Dive Brief:

• Retail leaders are embracing AI to power their experiences this holiday season, according to Experient Group’s 2023 Holiday Customer Experience Trends report.
• More than 3 in 5 of the 1,100 marketing, CX, product, and technology leaders surveyed say they are leaning on AI-driven customer support to relieve some of the stress of the season. Nearly 7 in 10 are using the technology to power personalized content.
• Friction can stop a customer journey in its tracks, and avoiding it is essential during the high-stress holiday season, according to Catherine Iger, VP at Experient Group. AI can help ensure customers find the products or answers they need through tools like chatbots and product recommendations.

Dive Insight:

Companies are just starting to tap into the potential of generative AI, and this holiday season offers a showcase for its possibilities. While the technology is still in its infancy, businesses are largely using it to deliver on the traditional goal of making shopping enjoyable. 

“Consistency and personalization contribute to a positive shopping experience, foster customer trust and loyalty, and provide a competitive edge for brands all year,” Iger said in an email to CX Dive. “They’re especially important during the holiday season because the competition is so great.”

One of the key use cases for generative AI is smoothing over labor shortages. Nearly 3 in 5 surveyed leaders said they are deploying chatbots during the holidays, which for simple tasks can often replace the need for live agents.

Personalization relies on past shopping behavior, which limits its use in gift giving, but generative AI tools can help inspire, according to Iger. Google’s AI-powered image generation, for example, can create product recommendations from scratch, then provide relevant shopping links.

“Generative AI is powering the holiday season by creating new ways to get inspired, search, discern and find,” Iger said.

Many retailers are already tapping into generative AI solutions, but this is just a taste of how the technology will change the holiday season in the future, according to Iger.

“Some of these experiences are in early phases, but next year look for further integration into retailer experiences, so shoppers will be using AI without necessarily realizing they’re using AI, and certainly without needing to understand how it works,” Iger said.