AI-based services for all: shopping assistants
Welcome to the next installment of the “AI-based services for all” series, which gives some ideas and examples of how artificial intelligence can really simplify this or that aspect of your daily life. This piece covers shopping, something all of us do on a regular basis; given the current capabilities of commercially available large language models, they are supposed to be quite good at it. All AI-powered voice assistants from tech giants (Siri, Google, Alexa) can help you shop, one way or another. In this post, we give you services that are more focused, coded to simplify buying-related processes, from finding what’s needed through price comparison to the purchase per se.
1. eBay ShopBot
As the name suggests, this AI-powered personal shopping assistant was developed by eBay and for eBay. It is a conversational agent, meaning you can use natural language when communicating with it. For eBay, the benefits of maintaining such a tool are obvious: it ups the sales on the platform, and moves more customers to the “happy” cohort.
Key features of eBay ShopBot
- Image recognition: you can upload images, and the agent will find similar products.
- Cross-platform integration: the bot is available on Facebook Messenger and Google Assistant.
- Personalized shopping experience: the tool keeps track of your purchases and tailors suggestions accordingly.
- Deal alerts: eBay and its sellers carry a vast stock, and deals appear literally every second; the bot helps to catch the best of them.
The second point in the list above, integration with messengers, means you don’t even have to log on to ebay.com to start your journey towards the perfect buy. With time, the bot becomes more and more effective at giving you exactly what you need, enhancing the overall shopping experience.
2. Shop.app
If you’re in any way connected with ecommerce from the behind-the-counter perspective, Shopify surely is a name you have heard of. The platform that simplifies lives of hundreds of thousands of online merchants throughout the world actually helps shoppers, too: in 2020, Shopify launched Shop.app, a tool that integrates features from Shop Pay and Arrive (fast checkout, order tracking), and offers personalized product recommendations.
Key features of Shop.app
- Local business discovery: the system gives you local vendors so you can support their business and get your order faster.
- Conversational interactions: get better product suggestions by phrasing your queries in a natural fashion.
- Lower prices: marketplace sellers have to factor commission into the final price, and Shop.app gets you connected directly with them, so you can save a bit.
Shop.app is all about Shopify-powered stores, but since there are about 5.1 million of those, you are bound to find something fitting your requirements. Moreover, the system will give you comparable items, recommend alternatives, and show best offers that typically have a timer on them.
3. Claros
Claros is an AI-powered shopping assistant that even looks much like consumer-facing large language models: a prompt line and some buttons. Founded in 2022, the system uses advanced algorithms to tailor recommendations, and doubles as a product exploration and discovery tool, too. Plain language queries, descriptions of what you are after, image uploads – it looks like there is little Claros can’t do for you in the domain of online shopping.
Key features of Claros
- Product review summaries: the browser extension of Claros can swiftly fetch and summarize reviews of the item you’re eyeing from trusted sources like Reddit and Amazon.
- Price comparison: the system finds best offers across multiple online stores.
- Category-specific search: you can start looking for the product inside a niche, without having to describe it extensively.
Users of Claros claim the recommendations provided by the service are highly relevant, and the tool quickly becomes an integral part of everyday shopping, be it routine stock replenishment or hunting for something new.
Shopping is closely related personal finance management; if you’re looking for a program that can help you avoid overspending and achieve financial goals, check out the respective section of the Informer catalog:
