AI in E-Commerce: 6 Ways New-Age Tech is Driving Store Growth

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Artificial intelligence is no longer a futuristic concept; it’s the driving force behind some of the most innovative transformations in e-commerce today. From hyper-personalized shopping experiences to AI-driven marketing automation, forward-thinking businesses are leveraging AI to redefine how they engage with customers, increase revenue, and outpace the competition.

If you want to keep up, now is the time to get involved. The good news? AI for e-commerce is no longer restricted to the biggest brands. 

In this blog, we’ll explore X transformative AI use cases that are shaping the future of e-commerce—each one showcasing how Emarsys enables businesses to achieve impactful, data-driven outcomes. Whether you’re looking to boost customer retention, optimize marketing efforts, or personalize the shopping journey at scale, these use cases are your blueprint for success.

Breathe new life into your loyalty and retention strategy

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1. Hyper-Personalized Product Recommendations

Personalization has become a non-negotiable in e-commerce, with customers expecting tailored experiences that cater to their unique preferences. Generic product recommendations are no longer enough to capture attention or drive conversions. 

By harnessing the power of AI, businesses can analyze individual customer behavior, preferences, and purchase history to deliver highly relevant suggestions in real time. With Emarsys, this process is seamless and scalable, ensuring customers see products that resonate with them across all touchpoints.

  • What it is: AI algorithms use customer data to generate personalized product recommendations, making every shopping interaction more relevant.
  • Why it matters: Personalization improves customer satisfaction, increases engagement, and drives higher conversion rates.
  • How Emarsys helps: Emarsys integrates AI-driven recommendations into email, web, and mobile experiences, ensuring consistency and impact throughout the customer journey.

Product recommendations in action: Imagine a customer browsing an online fashion store for a winter coat. They add a coat to their cart but leave before completing the purchase. Emarsys’ Predict recommendation engine analyzes the behavior data collected from your store and uses it to deliver personalized recommendations across email, SMS, mobile app and web, motivating the customer to complete their purchase. 

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2. AI-Powered Marketing Automation

Marketers today are expected to wear many hats—managing campaigns, analyzing data, and driving results—all while working with tighter budgets and limited resources. Customers expect personalized, timely communication, but meeting these expectations at scale is a challenge. AI-powered marketing automation allows businesses to target the right customer, with the right message, on the right channel—all without lifting a finger. Emarsys streamlines this process, enabling businesses to create and execute campaigns that feel personal and impactful.

  • What it is: AI automates the delivery of personalized marketing messages across multiple channels, including email, SMS, and push notifications.
  • Why it matters: Automation saves time, reduces errors, and ensures consistent communication with customers, ultimately driving higher engagement and revenue.
  • How Emarsys helps: Emarsys uses AI to define customer segments, optimize delivery channels, and craft tailored messages, making campaigns smarter and more effective.

Automation in action: A beauty retailer uses Emarsys to re-engage customers who abandoned their carts. AI-driven segmentation identifies customers most likely to convert based on factors like browsing behavior and past purchases. Emarsys then triggers a personalized email highlighting the abandoned skincare products, including benefits tailored to the customer’s preferences. If there’s no response within 24 hours, Emarsys follows up with an SMS reminder, adding an exclusive incentive to prompt action.

3. Predicting and Reducing Customer Churn

Retaining customers is far more cost-effective than acquiring new ones, yet many businesses struggle to identify which customers are at risk of leaving. AI empowers businesses to predict customer churn by analyzing patterns in behavior, purchase history, and engagement levels. Armed with these insights, businesses can proactively re-engage at-risk customers with personalized strategies, turning potential losses into renewed loyalty. Emarsys simplifies this process by providing actionable predictions and enabling targeted campaigns to keep customers coming back.

  • What it is: AI uses predictive analytics to identify customers who are likely to churn and provides insights into how to retain them.
  • Why it matters: Reducing churn protects revenue, improves customer lifetime value, and strengthens brand loyalty.
  • How Emarsys helps: Emarsys’s AI models analyze data like customer lifetime value, engagement frequency, and purchasing trends, delivering a churn score that helps businesses act before it’s too late.

