How Generative AI Is Changing E-commerce

Generative AI is significantly transforming e-commerce by enhancing search, recommendation, and personalization capabilities, as highlighted in a research report by the Enterprise Strategy Group (ESG). A 2024 survey indicates that 41% of retail respondents are considering AI-powered product recommendations, reflecting the long-standing role of AI, especially machine learning, in e-commerce for improving search and personalization. Vespa.ai exemplifies this trend by integrating machine learning models into its search pipelines since 2014, utilizing vector search for capturing semantic meaning, and supporting real-time feature computation for dynamic ranking. Vespa's hybrid approach combines traditional keyword searches with machine learning-driven vector searches, providing precise and semantically relevant results while excelling in recommendations and personalization. In 2022, Vespa introduced support for Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), marking its foray into Generative AI, which is poised to elevate e-commerce platforms by offering personalized, real-time interactions and seamless integration across channels. The ESG report also addresses the challenges of scaling generative AI applications to handle large user bases and data volumes, underscoring the complexity of deploying such technologies beyond controlled environments.