Jack Ma Predicts: E-commerce Enters the AI Era, List of Industry Chain Companies Announced
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After releasing better-than-expected financial results, Pinduoduo's market value approached Alibaba's, sparking widespread discussion—even drawing participation from its 'old rival' Alibaba.
Notably, Jack Ma made a rare post on Alibaba's internal forum, joining employees' discussions about Pinduoduo. After some 'business flattery,' the founder of China's largest e-commerce platform stirred the waters with his statement: 'The AI e-commerce era has just begun, presenting both opportunities and challenges for everyone.'
At the 2023 Tmall Double 11 launch event, Dai Shan, CEO of Taotian Group, mentioned AI 20 times in her 20-minute speech and announced the release of 10 AI tools for merchants. 'Taobao was born from the last internet technology revolution and will seize the next AI revolution,' she said. During this year's Double 11, the native AI application 'Taobao Ask,' built on large models, was deployed for the first time.
With the maturation of AI technology, tools like ChatGPT have found rich application scenarios across industries. Will AI become Taobao's secret weapon? In today's era of stock competition, amid the fading of 'traffic dividends' and intensifying 'involution,' can AI inject new momentum into the e-commerce industry? Where do opportunities lie for other companies in the supply chain?
Although the concept of AI in e-commerce remains somewhat ambiguous, mentioning it likely brings to mind several application scenarios, such as virtual live streaming sales, AI shopping guides/customer service, AI-generated product images/copywriting, and news about e-commerce platforms building large model teams.
Application is the core essence of AI in e-commerce, which involves leveraging artificial intelligence technologies in the e-commerce sector to enhance business operational efficiency and drive sales growth.
Specifically, Huatai Securities points out that during the product development phase, AIGC can provide design inspiration, generate customized product descriptions and images based on demand, and analyze market information to offer optimization suggestions for pricing and target demographics. In the product marketing phase, AIGC helps reduce costs and improve efficiency in content production, enables precise product recommendations, and fosters innovation and upgrades in live streaming sales formats. During the post-sales phase, AIGC can handle customer service functions and be applied to order management processes like warehousing, shipping, and logistics, further helping e-commerce platforms cut costs and boost efficiency.
AVIC Securities believes that AI-powered e-commerce not only reduces costs and increases efficiency for merchants and platforms but also enhances consumer experience and expands revenue for sellers. Personalized product recommendations increase opportunities for cross-selling and upselling, while improved experiences help boost user numbers, conversion rates, and average order value. Intelligent marketing can reach more potential customers and expand market share.
From the perspective of domestic and international companies, integrating AI into the e-commerce industry has become a global trend.
Overseas, Amazon launched seven new generative AI features at the 2023 AWS New York Summit; Google announced the introduction of generative AI technology into online shopping tools; Microsoft also announced the integration of Microsoft Shopping features; the Shopify App Store rolled out a series of ChatGPT applications in early March; almost simultaneously with Lazada's launch of the e-commerce AI chatbot LazzieChat, eBay introduced an AI description generator for product copywriting...
Domestically, Alibaba and JD.com utilized AI technologies during the 2023 618 shopping festival, with Alimama's AI creative tools aiding content production and JD.com's AI digital assistants boosting product sales and customer service, further enhancing these efforts during Double 11. Huawei Cloud has launched an intelligent e-commerce recommendation solution that mines user interests from massive data for precise recommendations. Baidu has introduced its smart shopping assistant "Xiaoyou," acting as an intelligent shopping guide for consumers and providing a "Double 11 Calendar" with platform-wide statistics. Xiaohongshu has also unveiled an AI-powered note assistant to help merchants publish product notes with one click...
The aforementioned high-profile companies have set industry benchmarks, while small and medium-sized enterprises are also actively embracing AI. Many leverage solutions from major tech firms to unlock AI applications, with numerous successful cases already emerging.
For instance, Peak Sport utilized Alimama's AI tool "Wanxiang Lab" to create marketing materials. The AI-generated product images achieved a 29.8% increase in click-through rates for new products and reduced add-to-cart costs by 27.3%. During Double Eleven shopping festival, domestic brands like Bai Xiaot and Ttouchme employed Baidu's "Huiboxing" platform's digital humans for 24/7 livestreaming on Baidu Youxuan, achieving up to 60% GMV growth and 120% improvement in sales conversion efficiency.
Tianfeng Securities believes AI-generated e-commerce may represent the next revolution in the industry following shelf-based and recommendation-based e-commerce models.
The e-commerce sector naturally possesses massive transaction data resources and diverse marketing strategies. On the other hand, e-commerce operations are lengthy and complex. AI can penetrate the entire value chain - from understanding operational logic to executing decisions - ultimately evolving into sellers' digital workforce, with product selection, marketing, and customer service being key application areas.
Around these segments, various vertical AI tools are flourishing, and multiple A-share listed companies have become 'water sellers' and 'early adopters' in AI-driven e-commerce. According to incomplete statistics from the Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily, these companies have entered the radar of multiple institutions due to their related businesses:
Huatai Securities stated that AIGC is aiding the upgrade of e-commerce businesses, and opportunities in the industrial chain should be seized. The analysts further elaborated:
For cross-border e-commerce platforms such as Jinhong Co., Focus Technology, and Huakai Yibai, the current language systems and interactive effects of AIGC tools like ChatGPT are more compatible with overseas operations, enhancing operational efficiency, refined operations, and the development of intelligent systems.
For shopping guide platforms like Smzdm and Fanli Technology, AIGC technology can generate recommendation content, continuously optimize recommendation algorithms, and improve user experience and conversion rates.
For agency operation platforms such as LiRen LiZhuang, YiWang YiChuang, and Qingmu Shares, AIGC can be utilized to generate product descriptions, design store images, and create promotional videos, significantly enhancing production efficiency.
For SaaS platforms like Shopify, AI applications can directly improve tool efficiency, help businesses achieve one-stop service implementation, and explore cutting-edge directions such as virtual humans and AI marketing content based on technological advantages.