E-commerce is becoming increasingly smart. The future is to make purchases by means of voice commands

Artificial Intelligence is entering the Internet trade more and more widely. The e-commerce itself is already turning into smart-commerce. The use of artificial intelligence and the use of virtual and augmented reality allows us to precisely match the offer to the customer's needs. New technologies can help build brand loyalty, artificial intelligence will suggest products, and a voice assistant will allow hands-free shopping.

- Smart commerce is the evolution of e-commerce, the technology that helps sell on the Internet. Online shops already know that online commerce is no longer just about displaying a product to a store, but also about implementing many additional elements that help in this sale, whether by attracting traffic to this site, personalizing information about the product on the site, or the availability of the store in the v-commerce channel - interaction with a voice based e-shop. This is the whole environment, which is conducive to the customer being in contact with the store all the time,' Tomasz Gibas, President of Kogifi, emphasizes in an interview with Newseria Innowacje agency.

The use of the latest technological tools, such as artificial intelligence or augmented and virtual reality, was until recently the domain of the biggest players on the e-commerce market. Today, however, the vast majority of online shops use new technologies. This is necessary to keep and attract customers.

- One of the elements that are supposed to provide the technology with an element of intelligence ("smart") is, of course, to extend it with artificial intelligence based on deep machine learning, so that the information displayed to the customer is as much as possible tailored to his preferences and needs. Additionally, its combination with elements of the Internet of Things allows to create interactions in the real world, e.g. it helps to find a way in shopping malls or leads to the products we are interested in already in the store. There are many applications," says Tomasz Gibas.

Machine learning or augmented reality are some of the most important areas in e-commerce. They are based on algorithms, allow to recommend products, adjust search results or forecast prices. IoT solutions are increasingly used not only in e-commerce. Solutions that track the customer's path in shopping malls and check which products they see most often are already being tested. New technologies are also used in intelligent mirrors - when trying on clothes, the customer is shown other products that may be of interest.

- In smart commerce an important role is played by augmented reality and virtual reality, which allows the customer to get to know the products offered. In this way, you can see the products not only on the monitor, but directly on your desk or on your mobile phone in augmented reality or after wearing the helmet - in virtual reality - is indicated by an expert.

Shopping on the Internet is becoming faster and faster, and customer service is often much better there than in traditional shops. This is possible thanks to e.g. bot huts, which help with shopping, advising on related products. According to Gemius, more than half of Poles are already shopping on the Internet, and according to the study "Poles' shopping on the Internet" prepared for Trusted Shops, as many as 93 percent of Polish Internet users buy online. In the case of a large competition of e-shops, they will choose the one which will make their shopping as easy as possible.

- There are hundreds, if not thousands of products, and it is sometimes difficult to find a specific model or type of product to suit our needs. Artificial intelligence is able, after gathering some information about the thing we are looking for, to give us a hint of something that will suit us, doing so in the blink of an eye," explains President Kogifi.

Shopping can also be done through voice commands. Voice Commerce is a relatively young trend, allowing you to shop with your voice. Such a solution is already working all over the world, thanks to the smart speakers Google Home with Google Assistant or Amazon Echo supplied by Amazon, which include Alex's Voice Assistant solution.

-There are many technological trends, e-commerce itself is evolving strongly and this process will only accelerate. Its traditional elements include those related to artificial intelligence, the internet of things, augmented reality, but also voice commerce, an additional channel of interaction based on voice commands. It seems to me that it is currently one of the most promising interfaces for shopping, allowing quick access to the e-shop and streamlining of the entire sales process, while allowing the user to keep their hands free," convinces Tomasz Gibas.

In the United States, 57% of people with a smart speaker have already made transactions on the Internet through him (Edison Research data). In Poland, voice commerce is still not very popular because there is a lack of Polish versions of voice assistants.

According to the research company eMarketer, the global e-commerce market will be worth $4 trillion in 2020.