By Rachid Wehbi, CEO and Founder of Sell The Trend
Artificial intelligence is changing ecommerce, but not in the way many new sellers imagine.
AI does not act like a magic button. Many entrepreneurs think they can hit a prompt, get a product, open a shop and sell. However, this isn’t the case for building a sustainable e-commerce business.
AI does not eliminate thinking. The value of AI is in reducing the guesswork.
Selling online has always made it hard knowing what to sell before the items get too trendy. The opportunity shrinks faster than you would think. Advertising gets more expensive, vendors get overloaded, and profit gets smaller as margins begin to shrink.
AI helps by giving signals sooner. Entrepreneurs no longer need to rely on their instincts and copy what other sellers do. They can do a deeper analysis on demand, suppliers, pricing, interest, volume, engagement and the competition to determine if something is really gaining traction or if it is just a spike.
At Sell The Trend, we help e-commerce sellers with our predictive tools and data to help position their shops in a more profitable manner. Our tools have allowed us to help over 30,000 e-commerce shops. This gives me a great view to see how automation and predictive data help entrepreneurs sell more.
The best AI-enabled ecommerce sellers are the least likely to expect AI to perform everything for them. They are the sellers that use AI to help them form better questions.
Is demand on an upward trend? Is the market increasingly developing toward a saturated space? Are there accessible and trustworthy suppliers? Is the space open for the establishment of a stronger brand identity? Do the emerging trends signify an authentic customer issue? Is there space for an improved offering?
The questions that you interact with are the fundamental building blocks of a successful ecommerce business. Many sellers falsely believe that offering a good product is the essence behind a successful ecommerce business. When sellers enter a market too late, with inappropriate or weak positioning, and poor timing, even a good product can fail to succeed. Conversely, the market can accept a straightforward product if it meets the right timing, is clearly presented, and is based on a strong customer understanding.
The lessons I learned from the music industry taught me a similar philosophy. What I learned from both music and ecommerce was that the most important factors behind success are creativity and timing. AI is a tool that helps ecommerce sellers notice building trends, even the early signals that may be imperceptible to others.
AI is a tool that can aid creativity, but it should never be a substitute for creativity. Data shows where the trends and attention are, but the seller needs to build the identity of the brand and the offer as well as connect and engage the target audience through intentional messaging.
The future of ecommerce is not for those who use AI blindly. The future of ecommerce is for those who use AI and human judgment together.
Businesses do not need to utilize AI for every piece of the business. Entrepreneurs can use AI to calculate the time it takes to run their business, the cost of starting experiments and the optimal times to make business moves. In this case, every second can make the difference between a successful business and a failed one.
About the author:
Rachid Wehbi is the CEO and founder of Sell The Trend, an AI-powered ecommerce platform that helps sellers identify winning products, analyze trends and suppliers, and build more profitable online businesses. Sell The Trend has helped power more than 30,000 ecommerce stores through its SellShop ecosystem.