Churn reduction in action: A subscription box company notices a drop in activity from long-term customers. Emarsys flags these customers with a high churn risk score. The company then uses Emarsys to send a personalized email campaign offering an exclusive discount on their next renewal, accompanied by recommendations for products they’ve previously enjoyed. The campaign successfully re-engages customers and reduces churn rates by 15%.

Breathe new life into your loyalty and retention strategy

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4. Automated Cross-Sell and Upsell Strategies

Have you ever been browsing online, added something to your cart, and then spotted a suggestion for the perfect add-on? Maybe it was a protective case for the gadget you just selected or matching accessories for your new outfit. That’s the magic of cross-selling and upselling in action—and when done right, it feels like the store truly understands your needs. As a business owner, you can use AI to make these suggestions seamlessly, offering your customers more value while increasing the size of their purchases.

  • What it is: AI helps you recommend additional or upgraded products based on what your customers are already interested in.
  • Why it matters: It’s a win-win—your customers discover items they might not have thought of, and you enjoy a boost in sales and customer satisfaction.
  • How Emarsys helps: With Emarsys, you can analyze what your customers are buying and browsing, then automatically suggest the perfect complementary or premium products right when they’re most likely to buy.

Cross- and up-selling in action: Say you’re running an online store that sells kitchen gadgets. A customer adds a high-speed blender to their cart. Emarsys steps in to suggest things like a smoothie recipe book or a set of durable blender-safe cups. On top of that, it might highlight an upgraded version of the blender with more features. These timely and personalized suggestions not only help your customer make the most of their purchase but also increase your average order value.

5. Real-Time Behavioral Insights

Imagine this: a customer is browsing your online store, clicking on products, and adding items to their cart. Then, without warning, they leave. What happened? Did they get distracted, or were they unsure about their purchase? With real-time behavioral insights powered by AI, you don’t have to guess. Instead, you can respond instantly with strategies that bring them back or close the sale before they’re gone for good.

  • What it is: AI tracks and analyzes what your customers are doing on your website—what they’re looking at, what they’re adding to their cart, and where they might be hesitating—and helps you act on it in real time.
  • Why it matters: It lets you engage with your customers in the moment, delivering timely messages, offers, or suggestions that turn interest into action.
  • How Emarsys helps: Whether it’s through a pop-up offer, a personalized email, or a reminder that their favorite item is still waiting for them, Emarsys’ AI-powered workflows give you the tools you need to act on customer behavior quickly and effectively. 

Real-time insights in action: Let’s say a customer is browsing your store for a new pair of headphones. They spend time reading reviews and even add a pair to their cart, but they don’t check out. Using Emarsys, you can instantly trigger a pop-up offering free shipping if they complete their purchase within the next hour. If they leave the site, an email reminder can follow, highlighting the headphones and offering a limited-time discount. Timely nudges like these are often all it takes to turn a browser into a buyer.

6. Enhanced Email Targeting with AI

Your customers’ inboxes are crowded, and standing out is tougher than ever. You can’t just send generic emails and hope they’ll open them. That’s where AI comes in—it helps you craft emails that feel like they’re speaking directly to each customer. From knowing the best time to send an email to selecting content that resonates, AI makes your email marketing smarter, more effective, and less time-consuming.

  • What it is: AI fine-tunes your email campaigns, optimizing everything from the subject line to the time it’s sent, all based on your customers’ preferences and behaviors.
  • Why it matters: When your emails are timely and relevant, customers are more likely to open them, click through, and take action—leading to better results for your business.
  • How Emarsys helps: Emarsys takes the guesswork out of email marketing by analyzing customer data to personalize messages and optimize send times, so every email feels like it was made just for the recipient.

Email targeting in action: Let’s say you run a clothing store. A customer browses your site, looking at winter jackets but doesn’t buy anything. The next morning, they receive a personalized email featuring the jacket they viewed, styled with matching accessories, and a message that says, “The weather’s cooling down—don’t miss out on staying warm!” Thanks to Emarsys’ AI, that email lands in their inbox at the exact time they’re most likely to read it.

Discover the Secrets to Keep Customers Coming Back

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