Running an online store or an e-commerce business is no easy task. Every day is a challenge, as you have to keep track of multiple tasks, from managing inventory, tracking payments and delivery, and answering customer queries to updating with the latest trends, all at the same time.
On top of this, lead generation is a critical aspect that requires separate attention. Failure to take care of it may result in huge business losses. Solution: AI-powered lead generation tools.
According to a survey, businesses that employ AI (artificial intelligence) have seen up to a 50% rise in lead generation and a 47% boost in conversion rates.
AI lead generation for e-commerce platforms and online stores uses advanced technologies, such as predictive analytics, machine learning, and chatbots, to identify, qualify, and convert potential leads into long-term customers.
Continue reading to find out how it plays out.
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AI Strategies to Attract More Customers
Traditional lead-generation strategies are often time-consuming and too generic to generate meaningful leads.
According to recent statistics, 80% of businesses say that their lead-generation activities are only slightly effective.
Finding more customers through AI-powered lead generation can help e-commerce businesses optimize and acquire leads that can boost sales and revenue.
It can streamline the lead generation process, thereby allowing sales teams to focus on other important manual tasks.
For example, if your store is built on WooCommerce, integrating AI through expert WooCommerce development services can enhance how you attract, segment, and convert leads efficiently.
In addition, using generative AI tools can prove valuable when attracting a diverse customer base.
78% of e-commerce businesses have already implemented AI or are planning to implement AI in the coming years.
Source: ARTSMART AI
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Implement Smart Chatbots
One of the best techniques to find more customers in lead generation for e-commerce is to implement AI-powered chatbots or virtual assistants for your sales strategies.
Leonie Steiner, Customer Care Lead, AlphaPet Ventures, “Chatbots are a great mix between fast help and personal exchange.”
These smart assistants continuously interact with customers and gather data regarding customer choices, contact details, and preferences.
With this detailed customer information, lead generation systems can easily detect which prospects are actual quality leads.
Here is an image showing AI-powered virtual assistants and chatbots helping customers in product search and recommendations, thereby driving lead generation through customer engagement.
Source: haptik
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Predictive Lead Scoring
AI-powered predictive lead scoring systems rank customers based on their previous interactions and purchase history.
These ranking scores indicate which customers are potential leads and which have conversion capabilities.
Knowing these scores, the sales team can gain more insights into high-ranking customers and dedicate all their efforts to customer acquisition.
Here is a flow diagram representing the predictive lead scoring process:
Source: SalesMind AI
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Real-Time Social Listening
According to Salesforce, 86% of senior-level marketers believe that social media monitoring and listening are important to create a cohesive customer journey.
Source: Salesforce
Social media platforms, such as Instagram and Facebook, are hubs for prospective leads.
When a user views, likes, or shares a particular product, AI algorithms running at the backend track these products with the associated hashtags, keywords, and comments as customer preferences.
These AI-powered lead generation tools display the same or similar products or services when a customer visits the e-commerce platform. This smart technique can encourage customers to make their desired purchases.
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Customer Segmentation
One of the prime benefits of using AI in e-commerce lead generation is easy customer segmentation.
AI algorithms in lead generation for e-commerce can categorize customers based on demographics, age, purchasing patterns, and online activities.
This segmentation allows businesses to customize their marketing and sales strategies to target different customer segments.
For example, AI embedded in an e-commerce platform can segment customers from different countries to promote its festival-related products.
It can then market festival-related items to these targeted customers based on different countries. Examples include Christmas decoration products in Western countries and Diwali decorations in Asian countries.
Here’s an image showing how AI is used to segment customers based on age, purchase history, or other similar characteristics.
Source: EDUCBA
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AI for Email Marketing
Email marketing is a traditional approach to acquiring leads. However, sending emails to prospective customers with personalization manually is a tedious task.
AI-powered email tools for lead generation can automate email campaigns with personalization based on users’ browsing history and purchases on an e-commerce platform.
According to a survey, 47% of companies already use AI in their email marketing campaigns. AI can also enhance email delivery times to improve the open rate and customer engagement on the email CTAs.
With automated emails, companies can maintain regular communication with prospective customers and convert them into qualified leads.
How to Close More Deals with AI
Whether you own a local online store or a multinational chain, AI can enhance customer engagement and qualify potential leads to close more deals.
Here’s how:
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Hyper-Personalized Messaging
Online businesses can introduce hyper-personalization techniques in their sales and digital marketing strategies. They can personalize email content, broadcast messages, social media promotions, and online live chats.
