Dive Brief:
- When AI assistants and websites aren’t in synch, it leads to trouble. Nearly all — 97% — of shoppers say they would reconsider an AI-recommended purchase if the website experience disappoints, according to a survey of 2,000 consumers in the U.S. and France released last week by Contentsquare.
- The repercussions of a poor experience vary, with 57% of consumers saying they would continue their research, 23% saying they would switch to another brand and 16% saying they would give up on the purchase.
- About 1 in 5 customers say an AI shopping assistant has offered information that was different from what it said on a brand website, according to the survey. Another 1 in 5 say AI did not provide enough detail for them to confidently make a purchase.
Dive Insight:
When there is a mismatch between an AI tool’s and a website’s product information, the consequences can damage brand reputations.
The accuracy of product content is often taken as a sign of how well companies operate, according to Julie Geller, principal research director at Info-Tech Research Group. When a brand that can’t get basic facts about its products or services right, customers become more likely to question its overall reliability.
While both the AI assistant and the brand take some of the blame when a mismatch occurs, the brand has more to lose, according to Geller. Customers ultimately hold the brand responsible for how well its product matches an AI description, both in terms of the on-site description and what the customer actually receives.
“When website content is missing or inaccurate, the retailer is likely to take the initial reputational hit,” Geller said in an email.
A growing number of people are integrating the information AI provides into their shopping patterns, according to Contentsquare. The survey found that more than one-third of consumers say AI has replaced traditional search engines for at least some of their shopping journeys.
“Consumers are forming opinions based on what AI tells them long before they reach a website,” Jean-Christophe Pitié, CMO and chief partner officer at Contentsquare, said in the report. “Brands need to make sure that information is consistent — and that the website experience proves the recommendation right, not wrong.”
Clean data is key to ensuring consistent information, according to experts. The foundation for AI success is a strong knowledge management strategy that lets AI assistants access the data they need.
