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Can Generative AI Help Shoppers Find the Perfect Gift?
In mid-November, Google introduced a number of tools showing how generative artificial intelligence (AI) can make finding a gift for someone more visual, natural, and intuitive as well as less stressful.
The tools introduced include:
Expansive AI-Generated Gift Ideas
Typing a phrase such as “great gifts for home cooks” into a search bar augmented by Google’s generative AI-driven Search Generative Experience (SGE) returns a “wide variety of subcategories to explore — like specialty tools, artisanal ingredients, culinary subscriptions and even experiences like cooking classes,” said Julie Black, Google’s director of product, consumer shopping, in a blog entry.
Fine-tuning the search to “great gifts for home cooks who love pasta” narrows the search to specific options. Black wrote, “With SGE we’re showing more links, and links to a wider range of sources, creating new opportunities for content to be discovered.”
AI-Powered Image Generation for Shopping
With Google’s “Generate images” tool, users type in an item description such as “colorful, patterned puffy jacket,” and AI creates “photorealistic” images that match the description and displays similar-looking products that can be purchased. Black writes, “If you want to make an adjustment, like if you’d prefer a colorful metallic jacket instead of a patterned one, just enter that refinement in the text box to see a new set of images.”
AI-Powered Virtual Try-On
Google’s virtual try-on tool, which lets users see how a product looks on a variety of models, launched earlier this year for women’s tops and is now being extended to men’s. Baker writes, “You can select from 40 models ranging in skin tone, body shape, height and size so you can make a more confident decision.”
A global survey by Sapio Research found that 69% of shoppers think AI will make it easier to discover new products and brands, including 67% believing the technology will make it easier to get recommendations based on previous purchases. More cautiously, the survey of 12,000 consumers across six countries, including the U.S., found that only 39% of shoppers are more likely to buy from a brand that uses AI as part of the shopping experience, and “1 in 5 say they’re more likely to be loyal to those brands.”
Discussion Questions
What do you think of the potential of generative AI to transform online product discovery and gift search? Which of Google’s AI-powered product search tools appear most useful to online shoppers?
Poll
Loading …BrainTrust
Ananda Chakravarty
Vice President, Research at IDC
James Tenser
Retail Tech Marketing Strategist | B2B Expert Storytelling™ Guru | President, VSN Media LLC
There is enormous potential for AI to revolutionize search, especially on big marketplaces like Amazon. As for gifts, AI can certainly come up with ideas and inspiration. But it cannot make decisions as it doesn’t know recipients intimately. In this regard, AI is an assistant not a decision maker.
Gen AI can absolutely make the shoppers life simpler, whether in researching products as the example indicated, looking for supportive product information (assembly, warranty, how to use), even where the product is in stock close by for the best price. That’s what meeting shopper needs will require. Better product search with better information (does this size fit accurately) may also reduce returns which will benefit the margins for Retailers who participate. For Retailers – they need to finally put some time and effort into getting accurate descriptive product attributes on their product master files and websites or they simply won’t be found by the shopper. And the industry needs to figure out how to walk the fine line between product information “free” retrieval and paid search. LLM based search is a train that’s already left the station, or more likely a plane that’s already in search of a good place to land.
GenAI can play a part in gifting and shopping, especially if Google, Microsoft or others are able to capture both sides of shopping- the retailers/brands selling products and the shoppers. This means knowing what products the retailer is looking to move and understanding context for gifting that shoppers must share to make it work. This is more of a matchmaker function than anything else, and it will require shopper engagement and participation to work. GenAI can capture value, but can it extend beyond traditional recommendations which continue to improve – also powered by consumer context data? Remains to be seen whether this opportunity becomes a realistic use case for retail GenAI.
This could be a game-changer. It hasn’t been possible to shop efficiently for a “slinky skirt” but that could be changing. It might also be possible to shop for what’s trending. Generative AI could energize shoppers!
AI enabled search is barely scratching the surface of its potential for gift givers. For now, the results still depend on the searcher’s skill at formulating the right query.
But the models will “learn” from each interaction and become more accurate over time. It seems realistic to anticipate this phenomenon will gain traction.
Going forward, I’d like to see an AI enabled gift list that helps folks to profile their recipients and locate items that match their interests. (The AI could also crowdsoure returns statistics to add extra guidance.)
AI is not going to transform finding the perfect gift. After 30 years of Amazon suggestions (and they are the best in the biz), they haven’t been able to sort it out. So AI is no different in reality.
