Intro: AI personalisation is revolutionising the way retailers connect with their customers and positively impacting the bottom line. Cheryl Ingram is CEO of TDMC (The Digital Marketing Collective), where she helps retailers leverage digital innovation to drive growth. She shares her insights.
Gone are the days of one-size-fits-all shopping experiences. As someone working at the forefront of e-commerce innovation, I’m witnessing firsthand how the introduction of AI personalisation is fast creating unique, real-time shopping experiences that can be tailored to each visitor. At TDMC, we’re seeing remarkable results using AI to dynamically adjust everything from product recommendations to search results and even email messaging based on customer behaviour patterns. One of our retailers cleverly uses AI to adjust product messaging based on a customer’s browsing history, the time of day, and even local weather patterns, while we are also using Shopify’s new Winter Edition AI capabilities to create dynamic product collections that automatically adjust based on individual shopping patterns and purchase history.
The benefits are transformative on both sides. For businesses, we’re consistently seeing 20-30% higher conversion rates and significant increases in average order values. But what’s particularly exciting is the efficiency gains, allowing teams to focus on strategy while AI handles the heavy lifting of personalisation. In the beauty sector, one of our clients saw a remarkable 45% increase in repeat purchases after implementing AI-driven personalised email campaigns and product recommendations, while another in the apparel space experienced a 30% lift in average order value through AI-powered bundle recommendations
For customers, it’s about discovering products they actually want without the frustration of endless browsing. It’s like having a personal shopper who knows your style, budget, and preferences intimately. Basic personalisation isn’t a differentiator anymore – it’s an expectation. The real competitive edge comes from sophisticated AI implementations that can predict customer needs before they even arise. We’re seeing this with several of our premium fashion clients who’ve implemented advanced AI sizing recommendations, reducing returns by up to 40%
The threat from international players like Temu is ever present, especially for small retailers, but AI personalisation is helping to level the playing field. Local retailers have a unique advantage – they understand their community intimately. We’re helping our clients combine this knowledge with AI to create hyper-localised experiences, adjusting product recommendations based on local events, weather patterns and community preferences. One of our local fashion retailers has seen particular success using AI to change their ad messaging based on local weather forecasts and community events, something that mass-market players simply can’t match.
Looking ahead, the future of AI personalisation is incredibly exciting. We’re already experimenting with generative AI that creates unique product descriptions tailored to different customer segments. Soon, we’ll see AI-powered virtual shopping assistants engaging in natural conversations about products and style advice. We’re particularly excited about the emerging capabilities in platforms like Klaviyo for email personalisation and Meta’s Advantage+ shopping campaigns, which we’re combining with custom solutions built on OpenAI’s GPT-4 for more sophisticated personalisation scenarios. But perhaps most exciting is the emergence of “empathetic AI” that can understand and respond to emotional cues in customer behaviour.
However, implementation isn’t without its challenges. The biggest hurdle we’ve faced is data quality and integration. Effective AI personalisation requires clean, comprehensive data, and many businesses struggle with fragmented customer information. But when implemented correctly, the results are compelling – we’ve seen clients achieve up to 45% increases in repeat purchases through AI-driven personalised campaigns.
Those who embrace AI stand to win, while those who don’t risk playing catch-up down the line. It’s like anything in this business – your degree of agility determines your degree of competitiveness. The future of retail belongs to those who can harness AI to create not just personalised shopping experiences, but truly meaningful ones.