intervention functions. 45.5% of consumers occasionally use it, and 33.7% of consumers use it as needed. This indicates that AI e-commerce still needs to improve its problem-solving ability in complex scenarios. In addition, 33.3% of consumers believe that manual intervention has improved the shopping experience of AI e-commerce. Analysts from iMedia Consulting believe that the development of AI e-commerce still requires human assistance. In the future, businesses need to leverage the positive impact of human intervention to improve the adaptability and flexibility of the system, bring convenience to consumers, and increase a more humane shopping experience.
"Perhaps 80% of the final form of the e-commerce industry is the original, with only 20% being reconstructed by AI, but that 20% will become the finishing touch," Wang Yunfeng predicted the future of AI e-commerce.