There has been absolutely massive breakthroughs in AI technologies over the past few years with technology such as smart home assistants, facial recognition, self-driving vehicles and chatbots now staples. Here at SWiM, we’ve been intrigued by the potential of AI to revolutionise the way we work, particularly in enhancing user experiences and driving conversions for our clients. One exciting avenue we’ve been exploring is implementing AI-powered search into our e-commerce builds. Let’s dive into how we’re doing it.
Understanding AI-Powered Search
Traditional search systems use a system of keyword matching to provide results to users. This can work fine, but often users miss (from no fault of their own) the results they are looking for by not entering the right keywords. In comparison, AI-powered search uses machine learning algorithms to understand the nature and intricacies of a user’s search, to deliver highly personal results. It feels like magic sometimes. The AI can predict what you might be asking for, or suggest things if what you’re looking for isn’t available. You’ve likely experienced this on Google, or maybe Netflix when they’re searching for a particular show or movie.
This is particularly valuable in ecommerce, as understanding a customer’s search intent and preferences, you can deliver highly personalised results, therefore boosting conversions and overall customer satisfaction.
The Implementation Process
Our team of experienced developers handles the implementation process, from configuring the systems to integrate into our client’s ecommerce site and completing a thorough process of testing and refinement. To us, it is important not just to implement the software, but to ensure it is set up to deliver accurate results and is providing an enhanced user experience.
Client Success: Area Safe
Let’s take a moment to spotlight a recent project to see how this works in a real case scenario. We recently implemented AI search for our client Area Safe, who were looking to increase the likelihood of customers finding products and therefore increase sales. The plugin fit their needs perfectly – allowing them to add banners, filters, and smart suggestions based on their exact needs.
As Area Safe’s store is built with CS-Cart, we customised our approach to implementation to suit the platform. The plugin we chose provided a robust JavaScript V2 library which we used to create a custom user interface from scratch. We also implemented a customised connector addon to connect the plugin’s data indexing API with Area Safe’s backend database resource. We then connected the JavaScript library to the front end of their website to provide the AI search capability.
Area Safe’s customers now benefit from faster and more accurate results, and smart personalised suggestions. Area Safe continues to harness AI search capabilities, positioning themselves for continued success with this cutting-edge addition to their store.
Staying Ahead with Innovative Solutions
At SWiM, we prioritise staying up to date with new technology like AI-powered search, and staying at the forefront of emerging tech so we can bring our clients the most innovative digital solutions. We are committed to exploring new AI advancements as they develop that will help our clients achieve their goals. It is certainly an exciting time in tech!
If you have any questions for us or are interested in how AI-powered search may be beneficial for your ecommerce site, please get in touch. We’d be happy to have a chat.