Economic uncertainty and a shorter holiday season are combining this year, making the 2024 holiday retail season feel faster-paced and a bit unpredictable. It’s critical that brands and retailers don’t just remind holiday shoppers of their existence. As Abhijit Shome, Executive Advisor to Lily AI says, retailers need to inspire consumers to make a purchase.
This is especially true in order to survive the year’s biggest shopping season, which will bring on some new retail challenges. We expect that, this year . . .
Search engines will still be big. In fact, 64% of people use search engines in their “I-want-to-buy” moment, indicating a significant reliance on them during the shopping process.
Social media will be used as a discovery tool. Most consumers are predicted to view social platforms as a way to discover products (59%).
Some purchases will be made through social media, though! When using social media for holiday shopping, consumers are pretty evenly split between intentionally using the search function (30%), scrolling until they see something they like (36%), or using both methods (34%) to shop.
People still shop both online and in stores. In fact, 79% of shoppers conduct product research online and 37% of those consumers proceed to buy their items in physical stores.
All this is to say that social media will provide big opportunities for retailers, especially those hoping to capitalize on the micro- and macro-trends social apps like TikTok have gotten us to love. All the while though, consumers will continue searching for products in more traditional means, like search engines and on-site search. Retailers make the most of all these search methods.
With that in mind, here are some ways to connect with holiday shoppers, wherever and however they search.
How Can AI Strengthen Connections Between Retailers and Consumers Shopping for the Holidays?
Tip #1: Connect consumers to products wherever they search.
Including highly detailed product information within a product listing makes items more discoverable to shoppers . . . no matter where or how they’re searching for products.
Remember how 64% of consumers use search engines in their “I-want-to-buy” moment? Here’s where you can use AI to meet them exactly there.
One way retailers can do this is by using AI to quickly and thoroughly enhance Google Product Listing Ads, so they are rich with customer language. Lily AI injects product details and attributes that reflect new and evolving trend terms throughout your digital catalog. Its direct integration into Google Merchant Center makes it easier than ever for brands and retailers to enrich their product listing ads with these customer-centric attributes that will surface your products where people search.
You can also use AI to reverse-engineer product pages, optimizing SEO and site search, with that same customer language. Your product pages can be a retailer’s ultimate recommendation engine . . . If they are optimized for AI-driven search. So instead of merely listing product features, you should incorporate richer attributes, a greater volume of product details, and multimedia that shows off a product’s features more thoroughly. This will enhance both organic and paid discoverability of products, while making them easier to find on your own site.
Tip #2: Consumers will search for specific occasions, attributes, AND micro-trends. So capitalize on all of them.
Thanks to the influence of social media, trend cycles move faster than ever. And along with the new macro- and micro-trends that crop up all the time on TikTok, Vogue Business predicts that consumers will soon shop for items to wear to micro-occasions. For example, we’ve already seen people search for clothes that reflect the Brat Summer aesthetic. If Vogue Business is correct, they will search for specific occasions to wear their Brat-inspired outfits to, like concerts or nightclubs.
This is where we turn to AI to supercharge product listings with customer language. Lily AI’s product attributes help reflect styles, occasions, details, and more, so brands and retailers can get items in front of customers’ eyes as quickly as possible. Its extensive taxonomy of 25k+ attributes for fashion, home, and beauty products includes the following:
- Objective Attributes: Including item types, materials
- Subjective Attributes: Including styles, occasions
- Attribute Synonyms: Such as “glossy” vs. “high shine”
- Macro and Micro Trends: Such as Brat, Modern Farmhouse, or Clean Girl
- International Language: Including localized terms, translations
Injecting these attributes across your products means that you can capitalize on trends as they unfold, connecting with consumers at the peak of trend popularity or seasonality.
For example, Revolve does an excellent job with this! Throughout the season, they’ve capitalized on the Brat Summer trend as it boomed, helping shoppers find lime green dresses and Y3K-inspired accessories for their next big nights out.
Tip #3: Use data to push personalized product recommendations.
Meet shoppers in the moment . . . and inspire them to add another item or two to their carts. Recommending highly relevant products to your customers is a critical upsell opportunity that you don’t want to miss out on! This is because:
- Personalization increases the likelihood of a prospect purchasing by 75%.
- 56% of customers are more likely to return to an e-commerce site that offers personalized product recommendations.
- 74% of customers feel frustrated when website content is not personalized, suggesting personalization positively impacts purchase intent, according to our partner Bloomreach.
Enriched product data, enhanced by the ultra-specific product taxonomy we previously discussed, presents customers with items that reflect the tastes, trends, preferences, and occasions they are shopping for.
It also recommends products that pair well with items they’ve previously shown interest in. For example, if someone added a Coastal Cowgirl sundress to their cart, AI-powered product recommendations will present that consumer with highly-relevant upsell options, from accessories to glam up their look, to cowgirl boots that’ll match its colors and patterns best.
Connect With More Customers As They’re Shopping for the Holidays
There are so many ways to connect with potential customers this holiday season, and AI will supercharge these opportunities! By enhancing your entire customer journey via AI-powered, customer-centric language, retailers will unlock the most effective way to help more people discover their products, no matter how or where they’re searching for them.
