Every day brings new meaning to the holiday season as the name implies.
It’s now early December, and wherever one looks, whether that’s the living room, the ride home, and most certainly the ride to work, there are consumers huddled and speaking to their AI. They are asking for recommendations for gifts, comparing products, surveying prices, and making lists. Just last year, that would have required an unending array of Web browsers and multiple reviews. But increasingly, the engaged buying segment of consumers are starting to use generative AI tools.
For retailers, this shift is significant. If 15-30% of holiday shoppers use generative AI to guide their gift search, a major part of the discovery process will take place outside your website and within an AI chat.
This carries significant implications:
• First touch matters, but as structured data, not ads. Consumers wanting AI help to fetch options and shortlist them would require products to be categorized, described, and indexed properly. Classic SEO efforts or ads would start showing their effect to less people.
• Personalization becomes the key aspect. AI analyzes budget, age, style, preferences, and the festive atmosphere. Expect an increase in the demand for metadata like color, size, price range, and gifting.
• The funnel narrows and the retailers can be bypassed. Also, AI can complete the process from “gift for mom under 50” to recommendations, comparisons, and the buy. If the seller appears nowhere in the AI-driven recommendations, the seller can be completely bypassed.
• User experience and trust are what count the most. Most consumers are actually researching products using AI without proceeding to payment. Retailers are faced with the challenge of gaining the trust of their clients as soon as they visit the site.
In short, the holiday shopping season means much more than just deals. In fact, it means that brands must meet their shoppers where the shopping process begins.
Brands must leverage the generative AI model and optimize for search/Discovery through structured data, product clarity, user experience, and trust.
Otherwise, the customer may complete their entire shopping process without ever landing on the brand’s homepage.
