ChatGPT and Other AI Bots Boom – Several Use Cases in eCommerce

Tech companies have been experimenting with them for quite some time, but only recently has the topic attracted the attention of a mass audience: AI-driven chatbots. The release of ChatGPT, developed and owned by Californian start-up OpenAI, has disrupted the world of artificial intelligence, as it is supposedly better than all AI chatbots before, being able to communicate like a real human, write whole speeches or poems, and resolve complicated exam questions. A powerful AI chatbot of this kind opens up several use cases and possibilities to create unknown revenue potential in different industries. eCommerce is one of the first industries that come to mind in this respect. Chatbots have been used for a long time to resolve simple repetitive questions and problems in customer service, for example. The current next-level AI chatbots might now be able to offer more – from individual complex customer service tasks to personalized product descriptions or style advice. Leading eCommerce players like Zalando or Lazada have already recognized the potential and announced the launch of virtual shopping assistants based on ChatGPT technology. Although ChatGPT has produced a special hype and is supposed to be especially revolutionary, the AI-developing industry does not stand still and there are several other less talked-about but not least popular apps:

According to TechCrunch, ChatGPT had a sensational start. With almost half a million downloads in the first five days after launch in the app stores, it is one of the highest-performing app releases of the past two years. However, when extending the analyzed period to three weeks between May 1 and May 23, 2023, ChatGPT is beaten by other AI chatbot providers in terms of downloads in the U.S. For this period, Chat with Ask AI clearly leads with 1.4 million downloads. At quite a distance, AI Chatbot – Nova and ChatOn follow, with U.S. download numbers of 680,000 and 610,000, respectively.  Chat GPT is then on par with Genie – AI Chatbot, both of which registered 550,000 downloads in the U.S. in May 2023. However, given the speed with which ChatGPT reached half a million downloads, it is likely to overtake its competitors in the near future. To open another revenue stream, ChatGPT’s developers from OpenAI also offer the underlying AI technology for third-party integration. The most popular services using OpenAI’s GPT-4 technology are Microsoft Edge and Bing, which saw download numbers of 340,000 and 335,000 in the first five days after their launch in the U.S. Given its rapid general development, the AI chatbot industry is likely to make more headlines in the future and it is only a matter of time until more retailers follow Zalando’s and Lazada’s example to count on AI technology to improve customer experience in eCommerce.