10 Best Real-World AI Use Cases in E-Commerce

1. Personalized recommendations

TL;DR: AI-powered personalization turns a massive product catalog into a curated experience, helping customers discover what they actually want.

Amazon has been using AI for years to tailor its homepage, deals, and emails. Now, with generative AI, they’re taking it to the next level. 

Instead of generic suggestions like “More like this,” Amazon’s models now surface hyper-relevant categories like “Gift boxes for Mother’s Day” or “Smartwatches with extra battery life,” based on real-time shopping behavior. 

You don’t need to be Amazon to deliver this level of personalization. With open-source tools like OpenAI’s embeddings, as well as other resources like LLM agents and RAG, even small or nonexistent dev teams can build intelligent search experiences. 

Other technologies can be helpful in bringing this to fruition too, including:

• Customer segmentation using machine learning to personalize marketing
• Vector embeddings to represent user preferences that enables matching

Ultimately, that’s the power of conversational AI for e-commerce. And when that happens? They stick around, trust you more, and yep, they spend more too.

2. Customer service chatbots

Great customer support doesn’t scale on people alone. By using AI chatbots in e-commerce, businesses can handle high volumes without sacrificing quality or speed.

Sephora’s Virtual Assistant is a great example of this. They replaced their old, limited chatbot with a full-service customer service AI chatbot. 

Instead of just answering basic questions, their new virtual assistant helps shoppers find the right products, check order statuses, manage returns, and even book in-store consultations. It’s like having a customer service representative on-demand, 24/7.

For e-commerce businesses, this kind of AI agent can:

• Process returns and refunds
• Answer product or policy questions instantly
• Update account or shipping details
• Handle payment issues or subscription changes

With the right AI tools for e-commerce, you don’t just automate support but you can make it better.

For Able, a personalized health coaching platform, implementing customer service chatbots reduced manual support tickets by 65% and saved over $50,000 annually in support costs.

3. Fraud prevention

With e-commerce and AI, fraud detection doesn’t have to be reactive.

As an example, let’s take a look at PayPal. They use machine learning for payment fraud detection to scan massive amounts of transaction data in real time. 

That means spotting unusual patterns, like login fraud or suspicious payments, before they become a real problem. Their models are constantly learning and evolving, which helps them stay ahead of increasingly complex threats.

Ultimately, think of AI fraud detection as your digital security guard. It never sleeps and it’s essential if you want to protect your customers.

4. Image recognition

Let’s be honest, searching for a product with keywords is hit or miss. What do you even type when you're trying to find “that slightly oversized caramel puffer coat with just the right shine”?

That’s where AI-powered image recognition in e-commerce changes the game, helping customers search, discover, and shop using visuals instead of keywords.

Pinterest is a great example of this in action. With Pinterest Lens, users can snap or upload a photo and the platform instantly surfaces visually similar products they can buy. It's a seamless bridge between inspiration and action, powered entirely by AI.

By using visual search, get more accurate product discovery from real-world images and higher conversion rates for your business.

5. Demand forecasting

Knowing what customers will buy, and when, can make or break your bottom line.

Like many fashion retailers, H&M used to struggle with inventory headaches: overstocking unpopular items and running out of high-demand ones. To fix this, H&M turned to AI-powered demand forecasting. 

AI-powered demand forecasting uses machine learning to predict what products customers will buy, when they’ll buy them, and in what quantities.

Their system analyzes everything from historical sales and browsing data to local events and weather patterns. Machine learning models constantly update based on new data, spotting patterns and shifts in demand shifts that regular tools might miss.

Today, any e-commerce platform can quickly build the same capabilities into their business with no-code solutions.

6. Virtual Fitting Rooms

One of the biggest challenges in online fashion retail is uncertainty. Customers just aren’t sure how clothes will look on them. 

Now, generative AI helps online shoppers thorugh virtual fitting rooms by visualizing how clothing fits on diverse body types, reducing uncertainty and boosting confidence in purchase decisions.

Google’s virtual fitting rooms feature visualizes how a garment would drape on a diverse set of real models across sizes XXS to 4XL, various skin tones, body shapes, and poses. 

