Posted 27 March 2017
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Online retailer eBay is rolling out a new personalised homepage based on learnings from artificial intelligence.
The new homepage on eBay.com is designed to provide shoppers with a personalised experience that compels them to buy. Each shopper will see a different homepage tailored to them and their purchasing habits.
Get a look at our new discovery-based homepage, powered by AI & built on structured data, to help consumers find their perfect. #ShopTalk17 pic.twitter.com/xjGv46lzTR
— eBay Newsroom (@eBayNewsroom) March 20, 2017
“Using structured data — a transformative step to drive discoverability of our vast inventory, insights into supply and demand, pricing trends, among other things — and artificial intelligence, we’re creating a shopping experience that is tailored to each eBay user’s interests, passions and shopping history.” CEO Devin Wenig explained in a blog post.
“With more than one billion items from new, to nearly new to vintage, we’re making shopping on eBay all about you, instead of a one-size-fits-all approach.”
Using knowledge gained from AI, eBay will suggest items based on what it believes are your interests based on previous behaviour.
“We’re focusing on the areas that I believe will define the next wave of ecommerce – artificial intelligence and machine learning, virtual and augmented reality, and Internet of Things.”
Personalisation is not the only tool eBay has been working on in order to increase conversions. Last year, the e-tailer began trialling a Facebook Messenger bot that can browse eBay for you. The eBay ShopBot helps users find items from the site’s one billion listings through what it calls ‘conversational commerce’.
Though Wenig doesn’t explicitly lay out what else eBay are working on, he implies that further AI-powered innovations are on the way.
“And conversational commerce – as we call it – is not the only area where we will continue to experiment. We’re focusing on the areas that I believe will define the next wave of ecommerce – artificial intelligence and machine learning, virtual and augmented reality, and Internet of Things. These are significant platform shifts —not just new features and gadgets.”
