Are you looking to implement AI-powered product recommendation on your Shopify website, but are having a hard time figuring out how to go about it? This post is for you.
Implementing an AI recommendation engine on your website has several benefits. The major one is that it smoothens your customers’ buying journey by making it easier for them to find products they like easier and faster.
AI-powered recommendations are increasingly becoming popular in e-commerce. Virtually every online store uses it, including the big shots. For instance, any time you visit Amazon, you will be instantly hit with product suggestions such as “Frequently repurchased”, “International top sellers in Home”, etc.
Here’s an example:
This is Amazon’s recommendation system at work. And it works. Many studies suggest that as much as 35% of all Amazon’s sales come from product recommendations.
The good news is that you don’t need to own a store as big as Amazon to make the most of AI product recommendations. You just need to understand what it is and how it works.
And that’s what this post is about, which is to give you an in-depth insight into AI product recommendation systems and how you can implement them on Shopify.
Let’s get right into it.
What is AI Product Recommendation?
In the simplest sense, AI product recommendation is the concept of using computer algorithms to find and recommend products shoppers will like. To find these relevant products, the algorithms check customers’ purchase history, browsing patterns, geo-location, and what other customers with similar profiles are buying.
Isn’t this what traditional recommendation engines do too? Yes. however, there are some key differences between an AI recommendation engine and a traditional, hard-coded recommendation engine.
One is that while AI recommendation systems are dynamic, their traditional counterparts are not. A traditional recommendation system might only make product suggestions based on the specific actions of shoppers. For instance, they can suggest products shoppers recently viewed or added to their cart.
An AI recommendation engine, on the other hand, takes things by deeply profiling the customers to understand their unique preferences. It also takes account of variables such as season, purchasing power, past purchases, etc., and then uses these variables to make an intelligent suggestion.
Essentially, it adds a personalized touch to shoppers’ buying experience.
Compared to traditional systems, AI recommendation engines are faster, smarter, and better at driving conversion.
5 Benefits AI Product Recommendation Engine Offers Shopify Merchants
Is investing time and resources into an AI e-commerce recommendation engine worth it? The long and short answer is yes.
Here are some reasons why:
1. Improves Conversion and Sales
The whole point of using a product recommendation system is to drive more sales, right? How can an AI recommendation system help you achieve this?
Firstly, it creates smart, personalized product recommendations that best suit shoppers’ preferences. Doing so makes it easier for them to reach a buying decision faster, improving conversion.
Secondly, it creates intelligent product recommendations to pique the interest of impulsive buyers, further boosting your sales.
2. Reduces Bounce Rate
Nothing frustrates online shoppers more than spending hours searching for products they want to buy. This often pushes them to abandon their buying journey, leading to a high bounce rate on your site.
A high bounce rate is bad for your business. Not only will it lead to lost sales but it can also de-rank your website on Google.
Implementing AI recommendation on your site will cause bounce rates to drop sharply on your site, leading to more positive outcomes.
3. Improves Customer Retention and Loyalty
When you make it easy for customers to find products they like and want to buy, they will naturally come back to buy some more. This inherently leads to better retention and more loyalty from your customers.
On top of that, you will also get enjoy free PR as satisfied customers will spread positive words about your store, attracting more customers.
4. Higher Average Order Value
You don’t necessarily need to get more customers to generate more sales. Nudging the few customers you have to buy some more will do the trick. This is another place AI product recommendations come into play.
Implementing a smart product recommendation system in your store can uplift the average order value, which is the average amount customers spend each time they make a purchase from your store.
5. Deeper Insights
Using an AI recommendation engine gives you insights into your customers’ behaviour, allowing you to adjust your market strategy to improve sales.
In addition, it lets you know the kind of products customers are looking to buy, adjusting your inventory accordingly.
Tips for Implementing Product Recommendations on Shopify
Ready to start driving sales with product recommendations on your Shopify website? Here are some tips that will help you make the most of it.
1. Use the Right Product Recommendation App
The success – albeit the failure – of your product recommendation campaign on Shopify is largely dependent on the app you use. With apps like Adoric, you enjoy the immense benefits AI-powered recommendations have to offer. Use the wrong one and your efforts will go down the drain.
So how do you tell the right app from the wrong one? Simple. Look for the following features in an app before deciding if it’s a good fit.
- Personalized Cross-sell and Upsell Recommendations
- Allows you to display recommendations wherever you want on your website
- Supports real-time customer segmentation
- Can create smart discounts to entice shoppers to buy more products
- Highly customizable
2. Use Discounts to Sway Customers
Enticing shoppers with discounts can make your recommendation campaign pack more punch. This is because online shoppers are suckers for discounts and coupons. Throwing some in their face can make them buy your products even if they never intended to.
Discounts are particularly useful for upsell recommendations, which involve suggesting a higher-priced product to customers.
3. Use Social Proof
Displaying star ratings alongside your products can lead to higher conversion. Why so? As humans, our actions are often influenced by the actions of others, as research has discovered.
So when a potential buyer sees that others have been buying a product and rating it well, they will be prompted to do the same. Plus, star ratings make shoppers see a product as high quality. Technically, this is known as social proof.
Here’s how Best Buy did theirs:
Notice how they added star ratings to trending deals suggestions?
4. Leverage The Wisdom of the Crowd
If a lot of people are viewing/buying a particular product – or a set of products – there’s a good chance it will sell well. Displaying those products on your site can lead to high conversion and more sales.
Think of it as leveraging the wisdom of the crowd. This type of recommendation is very popular and you will find it in almost every online store.
Here’s one from Walmart
5. A/B Test Your Recommendation Campaigns
Things might not always go as planned with your recommendation campaigns. For instance, you might display products’ star ratings but still not get any sales. You could offer huge discounts and not see any sales. When this happens, quitting becomes very tempting.
Don’t!
Instead of quitting, tweak things a bit. Change your copy. Display the recommendation on a different page, try a different discounting strategy, use a different recommendation strategy…the list is endless.
In essence, A/B test your recommendation campaign.
Conclusion
Implementing AI product recommendations on your website can be a major game-changer for business.
The good news is that you don’t have to invest in a heavy, expensive recommendation engine to get started. You could even start for free with Adoric and upscale as your business begins to expand.
With Adoric installed on your Shopify store, you can track Direct sales vs Assisted revenue, impressions, clicks, and CTRs on your campaigns.
You can also customize your campaigns to display on your Shopify store’s home page, collection page, product page, or cart page. That’s not all. Modify the strategy behind the campaigns tailored to determine what kind of campaign is displayed on what page.
Create seamless shopping experiences for your customers with Adoric’s exclusive features. Design and publish campaigns within seconds.
With a portfolio of ready-made templates for easy publishing, you’re ready to lead your prospects into buying customers.
Add Adoric to your Shopify site right away to take it for a spin
