We are starting Retail & Ecommerce AI Weekly, a new AI Brief newsletter on AI in retail and ecommerce. Each week we cover shopping agents, online stores and marketplaces, checkout and AI inside physical stores. The newsletter is edited by our team.
In this edition, covering 1 to 7 October:
- TikTok launched a conversational AI Shopping Assistant and one click checkout for buying directly from brands in the For You feed.
- Gladly launched an AI platform that lets one system guide shoppers, answer product questions, handle orders and manage exchanges in a single conversation.
- Meta, Walmart, Stripe, Sierra and other companies are developing an open standard for how AI agents communicate in online commerce.
Shopping assistants and checkout
TikTok launched a conversational AI Shopping Assistant that gives information on products, shipping, sizing and availability, along with one click checkout that lets users buy directly from brands in the For You feed. TikTok is developing the features with Salesforce, Shopify, Shoplazza, Stripe and other commerce and payment providers. TikTok
San Francisco based Gladly launched an AI platform for retail sales and customer service that adds sales capabilities to its existing service AI. One system can guide shoppers, answer product questions, handle orders and manage exchanges in a single conversation. The platform is available in the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia. Gladly says it guarantees improved conversion, resolution and customer satisfaction within 30 days, or customers pay nothing. Gladly
AI agents and business websites
Websites including Amazon block AI agents such as Meta's Muse, and anti bot checks can also disrupt agent access unintentionally. Meta, Walmart, Stripe, Sierra and other companies are developing an open standard for agent communication in online commerce. Delta, Yelp and eBay are among the businesses with different policies on automated agents. Agent standard
Southwest Airlines launched a ChatGPT plugin that lets travelers discover destinations, plan trips and shop for Southwest flights. The airline is developing the phased booking approach with OpenAI and Amazon Web Services and describes the plugin as the first of its kind from a US airline. Southwest Airlines
Drive thru lanes
HME launched Nitro Vision AI, which gives restaurant crews camera based information about drive thru activity. The system builds on ZOOM Nitro and connects with NEXEO | HDX to send lane updates to crew headsets. HME says it does not use license plate recognition or biometric tracking and keeps no personally identifiable information. HME
