We just got back from Shoptalk 2023 and wow - what an incredible event! Shoptalk always delivers, but 2023 was a special experience.
275 senior-level speakers delivered valuable industry insights in over a hundred separate panels, keynotes and sessions. Perennial favorite themes and topics like optimizing for omnichannel strategies, creating convenience in a digital world, and personalizing the online shopping experience were joined by panels on using customer data, AI and automation, and retail innovation from around the world.
This year, Shoptalk also launched Meetup - the biggest meetings event in retail history - where industry changemakers got to meet, network and collaborate with great innovators in the retail space, like GroupBy. Over 50,000 meetings (!) were held, and our team had 3 key takeaways from their sessions.
Everyone Is Talking About ChatGPT
Well, good news! AI technology such as chatGPT is already being used in GroupBy's Search and Product Discovery Platform, powered by Google Cloud Vertex AI Search for Commerce. Previous generations of product discovery solutions rely upon keyword search (such as product type, color, style, etc) limiting product findability.
Utilizing Google's retail search engine enables retailers and wholesalers to understand the semantic intent behind a shopper's query, even for the broadest of queries - helping customers find what they are looking for, faster. The real power behind this tech comes in how it understands natural language queries to deliver the seamless, personalized online shopping experiences customers have come to expect.
Revenue Has Replaced Relevance
With customer behaviors shifting thanks to economic pressures, the eCommerce landscape is looking more uncertain than ever before, and the bottom line has become…well, the bottom line.
Where legacy platforms fail, next-generation solutions are winning. Next-generation search technology offers the ability to deliver search results that are relevant, buyable, personalized and optimized for revenue, making it the logical choice for today's retailers.
Mediocre Site Search is No Longer Acceptable
And a poor search experience is a poor site experience.
In our meetings and conversations at Shoptalk, we saw (and heard) that retailers of all sizes understand that a mediocre onsite search and product discovery experience is no longer acceptable. They're focused on understanding their customer, their behavior, and creating the kind of Google-quality search experiences that drive revenue.
Summary
If you want next-generation search and recommendations that are optimized for revenue (not just relevance), book a demo with our team today.
