E-commerce retailers in the US invested around $400,000 on AI tools to enhance customer experience in 2024, according to a survey published by Storyblok.
Other companies made bigger investments in AI, with 28% of executives reporting having spent over $500,000 on implementing AI tools.
However, the executives of top companies revealed that the new developments only led to minimal improvements in customer experience, with 30% responding that the enhancements were minor.
Despite this, some aspects of AI use have been positive, with 95% of business executives reporting that their AI investment has delivered a good return on investment.
Dominik Angerer, CEO and Co-Founder of Storyblok said: “The transformative potential of AI for the digital experience is enormous, but our research highlights a clear gap between expectation and reality.
“While e-commerce businesses are seeing some improvements, these remain incremental rather than truly transformative.
This could suggest that many companies do not expect big gains immediately but are instead taking a longer-term view of AI to transform their digital offering.”
The top uses for AI by companies that were reported are customer service at 60%, marketing analysis at 48%, and administrative automation at 43%. Other uses for AI include website content creation and translation services.
In line with the findings, discount retailers across the US have been investing in AI tools with retail giant Walmart launching Wally, an AI tool designed to help merchants streamline their operations.
Additionally, other major retailers, including L’Oréal and Amazon, have tapped AI technology to improve their operations and overall customer experience.
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