By Justin Thomas, VP of Sales EMEA North, at Akeneo
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is ushering in a new era of digital experiences where searching, shopping, and navigating online are no longer tedious but seamless, engaging, and deeply personal.
Whether already operating in real life or still in development, AI-powered assistants are blurring the traditional barriers between the online and real world, which will enable consumers to interact with the internet and brands in a more natural, intuitive way. And, if they are equipped with technology that bridges the gap, specifically augmented reality (AR) wearables, such as Google’s latest glasses with Android XR technology built-in, this adds yet another dimension to the AI’s capabilities.
Imagine an internet that no longer requires typing in queries or scrolling through endless lists of recommendations. Instead, AI tools and apps such as PI by Inflection AI, Sesame.com, Project Astra, NotebookLM and OpenAI Operator are now creating tools that turn search into a conversation between two virtual parties, one of whom not only has all the answers but can execute the resulting transaction. Increasingly, Custom GPTs are acting as hyper-intelligent personal assistants, transforming the way consumers interact with digital content. Much like speaking to a knowledgeable friend, these AIs use lifelike, human-like voices and video and contextual awareness to provide responsive, continuous discussions, making the search process feel effortless and engaging.
This conversational AI doesn’t just suggest products; it understands intent, refines options in real-time and personalises recommendations based on past interactions, mood and even external factors such as location and availability. AI-powered assistants are already able to handle tasks on behalf of consumers, from booking taxis to scheduling appointments, significantly reducing the time spent on routine digital tasks.
The days of impersonal search experiences are fading, soon to be replaced by digital avatars. Avatars, once confined to online gaming, are assuming a more commercial and practical role even to the extent of appearing as exact replicas of the customer or the brand’s ambassadors and influencers can interact around products and services in real-time. Imagine searching for a holiday. Instead of comparing dozens of flight and hotel listings, your personal AI agent, an avatar that represents you, scours the internet, speaks in your chosen language, negotiates the best deals and even presents options as a real-time conversation with a virtual travel agent. The result? A fluid and personalised experience, where the consumer is in full control but without the hassle of manual searching.
Brands are also evolving alongside these AI advancements and indeed will have to if they expect to be seen in this new world. Consumers won’t just browse websites or watch ads; they’ll engage directly with brands and influencers in real-time through AI-driven interactions and avatar-powered experiences.
However, brands are advised against the siren call from the AI industry for innovation for its own sake. While the more futuristic scenarios are compelling – for instance, instead of watching a promotional video, an influencer’s hyper-realistic AI avatar speaks to you directly, answering your questions, demonstrating products and offering personalised recommendations, all in a way that feels genuine and immersive. Or, in the future, we may see the addition of location for search – imagine walking through a city wearing AI-powered AR glasses which can see directions, restaurant recommendations and event details based on your preferences. Instead of opening a map app, the AI assistant seamlessly guides you through the best route, considering traffic, weather and personal preferences.
Search is over?
And yet, for many more straightforward types of journeys, current search methods will still be the most appropriate and convenient – where the buyer already knows what they want and may simply be restocking. Where help is needed, the search element will become more automated. For example, a consumer might ask an AI assistant something like, “what is the best cat food for an underweight elderly cat with joint pain,” and it provides contextualised recommendations based on user reviews, vet recommendations and previous purchasing habits. So instead of filtering through thousands of cat food options with no idea which one would work the best, an AI assistant just surfaces up the best option.
In this scenario, much of the hard work therefore passes from the consumer to the AI assistant and as these assistants become more advanced and AR wearables gain mainstream adoption, the need for standalone apps could diminish. AI assistants might consolidate multiple functions such as shopping, navigation and communication, instead of requiring the consumer to open multiple applications.
For instance, when searching for a product, rather than typing into a search engine, simply looking at an item triggers instant price comparisons, reviews and purchase options right in your field of view. The internet effectively becomes an ambient, ever-present assistant, delivering information in the most natural, enlightened and context-aware way possible.
Importantly though, these advances will happily live alongside traditional search methods and give the consumer choice, depending on what they are buying and the type of experience they are seeking. Longer term though, we can see the AI-enabled internet becoming more personal, immersive and frictionless. No longer is online search a static, text-based task – it’s an interactive, real-world experience, just delivered digitally. With AI-powered conversations, hyper-realistic avatars and real-time AR overlays, consumers will enjoy a more fun, effective and rewarding way to engage with the digital world.
Ultimately, AI will give consumers full control over their online lives, removing the barriers between digital and reality, and making the internet work for them, not the other way around.
While this is good news for consumers, it will require a shift in the way that brands and retailers present product information to build these immersive experiences, as well as execute transactions in a way that shifts the burden away from the customer. Retail marketers must adapt by focusing on high-value interactions, storytelling and immersive experiences rather than traditional ecommerce strategies.
To support this shift, they must start with comprehensive and clean data that will give them a single source of the truth, from which they can deploy a new generation of Product Experience Management (PXM) tools, themselves enabled by AI. These tools are already enabling brands, retailers, and their suppliers to build interactions and update them continuously in motion. More and more of the multiple and growing number of processes involved are increasingly being automated so that the software is doing most of the work, while users effectively become experience impresarios; it’s programming but not as we know it.
These tools are transformative for both consumers and brands/retailers. Consumers get to shift the burden of searching, transacting and managing tasks to the Internet, while brands and retailers get to focus on monitoring customer intent to ensure that they are ever present and ever able to serve, and are rethinking customer engagement, data strategies, and content creation to thrive in an AI-driven internet.
