E-Commerce Marketing Advancements

With information overload, lack of attention, and a plethora of products to choose from, visitors to an e-commerce store experience a high level of friction that inhibits conversions. How to catch attention:

• Understanding the use case that the user has & showing them exactly what’s on their mind.
• Most companies are facing difficulty in achieving this due to haphazard catalogs consisting of random products, generic marketing communication, inaccurate search, and a UX that doesn’t invite urgency in users when they land on the platform.

Leveraging AI-driven consumer insights grabs attention:

• In the case of old users, their historical behavior on the platform will be essential in determining their preferences on the platform.
• Updating the feed with a trending catalog on the main page according to current shopping trends of the industry and the macro preferences of your own users will perform better in converting new or anonymous users. Eg. if I go to the site on Christmas and see generic catalogs while everyone is showcasing the latest winter wear and Christmas-related products then that’ll be a turn-off.
• Improve page layout, this is different for each vertical but the layout should convey urgency in general such as exciting offers, adding an element of gamification will also lead to higher engagement.
• For multi-brand and category companies, the layout should be personalized to higher extent.
• Accurate User Journey Analysis for Better Product Recommendations, product placement on the website & way of presenting it: Like card swipe for mobiles, a normal recommendation box under each product, main page top recommendations, and recognizing patterns in user behavior, will allow to improve the conversion rates.

Simplifying search with GenAI:

• One of the biggest challenges faced by e-commerce platforms is the high rate of abandoned shopping carts / searches due to mismatched understanding of product-requirement of users, often caused by unresolved doubts or questions that potential customers have about products and irrelevant results based on query.
• A GenAI-based Shopping Assistant for users that expedites their conversions by addressing any doubts of users on the platform. This Chatbot will provide real-time, personalized responses to users’ queries, and guide them through the purchase process.
• The normal search isn’t suitable for use case-related queries while a bot can capture the most of it and provide the most suitable products by identifying relevant attributes.
• Also, incorporating Voice and Visual search will amplify the platform’s adoption. While higher in E-commerce stores of Western countries up to50% being voice search, In India, Meesho’s visual search accounts for 20% of their search and thus showcasing a growing need for voice & visual search in tier 1,2 population of India which is a huge market. The languages supported by these features should also consider the local lingual preferences to maximize usage.

Differential Pricing:

• Pricing Recommendations (Raman Advisor: Based on similar products, best pricing [Historical Price Data of all our Client’s Products] & offers) (Not considering Supply / Stock data): Here are the factors that would be considered in determining surge or discounting of each SKU:
• Historical Purchase Demand of products according to seasonality including the current demand, Affinities (Products / Categories / Discount / Price Sensitivity), and Product’s impact on CLV (A product shouldn’t only be judged by its sales but by how much its presence/absence & Pricing impacts the CLV of the customers who buy it).
• Propensity Models that predict the Likelihood of purchasing& not purchasing a product, the Likelihood of repurchasing the product, Likelihood of abandoning the cart by a segment of users of a company.
• The above factors will also assist with Targeted marketing communication for higher conversions by personalizing messages and finding out the preferred time for users through Send Time Optimization to send it.

Simplifying checkout process: Don’t collect too many details! ideally, one-page checkout incorporating all payment modes and an address with auto-location is sufficient.

Innovative Product Content: Using DALLE3 for innovative product Image variations and OpenAI’s recently launched Sora (or Try MidJourney) for Short Videos suiting the rapidly changing demand and adding up to the visual appeal that varies according to the changing consumer demands due to festivals or occasions.

More Opportunities:

Social Commerce: Inviting users from socials to your platform, live streaming on the . Solving for inadequate social proof and user-generated content. Martech→ AIM: Altogether leveraging AI for Social Commerce.

