AI + eCommerce = the future of retail
- Kat Matthews
- 14 hours ago
- 5 min read
How AI is shaping shopping experiences for both buyers and sellers
Over the last few years, AI has become more and more integrated into our daily lives. It has been met with mixed feelings – excitement, curiosity, a bit of fear, and a whole lot of hype.
Some uses of AI are obvious – ChatGPT, personalised Netflix recommendations and more. But others fly under the radar: fraud detection while you bank or dynamic pricing when you book a flight.
AI is no longer a novelty. It’s reshaping how we live, work, and shop. While headlines often focus on generative AI and dramatic job impacts, AI in all of its forms is quietly but radically revolutionising the retail experience for both sellers and buyers.
AI as the New Business Partner: How AI Is Empowering Sellers
TikTok's Seller Assistant: Real-Time Support for Sellers
TikTok isn’t just changing how we consume content; it’s changing how we sell and distribute products. The platform recently launched "Seller Assistant," an AI-powered chatbot embedded directly within its Seller Centre. This smart tool offers real-time support for sellers and creators operating on TikTok Shop.
Sellers can ask questions like "How do I improve product visibility?" or "What's the best way to handle returns?" and get instant answers sourced from TikTok Shop Academy. Even more valuable, the assistant provides personalised performance analytics on demand. Sellers can ask, "How did my shop perform last week?" and receive detailed breakdowns of sales, traffic, and orders.
The assistant goes beyond static FAQs by leveraging AI to deliver personalised, context-aware recommendations based on each seller's shop activity. When launching new products, sellers receive tailored insights into trending items and why they matter for their specific business. It goes beyond support – it's built-in strategy.
Microsoft's Copilot Merchant Program: A New Pathway to Buyers
Microsoft is opening up its AI ecosystem to merchants with the Copilot Merchant Program. This initiative allows retailers to directly integrate their product catalogues into Microsoft's Copilot, which enables sellers' products to be visible within Copilot apps and via the web, enabling shoppers to discover, compare, and purchase products in real time through AI-powered search and chat experiences.
Shoppers can ask Copilot for the best deals, get price alerts, or explore product features – all without leaving the app/web experience. For sellers, this unlocks a new avenue to reach buyers in the very moments they’re searching for solutions.
By embedding eCommerce into productivity and search tools, Microsoft is blurring the lines between work, search, and shopping – a trend that will reshape how (and where) consumers and buyers make purchase decisions.
Enhancing the Buyer Experience: AI as the Personal Shopping Assistant
Amazon's Rufus and Alexa+: Personalised, Conversational Shopping
Amazon is taking the AI shopping assistant to the next level with Rufus, its generative AI-powered tool that helps customers make more informed buying decisions.
Rufus can answer complex questions like "What's the difference between an air fryer and a convection oven?" or "What are the best shoes for trail running?" and serve up tailored product recommendations in response.
With Rufus, Amazon isn’t just offering smarter search – it’s delivering a fully conversational shopping journey, where product discovery and decision-making happen naturally, through dialogue.
Amazon is also enhancing Alexa with generative AI capabilities, allowing users to search for products, receive personalised suggestions, and complete purchases through simple voice commands. Alexa now offers more relevant responses and can help users find, compare, and buy products based on their preferences and purchase history.
But Amazon isn’t stopping there. In April this year, Amazon launched its new agentic AI-powered feature, "Buy for Me” in its Amazon Shopping app, enabling customers to buy from other brand retailer websites when items are not available on Amazon directly.
The 'Buy for Me' feature is still in beta and is accessible on both iOS and Android devices, for a subset of U.S. customers at this stage. But its launch is significant and demonstrates the fundamental shift occurring globally, where shoppers are not limited by the inventory listed on marketplaces or certain sites, but are effectively able to buy anything from anywhere, which has serious implications for the traditional retail model.
Shopify & ChatGPT: Conversational Commerce Goes Mainstream
Shopify is leaning into the power of conversation, presenting an enhanced experience for both buyers and sellers.
Through its partnership with OpenAI, Shopify is integrating ChatGPT into the shopping journey, enabling merchants to embed AI-driven chat directly into their storefronts.
For buyers, this means they can now browse, compare, and even purchase products within a chat window, receiving instant responses about product features, pricing, and availability. For sellers, it’s a seamless new way to engage that enhances the customer experience and lowers friction at the point of sale.
The ChatGPT integration also unlocks valuable opportunities to drive discovery. AI-powered chat can surface related products, suggest bundles, and handle customer queries that might otherwise have required manual support. The challenge lies in getting your products listed within the conversation window, as the visibility of their products within ChatGPT's responses depends on various factors. Brands and retailers must consider strategies to optimise their product listings and ensure they are accurately represented within this new AI-driven shopping paradigm.
Shopify's move signals a shift toward a more fluid, conversational approach to commerce, and it's one that brands can't afford to ignore.
AI-powered chat is quickly becoming the next frontier of online shopping, with tools such as Perplexity Amazon, ChatGPT and Microsoft already simplifying the path to purchase.
Consumers are increasingly expecting brands to meet them where they are – in chat windows, on social platforms, and through voice assistants. This shift towards frictionless, personalised, real-time interaction is making traditional, linear shopping journeys feel outdated.
Brands that embrace conversational commerce will be better positioned to capture consumer attention and loyalty in this fast-evolving landscape.
What This Means for Brands and Retailers
The New AI Imperative
AI isn’t a nice-to-have anymore – it’s becoming foundational to how commerce is done. Brands and retailers must be ready to:
Operate in real time: Consumers now expect instant answers, personalised recommendations, and seamless support.
Invest in AI capabilities: Whether through partnerships or in-house solutions, businesses need to build or tap into AI infrastructure that can support both operational efficiency and customer engagement.
Adapt to AI-powered marketplaces and shopping experiences: With platforms like TikTok, Amazon, Shopify, and Microsoft shaping the shopping journey through AI, brands need to rethink their strategies for visibility, discovery, and customer connection if they are to protect share and drive growth – as shopper choice is narrowed to the most relevant solutions for a customer or shopper.
Challenges on the Horizon
As AI in eCommerce evolves, it’s also introduces new complexities. Brands will need to navigate:
Data privacy concerns: As AI-driven personalisation deepens, protecting consumer data and ensuring transparency will be critical.
Brand differentiation: In AI-curated environments, standing out requires more than just optimising for AI – it demands strong storytelling to different segments, creative engagement, and a consistent brand voice.
Performance measurement: Tracking the impact of AI-driven interactions (especially those happening in chat or voice) will require new measurement frameworks and KPIs.
AI is undeniably transforming eCommerce. For sellers, it’s becoming a powerful business partner, driving efficiency, insights, and real-time support. For buyers, it’s creating more personalised, intuitive, and seamless shopping journeys, as well as the ability for an agent to do it all for you rather than needing to do it yourself.
As platforms like TikTok, Microsoft Copilot, Amazon, and Shopify continue to integrate AI into their ecosystems and innovate, the retail landscape is poised for a future where technology and commerce are more intertwined than ever before.
Brands that lean in and embrace AI as a core part of their commerce strategy now will be well-positioned to thrive in this new era.
Want to explore how your brand can prepare for the AI-powered future of commerce?