Depending on customers’ behavior, such as frequent and past purchases, AI constantly learns and adapts to their shopping patterns to personalize the interactions.
73% of businesses claimed that AI has helped improve customer experiences.
By using generative AI tools, businesses can implement hyper-personalized campaigns that resonate with target customers. It can dynamically customize content in real-time, delivery timings, and communication channels while ensuring consistency in lead generation initiatives.
You can also create on-brand graphics instantly with a free AI logo maker, embedding them into your emails for a cohesive brand experience.
You can also create on-brand visuals and marketing materials instantly using tools like Venngage, a design platform offering customizable templates for brochures, posters, infographics, and email visuals that help businesses present data and promotions clearly and professionally. This ensures a cohesive, visually engaging experience across all customer touchpoints.
Here is an example of how AI is used to design an email with hyper-personalization for lead generation:
Source: sendbird
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24/7 Chatbot Support
Similar to e-commerce businesses that use chatbots and virtual assistants for AI-powered lead generation, online businesses can also implement 24/7 available AI-powered chatbots to attract customers and close more deals.
“Sometimes the AI can feel more human than humans trying to relate to each other.” - Erin McFarland (Executive Director, Marketing Personalization & Optimization, JP Morgan Chase)
AI chatbots use NLP (natural language processing) to establish instant personalized communication with customers. It can offer real-time support and navigation to the customers throughout the sales process, encouraging them to make effective and quick purchasing decisions.
In this way, online businesses can boost customer engagement while increasing the possibility of completing a deal.
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Price Optimization
To survive in the highly competitive online business market, online stores need to offer competitive pricing for their products and services.
According to a Statista survey, up to 83% of respondents stated that they compared prices on different websites while online shopping.
Manual market analysis of the pricing of different competitors is a tedious task and may easily drain out sales and marketing representatives.
AI lead generation strategies can continuously monitor and analyze trends in the pricing patterns of competitor businesses and dynamically adjust pricing to attract more customers.
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AI for Inventory & Supply Chain
According to a survey, 94% of companies worldwide use AI for supply chain management.
Even small mismanagement of inventories and disturbances in distribution channels and supply chains can result in the cancellation of prospective deals.
To prevent this, online stores can use AI for tracking and optimizing stock levels, automating warehouse management, and predicting demand fluctuations. This will minimize the risk of stock runouts and ensure timely order deliveries for successful closure of deals.
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Fraud Detection & Security
Given the state of cybercrimes, an online store can easily become a victim of fraudulent activities through a single leak in its security system. It further increases the risk to customers who make online transactions on the business websites.
Implementing AI-based security measures can detect anomalies, fraud, and breaches in the security system of an online store’s ERP (enterprise resource planning) system or business software.
Additionally, this approach protects customer data, minimizes risks, and builds customers’ trust in the online store to make and close secure deals.
FAQs
1. What is AI lead generation in e-commerce?
AI lead generation in e-commerce is the process of identifying, attracting, and converting new or qualified leads into customers. It uses AI tools such as automation, chatbots, predictive analytics, and personalization to streamline this process.
2. Are there any challenges with AI-powered lead generation in e-commerce?
Organizations may face challenges related to data privacy, algorithmic bias, or ethical data usage.
However, businesses can manage them by using robust data protection practices, conducting regular AI audits to check bias, and integrating technology seamlessly across the platform.
3. How is an e-commerce chatbot useful in lead generation?
An e-commerce chatbot generates leads by engaging with shoppers in real-time, addressing questions, and acquiring important customer details such as preferences and contact details.
This enables organizations to successfully qualify leads and customize marketing campaigns.
From Clicks to Conversions
As you saw, AI lead generation can be extremely beneficial for an e-commerce or online store’s sales and marketing strategy.
From optimizing leads through personalization and real-time data collection to driving massive lead conversions through predictive analytics, AI can be a cost-effective solution for a business.
Therefore, whether you are just starting your online store or planning a large e-commerce business, now is the time to integrate AI for your lead generation efforts to achieve maximum sales.
Struggling with how to integrate the power of AI into your lead generation and sales strategies?
Start by designing an innovative and highly functional business app using POWR. It can seamlessly blend AI into your lead generation efforts while aligning successfully with the business goals.
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Author Bio
Irov is a content marketing specialist, demand generation enthusiast, and team player currently working with 2xSaS. He helps B2B SaaS companies spread the word about their products through engaging content. When he is not working, he likes playing video games on his PS4.