• Social Commerce Innovation: On Meesho, their customers take screenshots from Instagram and search over their platform by uploading it as most shopping is inspired by influencers on social platforms. People attribute to influencers with whom they’re similar and try their recommendations. The consumers nowadays want to look different and they endorse their local influencers to whom they relate to. When the medium of communication changes, marketing changes.
• Sharing pictures from social media directly to the website/app and getting recommendations ready once users come to the platform or WhatsApp With social ad costs increasing and overall ROAS dropping, e-commerce brands will have to start shifting to higher ROI channels like email marketing. So expect to see more brands working to turn their social media followers into email subscribers since email marketing has a much higher ROI and you’re not paying for social ads to reach customers.
• We can build a smart solution wherein people can share images/posts directly from social media to WhatsApp/App and get relevant shoppable recommendations for the same. Engage social media followers with customized messages across different channels (Email, Wapp, Messages etc.).
• When user visits a company page via social page: immediately capture their attention by creating a personalized ‘non-overwhelming” experience such as: when I go to Myntra’s link on their insta account, I land to their main page, if I can get what I want directly, it would be a great add-on. Solution for this would be a link that consists of trending recommendations and reels/photos which would inspire them and we recommend closely matching products to them.
• Just take a look at Livestreaming social commerce has become a massive phenomenon in China’s e-commerce landscape, generating billions of dollars and revolutionizing how consumers shop.
• Market Size: In 2021, the livestream e-commerce market in China reached a whopping $352 billion, marking a significant rise from $18.1 billion in 2018. By 2023, the market is estimated to reach nearly $700 billion, showcasing its explosive growth. It accounts for around 10.6% of total online retail sales in China, and this penetration is expected to keep increasing.

Revenue Impact: Livestreaming drives a significant portion of revenue for e-commerce companies. In 2020, it was estimated to generate 70% of total transactions in the industry. Platforms like Taobao Live and Douyin have seen tremendous growth in sales figures through their livestream features. Many brands have also witnessed remarkable success through in-house or influencer-led livestreams, boosting their sales and brand awareness.

• Gamification: Pinduoduo’s gamification strategies, such as “Shake Money,” daily check-ins, and “Price Chop,” have significantly boosted user engagement and retention. Implementing similar gamified features can enhance user interaction and drive sales.
• Strategic AI Advisors: Use AI to analyze metrics and suggest actionable steps for improving performance. Consider factors like user personas, historical insights, and platform capabilities to optimize marketing strategies.
• Platform Automation: Utilize AI-powered assistants like Raman CoPilot to automate content creation and campaign management. This can improve marketer efficiency and campaign performance.
• User Persona Tagging: Define input parameters such as demographics, personal attributes, and calculated attributes to better understand and segment customers for targeted campaigns.
• Personalization and Recommendation Systems: Leverage AI to provide personalized product recommendations based on user behavior and preferences. Implement recommendation systems to enhance the shopping experience.
• Customer Journey Optimization: Analyze user journeys to identify pain points and optimize the shopping experience. Use AI to track user interactions and suggest improvements to enhance conversion rates.
• Dynamic Pricing Strategies: Implement dynamic pricing strategies based on demand, competition, and other factors to maximize revenue and improve customer satisfaction.
• Omnichannel Marketing: Integrate various channels such as social media, email, and messaging to provide a seamless shopping experience across multiple touchpoints.
• Customer Retention Strategies: Use AI to identify at-risk customers and implement strategies to retain them. Offer personalized discounts, loyalty programs, and exclusive offers to incentivize repeat purchases.
• Performance Monitoring and Analytics: Use AI-driven analytics tools to track key performance metrics and optimize marketing strategies. Monitor campaign performance in real-time and make data-driven decisions to improve ROI.
• Social Commerce: Engage social media followers by sharing images/posts directly from social media to WhatsApp/App and providing relevant shoppable recommendations. Leverage email marketing for higher ROI.
• Live Shopping: Consider implementing live shopping features to engage users in real time and drive sales. Live shopping has been successful in generating revenue and increasing brand awareness.
• Offline Presence: Explore offline strategies such as sending postcards directly to customers’ addresses to drive online traffic and increase brand loyalty. Example: PostPilot — #1 Postcard Marketing for Shopify & E-commerce Brands, link.
• Influencer Marketing: Collaborate with influencers to promote products and reach a wider audience. Influencers can help build brand credibility and drive sales through their recommendations.
• AR and VR Technology: Implement augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) technology to provide immersive shopping experiences. This can help customers visualize products and make more informed purchasing decisions. Meta & Apple’s Vision Pro are great platforms to customize your shopping experiences for and target high-value customers.

