Revolutionising Digital Shelf Content with AI’s Help

Written by Carla El Gawly | Aug 23, 2024

It is near impossible to have a conversation with a client, colleague, or partner without hearing the two letters. Whilst there is often fear of AI, innovative companies are building use cases to help assist their marketing and ecommerce teams efficiencies (both in time and resource) by determining strategically beneficial outputs for consumers on the digital shelf. AI tools wear many hats across the ecommerce journey such as search, customer service, chat bots, review sentiment analysis.

With a focus on content to sell a product online generative artificial intelligence systems are capable of creating or optimising content autonomously. Leveraging advanced machine learning algorithms, they can generate the very content companies need to sell on the digital shelf; product text and images, enabling businesses to produce high-quality marketing copy and visuals at scale.

Product data has big opportunities for GenAI enhancement

According to Forrester [i] Five of the eight B2C commerce vendors in their research cited using genAI to generate product information at scale, second only to chat. Creating engaging and persuasive marketing copy is crucial for attracting and retaining customers. Traditionally, this task has been labour-intensive, requiring skilled copywriters to develop unique and appealing content. GenAI allows these tasks to scale, decreasing time to market, and validating accuracy across channels that resonate with target audiences.

1. Personalized Product Descriptions

Generative AI can analyze customer data to understand preferences and behaviours, allowing it to craft personalized product descriptions. For instance, AI can highlight features that are most likely to appeal to individual shoppers, increasing the likelihood of a purchase. Supporting brand in creating relevant marketing copy, product titles and feature bullets. For example, Colgate[ii] is already testing the use of GenAI with Profitero’s guidance, to ensure that the product descriptions on retailer sites are optimum for maximum conversion, looking at things like length and keywords. The goal is to have the ability to optimise content by channel and save time in doing so.

2. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Effective SEO is essential for visibility in search engine results and getting your brand at the stop of Search Engine Results pages (SERP). Generative AI can produce copy optimized for specific keywords, improving a product's search engine ranking. By continuously analyzing search trends, AI can update content to maintain high relevance.

3. Translation of content

For brands selling the same product in many markets, the speed at which AI can accurately translate content is a time saver. It doesn't stop at text...

4. Enhancing Digital Shelf Imagery

Visual content plays a vital role in ecommerce, as high-quality images can significantly influence purchasing decisions. Generative AI is enhancing the creation and optimization of digital shelf imagery in several ways.

5. Automated Image Generation

AI can generate product images from various angles and in different settings without the need for extensive photoshoots. Particularly useful for businesses with extensive product catalogues, allowing them to maintain consistent and appealing visuals across their digital shelves. Mattel recently used Adobe’s Firefly solution to support speed to market in packaging imagery for their latest Barbie collection.[iii]

6. Image Enhancement

Whether it's pack shots or hero images, Generative AI can enhance existing images by improving resolution, adjusting lighting, and refining details. This ensures that product images are always of the highest quality, providing customers with a clear and attractive view of what they are buying.

Human intervention remains key for practitioners to produce queries and effective prompting requires skill itself. Once the output is available, it is likely that compliance, marketing and legal all have roles to ensure it meets requirements. AI then supports the automation of processes required to gain final approvals through tasks/workflows/triggers formed by specific events.

So, What next?

As AI technology continues to advance, we can expect even more sophisticated content creation capabilities, paving the way for more innovative and personalized shopping experiences. For instance, AI could generate interactive 3D models of products, offering customers an immersive shopping experience. Embracing AI is not just a competitive advantage but a necessity for businesses aiming to thrive and compete on the digital shelf.

Carla El Gawly, Global Head, Digital Shelf Solutions

[i] How Generative AI Is Changing The Game In B2C Commerce Solutions, February 1, 2024

[ii] https://www.digitalcommerce360.com/2023/08/04/colgate-pilots-generative-ai-tool-to-improve-product-detail-pages/

[iii] https://blog.adobe.com/en/publish/2024/06/27/barbie-adobe-firefly-bringing-magic-to-mattels-packaging

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