3 ways AI is transforming the product journey – and how PIM is helping

1. Transforming how businesses interact with customers 

Despite the recent jump in AI capabilities, businesses have been using it as a time-saving tool for a while. Chatbots, for example, have been used by businesses to better manage customer queries and reduce call agent workloads. 

But chatbots are continually being upgraded with smarter processing capabilities. Amazon’s Lex chatbot, for instance, uses advanced language learning models (LLMs) to continuously improve its conversational accuracy and authenticity, helping customers more easily find answers to product queries and information. It is also capable of processing both voice and text requests, leading to a 30% reduction in call agent volumes and a 65% increase in self-service rates. 

“AI is already incorporated into PIM solutions and will undoubtedly play a major role in shaping their evolution. With brand loyalty dented by cost-of-living pressures around the globe, brands need to connect with consumers on an individual level, and AI will be key.”

Dave Copeland

Director of Sales Engineering, inriver

AI is also enabling even greater shopping personalization across different channels. eCommerce specialists like Shopee use AI to monitor customer behavior and make tailored product recommendations based on the user’s browsing patterns. Others, like Sephora, combine AI and machine learning with augmented reality to analyze customer facial shapes and make tailored product recommendations. 

Whether businesses are making use of predictive analytics to forecast future trends in fashion or using dynamic pricing models to generate better value from sales based on an in-depth analysis of shopping patterns, AI is driving substantial transformations in how businesses interact with customers. But it’s not just customers who are benefitting from time-saving applications of AI. 

2. Editing and enriching product data at scale 

PIM software allows businesses to manage, record, and distribute an array of complex product information. Through detailed data insights, customer analytics, and cross-channel syndication, allow marketing teams to quickly tailor and adapt sales strategies to drive growth. But AI integration is helping amplify the benefits of PIM even further. 

One example of how inriver is implementing AI is in the form of batch editing capabilities that allow users to edit the product descriptions of hundreds of different products from a single screen, reducing time to market and cutting hours from the marketing team’s work. Product Information Management software, such as the dynamically adaptable inriver PIM solution, also offers translation capabilities, helping businesses scale faster into new markets. 

“One of the new tools I’m most excited about is Batch Editing, a function within the AI-powered content generation module from inriver: Inspire. It allows you to generate text that enriches more than 100 products in one go in seconds, using the same promptings. You can also translate products in bulk into multiple languages.”

Viktor Bergqvist

Head of inriver Innovation Lab, inriver

Custom prompt editing is another time-saving feature being added to the inriver PIM solution, helping teams create product information faster. Through the adoption of LLMs, businesses can also benefit from tailored models that reflect the details of their products better than before, with this data then being exported to the likes of OpenAI, Microsoft Azure Open AI, and Google. All of which helps businesses enrich product information at scale. 

3. Creating a continuous loop of data collection and enhancement

PIM already plays a critical role in distributing information about product life cycles across different teams and enabling seamless workflows. But by adding AI into the mix, you can now use it as a centralized source of product information distribution too. Processing vast datasets and enabling teams to fine-tune the tone and branding of this information, businesses can distribute information rapidly – in an array of different languages – to different marketplaces and search engines, allowing them to create tailored content instantly. 

“For overstretched product marketing teams responsible for creating unique and compelling content on vast numbers of products on multiple communication platforms, this is a real game-changer. They can work much more efficiently while still maintaining visibility and quality control over what they push to market.”

Dave Copeland

Director of Sales Engineering, inriver

AI also plays a crucial role in evaluating and enhancing product information. The inriver screen scraping technology uses ‘high-quality ethical’ spiders to gather data from your key channels during low-traffic periods to avoid slowing websites to analyze primary, secondary, and even tertiary product information data. This data is then fed back into the system and analyzed by AI to improve product descriptions and other relevant information. This continuous loop of data collection and enhancement enables new levels of operational efficiency, transparency, traceability as well as consistent brand messaging. 

inriver: Product journeys optimized by PIM + AI 

From customers to regulators, businesses face growing pressures to provide accurate and up-to-date information on their products’ lifecycles. And with the dynamically adaptable inriver PIM at the heart of your tech stack, businesses will benefit from AI-powered content creation, API-based cross-channel syndication, and digital shelf analytics that help drive sales and customer confidence. Get in touch to find out more.