Imagine running an online store where every product photo looks flawless, customer support never sleeps, and sales strategies adapt in real time to market changes. This isn’t a glimpse into some distant future—it’s the reality of e-commerce powered by artificial intelligence today. And it works. According to McKinsey, companies implementing AI see a revenue uplift of 15%, and 20% greater sales ROI.
In this article, you’ll discover the key areas where AI is transforming e-commerce, explore the specific tools you can use, and learn from real-world examples. We’ll show you how to leverage AI to scale visual commerce, enhance customer experiences, and ultimately, boost your bottom line.
AI in e-commerce: Opportunities and challenges
Whether you’re a small Etsy shop or a major retail chain, AI has evolved from a “nice-to-have” technology to an essential tool for staying competitive. Adoption has increased significantly in the last year, with two thirds of businesses now using generative AI (two times more than just a year ago).
Here’s a quick overview of the key benefits:
- Time savings: 81% of business professionals agree that AI tools help them spend less time on manual tasks, freeing teams to focus on strategic work. Take luxury retailer Vestiaire Collective—with AI, their image editing is two times faster
- Strong ROI: 71% of business leaders report “very positive” or “somewhat positive” ROI from their investments in AI tools
- Enhanced customer experience: 67% of customer service professionals say AI makes it easier to respond to customer requests
- Competitive advantage: AI leaders have achieved 150% higher revenue growth over the past three years
But what happens when businesses fail to adapt?
Many e-commerce operations still struggle with time-consuming, manual tasks like image editing, order processing, and inventory management, which can lead to higher costs, inefficient workflows, and wasted resources.
The good news is that implementing AI solutions can transform these challenges into opportunities.
Key areas and tools where AI is transforming e-commerce
AI tools have the power to make every aspect of e-commerce operations more efficient and profitable, from the way brands market, sell, and ship their products to how they communicate with customers.
Let’s explore the key areas where AI is making the biggest impact:
Product imagery and visual content
Visual appeal can make or break your online sales, with 90% of shoppers saying that product photos have the biggest influence on their purchasing decisions (yes, greater than price). Yet many e-commerce businesses struggle with time-consuming manual editing processes that slow down product launches and strain creative resources.
AI-powered image editing tools solve this by helping create professional product photos at scale, handling everything from background removal to color correction.
Tools to get started:
- remove.bg: Remove and replace hundreds of image backgrounds in seconds while maintaining quality. It’s perfect for creating clean, consistent product photos across your entire catalog and online marketplaces
- ON1: Boost image editing with AI-powered color correction, noise reduction, and layering capabilities
- Canva: Present your products in new and exciting ways, and without expensive photoshoots, using AI-generated backgrounds.
Example: One fashion retailer cut image processing costs by 60% with remove.bg, while reducing editing time from days to minutes. Read the full story or edit your first image for free now.
Customer support and service
The modern customer’s patience is shorter than ever, with 82% of consumers expecting immediate responses to their questions. Yet maintaining a 24/7 support team is expensive and complicated. AI-powered support tools bridge this gap by handling common inquiries and empowering support teams to be more efficient.
Tools to get started:
- Zendesk: Streamline customer service with intelligent ticket routing and response suggestions, helping your team handle common questions faster and more effectively
- Intercom: Enable real-time customer communication with customizable AI chatbots that learn from each interaction and handle multiple languages
Example: Ethical cosmetics brand Lush saved over $400,000 annually by using Zendesk to analyze and monitor customer queries.
Personalized shopping experiences
Today’s customers expect tailored experiences. Personalized emails generate six times more transactions, and brands excelling at personalization see 40% higher revenue. AI makes this level of personalization possible at scale by analyzing customer behavior and automatically tailoring content.
Tools to get started:
- Bloomreach: Create dynamic website content and product recommendations that adapt in real time based on visitor behavior and preferences
- Dynamic Yield: Optimize customer experiences with AI-powered content personalization that learns from shopping patterns
- Mailchimp: Take email marketing beyond basic segmentation with AI-predicted send times and behavior-based product recommendations
Example: Pet supplies retailer SpokojenýPes.cz ran a personalized email campaign that used AI to analyze 20 different customer data points and create relevant messages, driving 600% ROI.
Smart operations
Running an e-commerce store means constantly juggling pricing strategies and inventory levels. Manually monitoring competitors and stock levels is time-consuming and often ineffective, which can lead to missed opportunities and issues like excess inventory costs, stockouts, and lost sales due to uncompetitive pricing. AI transforms these critical operations with real-time intelligence and automated decision-making.
Tools to get started:
- Prisync: Keep your pricing competitive with real-time competitor tracking and automated price adjustments, all while protecting your margins through custom rules.
- Cin7: Prevent stockouts and optimize inventory across locations with AI-powered demand prediction and automated reordering.
Example: UK retailer Protein Package saw 200% growth after using AI (instead of spreadsheets) to automatically analyze and adjust pricing.
Fraud detection and security
As e-commerce grows, so do security risks. 80% of medium-sized and 82% of large businesses report increased fraud attempts in recent years. Manual fraud prevention is both frustrating and unreliable, requiring staff to review all orders manually and call customers to verify details. AI fixes this by analyzing thousands of data points in real time, automatically distinguishing legitimate purchases from fraudulent ones while maintaining a smooth shopping experience.
Tools to get started:
- Signifyd: Analyze customer behavior, payment patterns, and device information to stop fraud before it happens, with guarantees against fraudulent transactions
- Kount: Prevent multiple fraud types, including account takeover, promo abuse, and chargebacks, using AI and machine learning
Example: Natural Baby Shower cut fraud costs in half and increased their order approval rate to 99.6% thanks to Signifyd’s AI fraud detection, which empowered them to triple their usual order volume during Black Friday.
Real results: How leading brands are winning with AI
Let’s look at how real e-commerce businesses are transforming their operations with AI, while saving time and costs and improving the customer experience.
Thriftify achieved 500% business growth with AI background removal
Online fashion retailer Thriftify automated their product photography workflow with remove.bg, achieving:
- 5-second image processing (down from 60+ seconds)
- 90,000 images processed in 9 months
- 500% business growth in one year
Lush transformed customer service with AI
Ethical cosmetics brand Lush implemented Zendesk’s AI agent (named Marvin) to handle common questions. Here were the results:
- 60% of queries resolved by AI on first contact
- 360 agent hours saved monthly
- $434,000 annual cost savings
Protein Package drove growth with smart pricing
UK supplement retailer Protein Package used Prisync’s AI-powered price monitoring system to automate their pricing strategy, achieving:
- Price optimization of 1,000 products across 239 competitors
- Elimination of manual price monitoring
- 200% business growth
Getting started with AI: Your next steps
The future of e-commerce is AI-powered, and getting started is simpler than you might think. The key is to begin with one high-impact area where you can see quick wins.
For many brands, product imagery is the perfect starting point. Tools like remove.bg can help you achieve professional results in minutes instead of days, giving you a taste of AI’s potential.
For best results, measure the impact through metrics like conversion rates and time saved, then gradually expand into other areas.
While emerging trends like AR/VR shopping experiences and voice commerce are exciting, the fundamentals of great product photography and efficient operations will always be crucial to e-commerce success.
Ready to transform your e-commerce business with AI? Download remove.bg’s free guide, “Unlock 20% More E-Commerce Sales with AI,” for a detailed roadmap to success.
Will you be at the Berlin Expo on February 19-20, 2025? Connect with Alex to discuss AI solutions over coffee or lunch. Book a meeting now.
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