Who ?
Lawrence Taylor, CEO of Retailforbrands.
Quoi?
An article on Amazon’s Nile project, or how artificial intelligence allows the giant to reduce return rates and attack new market segments.
Comment?
The company, led by Andy Jassy, is aiming for a major overhaul of its user interface, deeply integrating artificial intelligence (AI). “Project Nile” is redesigning the online shopping experience for the brand’s millions of customers.
For lovers of geography and puns, the choice of the name “Nile” (or “Nil” in French) for this project is no small matter. If the Amazon is recognized as the largest river in the world in terms of flow, the Nile is the longest river. A way for Amazon to underline that in addition to dominating in volumes, it intends to expand more and more. Entrusted to Joseph Sirosh, former Microsoft and current Amazon vice president in charge of artificial intelligence, “Project Nile” aims to revolutionize the way we navigate the e-commerce giant’s website and mobile application. The orientation? A deeply conversational, enriched and tailored research experience.
AI, the new virtual seller?
Amazon is making artificial intelligence an equivalent of the in-store salesperson. Before the digitalization of purchasing, the seller was the privileged and informed interface between the product and the buyer. Tomorrow, artificial intelligence could play this role, with all the relevance that algorithms, trained on hundreds of millions of consumer transactions, can give it.
Most searches happen on mobile. But the conversion rate remains lower than the desktop version. Artificial intelligence could be the key to increasing these conversions.
Amazon and AI: a long-standing investment.
The company has been integrating artificial intelligence into AWS, its cloud service, for years. He recently invested as much as $4 billion in Anthropic, a start-up specializing in artificial intelligence. A sign, if any were needed, of Amazon’s growing interest in this technology.
Not to be outdone is the voice assistant Alexa, Amazon’s flagship in the field of artificial intelligence. A recent update has allowed it to become more “conversational,” bringing it closer to Amazon’s overall vision for a radically revamped user experience.
The man behind the car.
To ensure the relevance of this artificial intelligence, Amazon does not neglect the human dimension. AI experts will be called upon to evaluate the accuracy of the responses generated by the system. Human moderation and proofreading tools will complete the system to ensure the security and accuracy of the information provided.
“Artificial intelligence as a gateway to the pharmaceutical, clothing or automotive sectors”
The true potential of conversational interaction via AI lies in its ability to evolve from simply responding to technical requests, to truly understanding the functional needs of the consumer. In other words, it offers Amazon the opportunity to play a leading role in categories where point-of-sale consultancy is essential: be it pharmacy, clothing, automotive or other sectors.
The reasoning is clear: by using artificial intelligence, Amazon continues to improve its understanding of customer needs. This leads to greater relevance of the products offered, which in turn improves the customer experience when using the product. This translates into a better overall shopping experience, a reduction in returns and, therefore, a reduction in logistics costs.
By aggressively investing in artificial intelligence and focusing on a seamless user experience, Amazon is strengthening its dominance in existing markets, but also opening new doors in previously unexplored categories. Furthermore, with reduced returns and better product-customer matching, the giant could potentially reduce its pharaonic logistics costs, which exceed $180 billion per year.
The opinion of a former Amazon executive: Nicolas Gex
