Most of us spend a lot of time shopping. Depending on the circumstances, it might be a chore, a pastime, or a combination of the two.
Online retailers understand this, which is why they provide each engaging, scrollable offers and super-fast checkout. You can get what you wish quickly, or if you favor, spend your time browsing.
With the rise of generative AI, each sorts of buyers seem able to see latest tools that may make their experience more enjoyable and efficient. In the startup sphere, this includes apps that understand detailed purchase requests, bots that search second-hand deals, and tools that make it easier to create custom products.
Using Crunchbase datawe identified several corporations that received financing in recent quarters and whose offer was related to each artificial intelligence and purchasing. Collectively, the corporations on the list below have raised over $280 million.
Explaining what you wish from the machine
While there is no dominant business model among the corporations that have raised funding, a common theme is creating tools that make it easier for a computer to know exactly what a human wants.
Yes, it’s true that current offers do quite well if you have a specific item in mind. Type in the name of a branded toy or book and there’s a good likelihood you will quickly get the right entry.
However, in areas like fashion or furniture, where shoppers are looking for a specific look or style relatively than a branded product, it is easy to get stuck in the search results. Whether it’s “comfortable blue chair” or “Halloween socks,” a basic query normally results in almost countless scrolling of results.
AI startups are attempting to improve this process with models that higher match descriptions to desired outcomes.
One of the most financed in this style is a company based in San Francisco DreamAI-powered personalized shopping tool that raised $50 million this summer in a seed round led by Precursor AND Index ventures.
While it’s still a good distance from public launch, Daydream’s website showcases its planned offerings with sample fashion searches that its tool will match to products. Examples include “bright colored sneakers that feel old school and classic” or “a dress for a summer wedding in Costa Rica.”
Others are working with brands to use more sophisticated language matching to customer queries. This includes AI Lilya Mountain View, California-based startup that has raised over $70 million for a tool based on artificial intelligence that may enable the brand’s customers to seek out products they need to buy.
Another example is Vantage’s discoverywhich closed A Series A for $16 million in June. The San Francisco-based startup offers retailers and brands tools to find their offerings using natural language semantic searches and keyword-based queries.
Personalization, creators and concierges
Startups are also using artificial intelligence to customize and offer concierge-type features to assist shoppers find the things they need to buy.
On the personalization front Arcadewho picked up In January, $12 million in rounds hosted by Ashton Kutcher AND Reid Hoffmanoperates a platform that uses AI models to design custom jewelry. Customers enter a description of the desired product and the artist is paid for making it.
FindMinewho landed Series A for $8.9 million this spring, it offers an “AI stylist” who puts together outfits from the brand’s collection for potential customers. This, in turn, enables sellers to acquire higher value purchases.
AND AI representative lifted up In August, $8.2 million for an “AI concierge” that salespeople can provide to potential customers at scale. It is aimed at sellers with large catalogs of listings who use tools to assist buyers narrow down their selections and find the right fit.
Based in Berlin FaircadoMeanwhile, it is implementing artificial intelligence in the second-hand market. Its app allows buyers to view recommendations for comparable used items when planning a purchase.
Beyond the era of too many options
It has not gone unnoticed by investors that the rise of artificial intelligence-based trading tools comes at a time of unprecedented retail selections.
Kirsten Greenfounder and managing partner of a retail enterprise capital firm Precursor believes that we are currently seeing a shift in consumer values related to the development of artificial intelligence.
In blog post on this topic, she postulated that “the ongoing shift in values is born from a broad sense of consumer fatigue and overwhelmed by a culture currently dominated by hyperaccess and hyperconsumerism.”
Our fatigue with countless selections, she wrote, is creating a “refreshed desire for experts and services that edit the vastness of what is available” and present the absolute best options.
As one of those consumers who is often overwhelmed by the variety of things available for purchase, I have to confess that this appears like a reasonable hypothesis. When shopping becomes work, why not outsource it to an AI bot?
At the same time, nevertheless, it is also clear that current retail offerings already provide countless ways to deal with or avoid an overload of selection. This includes smaller grocery stores and highly advanced advice engines Amazon and big box stores and stores offering targeted selections based on aspects akin to style and budget.
Can artificial intelligence make parting with our money even easier? Bright. However, it’s price noting that there are many existing tools that already do this thoroughly.