Now, instead of imagining how a blouse fits based on one image, users can now see it on someone who looks like them.

This technology has been proven to:

• Reduce return rates 
• Boost buyer confidence and satisfaction
• Represent a wider range of customers in a more inclusive way
• Create a unique shopping experience

As platforms continue to make these technologies more accessible, it’s becoming easier for businesses of all sizes to adopt virtual fitting rooms.

7. Voice search

Typing is out — talking is in. With conversational AI for e-commerce, voice assistant shopping is making it easier than ever for customers to find and buy what they need.

In fact, 90% of Americans think that voice search is more convenient than searching online.

Walmart’s ahead of the curve here. Their Walmart Voice Order feature lets customers add items to their cart just by saying things like, “Hey Google, add orange juice and eggs to my cart.”

The system uses natural language understanding and previous purchase history to identify the correct products and add them to the customer’s cart automatically.

With voice search gaining momentum across the UK and US, it's becoming an increasingly important channel for customer interaction.

8. Pricing optimization 

Different customers are willing to pay different prices at different times, which is why dynamic pricing is so crucial in e-commerce. With AI, businesses can adjust pricing based on demand, seasonality, customer behavior. All automatically.

For example, when a customer interacts with Booking.com’s chatbot, AI can factor in things like location and budget to surface prices or offers that feel relevant. That could mean adjusting discounts, showing different price tiers, or prioritizing value-added bundles based on what the customer actually cares about.

AI-powered pricing can:

• Adapt prices in real time based on inventory levels or competitor activity
• Segment customers and tailor promotions by loyalty and purchase history
• Run A/B pricing tests automatically

If you’re tired of constantly manually changing your prices, AI pricing optimization would be a useful addition. 

9. Automating content creation

Designing content from scratch can be time-consuming. But by using AI to instantly generate on-brand marketing visuals and content from simple prompts, you can streamline the design process.

That’s where tools like Canva’s Magic Design steps in to save time. With Magic Design, all you need is a short text prompt about what you want your post to look like. 

The tool instantly generates polished visuals, no matter if you’re making an Instagram post, YouTube video, or presentation. You can even upload your own images and apply your brand style with a click, making every design on brand with your business.

Ultimately, digital marketing AI agents helps you spend less time staring at a blank canvas and focus more on creating.

10. Upgrading logistics 

According to McKinsey, nearly 20% of logistics costs can be traced back to what's known as “blind handoffs” — those murky moments when a shipment changes hands somewhere between the manufacturer and its final destination. 

The good news? AI is transforming logistics to eliminate these costs. By analyzing streams of real-time data, AI can optimize everything from route planning to inventory placement. 

For example, UPS uses an AI agent called ORION (On-Road Integrated Optimization and Navigation) to plan smarter routes for its drivers. Instead of sticking to fixed paths, ORION uses data to calculate the most efficient way to deliver packages and keeps learning as it goes.

The results?

• 100 million miles saved each year
• $300 million in annual cost savings
• 100,000 metric tons less in carbon emissions

With AI in e-commerce logistics, you don’t just deliver faster but smarter. You get fewer delays, lower costs, and better visibility across the supply chain.

Best AI Tools for E-commerce

Botpress

If you're looking to use AI to automate your e-commerce customer experience, Botpress is one of the best platforms out there. 

Botpress shines when you need a chatbot that does more than just answer basic FAQs. Think: helping customers find the right product, guiding them through a purchase, tracking orders, or even troubleshooting post-purchase issues. And it’s fully customizable so you can tailor every conversation to your brand’s voice.

Here are some key features:

• Visual flow builder
• Natural language understanding (NLU)
• Multi-channel support
• Pre-built library of integrations
• Built-in analytics and debugging tools

Best of all? It’s free. They also offer paid plans ranging from $89 to $495 if you’re planning on building something more complex. 

If your e-commerce brand is scaling fast or dealing with high support volume, Botpress is ideal for reducing ticket load and speeding up response times. It’s also a great fit if you’re into product-led growth, since it can help identify high-intent users and surface them to your sales team (yep, there’s a bot for that too).