Strategic AI Advisors for Assistance: Analytics platform and AI advisors currently provide insights on changes in metrics and their causes, leaving it to the marketers to plan further actions. Building a model that leverages historical insights and causal analysis to suggest actionable steps for improving metrics will:

1. Cut down time towards devising & implementing strategies with 360-degree knowledge of their landscape.
2. Competitive Edge (Unique Proposition).
3. Enable marketers to adopt all the features of Netcore.
4. Allow better pricing of products to improve revenue: As told in the differential strategy above.

Below is a list of factors that should be considered as part of strategy planning:

• User Persona (Audience Type / Distribution Knowledge): Gender/Age/Location Distribution, Customer Tiers, RFM Details (Not considering ERF, RFDM).
• Knowledge of the capabilities of your marketing platform → can also help with support-related queries.
• Historical Insights: STO, Purchase Trends, Campaign Performance (With context on type of users in the segment. i.e. Based on what rules, the campaign created and its performance. (Engagement)).
• Catalog: Knowledge of all SKUs & Categories. Journey Optimization Base. Propensity models & User Affinity Base in addition to Important Segment knowledge.
• Requirements (Knowledge Bases): Capturing insights per metrics. Training the model on the database of CEDocs to understand platform capabilities.
• Client Audience Knowledge: RFM & Affinities (Live Distribution).
• Historical Insights: Netcore’s Campaign Performance Knowledge: Used for STO, Emails, Messages Content Insights: (Conditions).

Platform Automation: Netcore, a Marketing Technology company, is advancing its offerings to assist marketers and product managers in creating engaging and personalized content for campaigns using GenAI. They are introducing Raman CoPilot, an AI-powered assistant that understands and generates optimized content based on user inputs in natural language for all channels, including APN, BPN, Email, and WhatsApp. This advancement aims to enhance user productivity by automating content creation within the marketing automation platform. Raman CoPilot is a comprehensive assistant capable of handling broader tasks such as campaign management and segmentation through chatbots. For example, users can ask queries like “What was the performance of my campaigns last week?” or “Create a segment of users who abandoned cart yesterday.” The feature covers unique use cases, including generating personalized content aligned with campaign requirements, fine-tuning content suggestions using sector-agnostic data, and comprehending queries about Netcore documentation with precision. Raman CoPilot supports multiple languages, making it suitable for global campaigns and diverse customer bases. This advancement is expected to improve marketers’ efficiency and, subsequently, enhance the performance of their campaigns.

User Persona Tagging: This will assist in knowing your customer more well. Here’s the process you can know them better! Defining the input parameters as a training dataset: Demographics (Location, Local Weather, Festivals, Date & Time, Local Area & National Events) Personal Attributes (Favorite Colors, Affinities based on Behavioral Pattern (Brands, Categories, Discount, Products, Features), Price Range / Top Categories → Buyer Type (Low, Avg., Premium), Gender) Calculated Attributes (CLTV, AOV, Order Frequency, Last Purchase Date) Providing GPT model to find out qualitative correlations Once Input parameters are derived, based on the specific day the campaign is scheduled to be done. Provide Output in form of Tags (For Segmentation, Campaigns & Analytics) such as Fitness Enthusiast, Festive Shopper, Impulsive Buyer, Gamer etc.