Part of the challenge is that gift choosing in an inherently human action which requires the instincts of a human. Given that AI has no understanding of what it recommends (seriously, it’s just an algorithm which lacks understanding of even what “gift” means), it cannot take us very far.
Melanie Mitchell if the Santa Fe Institute is one I follow closely to understand what to expect of AI. From her writing and the articles she passes along in the past year there is no indication AI can live up to the extraordinary expectations being set by Google.
Any tool that will help consumers find products for themselves or gifts for others, like generative AI will work to narrow the search for the right item. However, the final decision to buy will come down to the same place as always, is the right item for the mood, the impact , the pleasure and the price which satisfies the consumer. It makes sense that Google is leading the development in this area as it will expand their tools to help consumers find the right item. Some consumers will not understand how to use generative AI tools, but as they get familiar with friends using it to search, consumers will migrate to using the tool more frequently.
Today, Generative AI (GAI) may, and I use the word “may” cautiously, have some limited potential to enhance – but certainly not transform – gift searches. It will do almost nothing to improve product discovery, depending on who is conducting the search. Let’s remember what GAI can and can’t do. It recognizes patterns — some of which are real and some of which its software, in the words of one AI researcher I know, “hallucinates” in order to close a logic loop. GAI is literally confined to the limits of its software and, as such, is shackled by its programming and what data sources it can draw on. Doug Garnett correctly points out how really bad Amazon still is at this after developing pattern recognition as a retail tool years before most folks knew what it was. For example, I once bought a book by William S. Burroughs, an author who happened to be gay. Amazon picked up that fact and began pummeling me with suggestions for more LGBTQ+ books. The most farcical of the suggestions was for Friedrich Nietzsche’s 1882 work Die frohliche Wissenschaft which is often translated into English as “The Gay Science”which lauds the ideas of science, intellectual rigor, and skepticism, but has nothing to do with genders studies or theory. By the way, that last bit – skepticism – might come in very handy in this discussion. GAI is a great tool and its uses will no doubt amplify over time. My fear is that it’s becoming 2023’s answer to the “metaverse” and “omnichannel” and/or any other magic wand or silver bullet we think will save us from our own ineptitude.
Yes it can. Generative AI is a tool that shoppers can use to cut down on search time, discover new product offerings, & recommend alternatives. The key word is “tool”, not “decisions”.
The “perfect gift” is in the eye of the beholder. However, Generative AI and ChatGPT type technologies can help. Just be specific about the type of gift, the type of relationship, any interests the receiver has, etc. And watch AI do it’s magic! Gift giving may be easier than ever this year! Happy Holidays!
While it may only serve an assistant role today, in the future, as AI-driven personal assistants become more prevalent and understand much more about behavior, it will likely move to a much more proactive role in a variety of things, including gift searching.
Generative AI has immense potential to revolutionize online product discovery and reduce the stress of shoppers for gift searches. Google’s AI tools, particularly the Search Generative Experience (SGE), offer expansive gift ideas, providing detailed subcategories for a more personalized search. The “Generate images” tool enhances visual exploration by creating realistic product images based on descriptions, offering a dynamic shopping experience.
I think AI technology can anticipate individual tastes to streamline the decision-making process. Moreover, it has the capability to enhance virtual experiences which will allow users to interact with products in more immersive ways, such as virtually trying on clothes or visualizing furniture in their homes.
The continuous evolution of generative AI has the potential to redefine the entire online shopping landscape, creating a more intuitive, engaging, and customer-centric environment.
The introduction of Google’s generative AI tools are definitely a fascinating development within the realm of online shopping. To me, SGE stands out for its ability to provide a wide variety of gift ideas based on user input, enhancing the overall product discovery and shopping experience for consumers. The ‘generate images’ feature also adds an interesting visual element that enables users to customize and refine their choices seamlessly. The potential for increased engagement and satisfaction that could come with these tools is substantial and is marking a crucial step in reshaping the landscape of online product discovery. It’s redefining the expectations of today’s discerning shoppers.
(Full disclosure – I work with Microsoft).
Imagine combining generative AI with 3D printing. Where you ask for an image to be created of a suggested personalised gift for a family member, you modify the prompt a few times and when you are happy order it.
It is then manufactured – using 3D printing (aka additive manufacturing) and shipped to you.
As technologies converge this could well become a valid business model that really solves the ever present gift choice problem.