Ultimately, Botpress is a no-brainer if you're looking for a chatbot platform that can grow with your business and deliver personalized, on-brand conversations at scale. It’s one of the most flexible AI tools out there for e-commerce, and for good reason.

Coveo

If you’ve ever visited an online store and felt like the search bar was actually useful, there’s a decent chance Coveo was behind it. 

This tool is all about making your site smarter, whether that’s through AI-powered search, personalized product recommendations, or content that adapts to your customer’s intent. It uses machine learning and behavioral data to predict what each shopper wants so you can ditch the one-size-fits-all approach.

Here are some key features:

• Smart search
• Product recommendations
• Personalization engine
• A/B testing & analytics
• Integrations

They offer a free trial but pricing isn’t listed upfront, so you’ll need to talk to sales to get an exact quote based on your needs.

Coveo is amazing for scaling personalization and increasing conversions. If your catalog is big (think hundreds or thousands of SKUs), you need smarter ways for customers to find what they’re looking for. 

So If you want every visitor to feel like your site was built just for them, Coveo’s AI-powered personalization is tough to beat.

Bloomreach

If your e-commerce brand is aiming for that seamless, hyper-personalized customer experience from homepage to checkout, Bloomreach is a powerhouse worth checking out. 

Bloomreach combines AI, customer data, and content to deliver personalized search, product recommendations, and marketing automation. The real magic happens when it pulls in behavioral and transactional data to tailor the shopping journey in real time.

Here are some key features:

• AI-Powered search & merchandising
• Personalization engine
• Content management (CMS)
• Marketing automation
• CDP integration

Bloomreach is powerful, but it may be a bit more than you need if you're just starting out. Pricing is also custom, so there’s no one-size-fits-all number upfront.

But Bloomreach is ideal for enterprise e-commerce brands that want to elevate their search and personalization strategy without piecing together a dozen different tools. If you're trying to increase conversion rates, reduce bounce, and make every visit count, this platform has you covered.

Algolia

When customers can’t find what they’re looking for, they bounce, and that’s where Algolia comes in. 

Algolia is all about speed and relevance. Their AI doesn’t just match keywords but understands context, user intent, and even typos to surface the right products, instantly. Plus, it gives your team the tools to fine-tune search so your site feels tailor-made for every customer.

Here are some key features:

• AI-powered search
• Personalized recommendations
• Merchandising studio
• A/B testing & analytics
• API-first & developer-friendly

While the pay-as-you-go pricing is great for smaller sites, larger businesses with higher traffic may see costs scale up quickly. Also customizing the platform’s full potential often requires developer involvement.

If speed and relevance are high on your list (and they should be), Algolia is a go-to solution.

Klevu

If you’re running an e-commerce store and your search bar still feels a little…meh, Klevu might be your next upgrade. It’s an AI-powered search and discovery platform built specifically for online retailers and it’s especially great if you’re on Shopify, BigCommerce, or Magento.

Klevu combines natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning to help your customers find exactly what they’re looking for even if they’re not sure how to search for it. From typo tolerance to personalized results, it makes the search experience feel like it actually understands your shoppers.

Here are some key features:

• Smart search
• AI-powered product recommendations
• Merchandising & automation
• Visual editor
• Plug-and-play integrations

Klevu’s not the cheapest option on the market either, so pricing-wise it’s best suited for stores that are ready to invest in smarter discovery experiences. It’s also super powerful, but the setup and customization can take a little time to get just right. 

Klevu is especially handy if you want to automate merchandising while still being able to step in and guide what customers see.

Long story short, Klevu helps shoppers find what they’re looking for faster and helps e-commerce teams surface the right products at the right time. 

Build an AI Agent for Free

Whether you’re curious about how to use AI in e-commerce, there’s no better time to experiment.

Botpress is an AI agent building platform for everyone, no matter your technical background. Build flows visually, test your responses with real user inputs, and connect your business’ data sources for the most up-to-date information. 

No matter if you’re building customer support agents or tools to best optimize your operations, Botpress makes it easy to bring your AI agents to life.

‍‍Start building today. It’s free.

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