Shopify is strengthening its artificial intelligence offerings with new products aimed at increasing seller sales

Shopify Inc. is increasing the amount of artificial intelligence built into its platforms.

The Ottawa-based e-commerce giant unveiled a series of artificial intelligence products on Monday at its semiannual showcase event called Shopify Editions, which this round includes more than 150 new offerings.

Among the most popular is a new AI tool that will suggest personalized replies that sellers can use to respond to customer emails.

Artificial intelligence will also emerge as sellers look to categorize their products, suggesting attributes such as color, size, material and style that companies can use to increase product discoverability and encourage sales.

Shopify’s new features drive the race to adopt AI solutions around the world, forcing more companies to determine how they can use the technology to increase productivity and efficiency.

The company’s offering builds on last summer’s event where the world was introduced to Sidekick, a chatbot that merchants can use to ask questions about business operations, such as why sales are down or what they can do to increase traffic in key areas. months.

While thousands of sellers have early access to Sidekick, it hasn’t fully launched yet. Shopify says it will continue to add users this year.

The new services are intended to make the company’s platform “more powerful,” Harley Finkelstein, president of Shopify, said in a statement.

“We are confident that these updates will continue to make it easier for our sellers to do what they do best and focus on scaling their businesses,” he said.

In addition to artificial intelligence, the company will provide Canadian retailers with a program that will allow them to set more accurate budgets for social media campaigns and only charge fees when new customers make purchases.

Merchants using Shopify’s point-of-sale technology will also have the ability to generate digital receipts for customers with one tap.

The point-of-sale application will also notify returning companies if a returned item falls outside the company’s returns policy, eliminating uncertainty for retail workers.

In addition to Editions, US retailer Target Corp. announced Monday that it has signed a partnership offering Shopify sellers the ability to sell some of their products through Target Plus, a third-party marketplace.

Target said some Shopify seller products will be available in the retailer’s stores in the coming months.

The announcements came a day before Shopify will hold a developer conference at the Enercare Center in Toronto.

They also come weeks after CEO Tobi Lütke announced on X, formerly known as Twitter, that its total gross merchandise value – a measure of goods sold on the platform – passed $1 trillion on June 11. the value has increased over the past five years, he said.

Shopify has seen explosive growth since its founding in 2006 and regularly competes with global goliaths including Amazon.com Inc.

Amid competition, Shopify expanded its own logistics and fulfillment network, but last year it sold the company to Flexport and said it would reorient the company away from “side jobs” that distracted from some of its key goals.

Following recalibration, the company laid off 20% of its staff in May 2023 and 10% in 2022.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 24, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:SHOP)

Tara Deschamps, Canadian Press