Amazon, and to a lesser extent, eBay, Walmart, and other major eCommerce platforms are increasingly determining consumer habits. It may be a challenge to compete against them, but leveraging their data is a good strategy for success. The retail giants are experts in applying artificial intelligence to optimize customer’s shopping experience and boost sales.
In this article, I’ll try and cover some practical use cases artificial intelligence can be applied to information from giant eCommerce platforms and improve sales.

Establish a Presence on Ecommerce Platforms
Having a presence on major eCommerce platforms brings awareness to a brand and, in most cases, optimizes the shopper’s customer experience. Opening an eBay store or selling products on Amazon will provide product exposure. It may cost more to sell on Amazon than other places, but a product is likely to reach a wider audience.

eBay has distinct advantages because it is a platform for sellers, which means users have more control over customer information than Amazon. This can make getting leads easier on eBay than other platforms. Walmart can provide significant savings since they don’t charge a listing fee but only a referral fee.

Monitor the competition

The number of competitors featured on Amazon may seem like a significant drawback, but it can also be an advantage because it allows companies to keep tabs on the competition. One key to evolving marketing strategies is observing competitors on major eCommerce platforms.

This means paying attention to strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities to fill in gaps in the competitions’ offerings. Looking at the prices your competition is offering, types of products and what people are buying and what they are not can help a brand rise above the competition.

Also, examining product reviews can provide insight into consumer preferences and is a way to mine keywords from common phrases reviewers use. Watching how the competitor manages its supply chain, shifts the stock, or changes prices can give clues on where things are headed, mainly if the competitor is an exceptionally robust one.

Observe Consumer Sentiment

Ecommerce platforms are quick to tell visitors what is selling well. This may not indicate what is going to happen with buying habits in the future, but it can inform marketing strategies for current inventory. It can indicate what customers want from retail stores.

Also, reviews and ratings provide information on what customers expect from products and companies and their priorities. Consistent patterns indicate what trends seem to be long-term rather than short-term. In addition, using social media in conjunction with the eCommerce platform can provide a full picture of what products consumers are interested in, what features they value the most, and what they expect from customer service.

Use Predictive Analytics

Of course, it isn’t enough to know what potential customers want today, but it is also important to know what they will want in the future. Product development and marketing research success depend on predictive analytics. Therefore harvesting data from eCommerce websites is the key to finding out what customers will buy and the prices they are willing to pay.

The right data can inform a company of past trends and help translate those into future sales predictions. Machine learning and AI technology make mining big data more straightforward and guide how to use the information for integrated marketing campaigns.

Formulate Buyer Personas or Profiles

Buyer personas or profiles are models of different types of customers based on market research. The idea is to have other streams of marketing copy and separate email lists to fit every kind of profile or persona so a company can personalize its strategy.

Major marketing channels are ideal sources for the research required to create these personas. Analyzing reviews and paying attention to what kinds of people are buying which products on eCommerce platforms provide significant insight into creating and refining these profiles.

Benefitting from Ecommerce Data

Leveraging information from major eCommerce platforms to bring potential customers to a company website is not only doable but essential for success. Taking steps like establishing a presence on eCommerce sites, studying the competition, analyzing buyer trends, and using predictive analytics to refine marketing strategies and create buyer profiles will drive traffic to a company website and translate into increased profits.