Four in five Australian e-commerce retailers are already leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) within their operations.
This statistic comes from a new ‘State of Commerce’ report released by both the Australian Retailers Association (ARA) and global software company Salesforce.
Alongside 80% of e-commerce companies using AI, 33% have fully implemented the technology and 47% are currently experimenting. An additional 14% are evaluating if and how AI can fit into their operation, while 6% have no intention of using it.
Commerce professionals using AI credit the technology with an average time savings of 6.4 hours per week, according to the report.
As well as AI adoption, the report also revealed that digital wallets have become the payment type of choice. According to Salesforce Commerce Cloud worldwide use of digital wallet payments like Apple Pay and Google Pay grew 56% in the third quarter of 2023 versus a year earlier.
In Australia, 60% of organisations accept Apple Pay.
Commerce is also increasingly embedded across the customer journey, with commerce functionality being embedded into other pre- and post-purchase customer touch points.
As an example, 49% of organisations in Australia have payment capture functionality in marketing emails, and 92% see incremental revenue from customer service channels.
“With intense competition in today’s retail sector, integrating technology and customer experience isn’t just a trend—it’s a survival strategy,” ARA CEO Paul Zahra said. “AI innovations have potential to streamline operations and improve customer-brand interactions across the retail value chain.
“As the industry shifts towards ever-increasing technological innovations, AI’s role is set to grow.”
Salesforce Commerce Cloud GM and SVP Michael Affronti said more and more commerce businesses are streamlining their operations through automotive AI.
“The companies that can leverage their customer data effectively to build these new connected commerce experiences will enable strong customer loyalty and profitability in the years to come,” Affronti said.
The report features insights from 2,700 e-commerce practitioners, as well as a global analysis of the buying behaviours of over 1.5 billion B2B and B2C customers.