Commerce Jam | January 2025 Edition
Gentian Shero
eCommerce Strategy, SEO & Shopify Expertise | Co-founder at Shero Commerce
Welcome to the (delayed) January 2025 edition of Commerce Jam. The word I keep hearing time and again is AI. I’m sure you are hearing the same, too.?
That means AI isn’t just a buzzword anymore; it’s here to stay and reshape how we work, think, and innovate.?
The truth is, AI won’t take your job. But someone who masters AI will.
Therefore, thriving this year means embracing AI and not fearing it.
In this edition, we'll focus on how you can build smarter customer personas with AI and position your business for success in the year ahead.
?? In this issue:
?? AI Personas for eCommerce
?? Brands Utilizing AI for Innovation
?? Site Launch Spotlight: STX.com
?? Resources and Suggested Reading
?? 9 Popular eCommerce Podcasts You Should Listen To
?? Final thoughts and some Shero news
?? AI Personas for eCommerce
Imagine you run a Shopify store selling premium athletic wear. You know your customers are fitness enthusiasts, but beyond that, you’re guessing. Who are they really? What motivates them to buy? What’s stopping them from making a purchase?
Understanding your customers on a deeper level is the foundation of success in eCommerce. As customer expectations evolve, traditional profiling methods are expensive, time-consuming, and often fall short.
Instead of relying on assumptions, AI-generated personas can help you understand your customers with data-driven precision.
By feeding the right prompts into AI tools like ChatGPT, Shopify’s AI analytics, Klaviyo, or Meta Ads Manager, you can generate highly detailed customer personas that will shape your marketing, product offerings, and customer experience.
In this guide, we’ll walk you through:
? How AI personas differ from traditional personas
? How to build and refine personas using AI prompts
? AI integration between Shopify, BigCommerce, and WooCommmerce
? How to use AI tools to optimize and improve personas over time
Let’s dive in.
The Differences Between Offline & eCommerce Customer Personas
AI-generated customer personas for regular and eCommerce businesses differ significantly in how they are built, the data they use, and how companies engage with them.
Regular business personas rely more on CRM data, customer surveys, and sales interactions, focusing on long-term relationships and a slower decision-making process with multiple touchpoints.
In contrast, eCommerce personas are built using real-time behavioral data such as purchase history, browsing habits, and abandoned carts, allowing for more immediate and AI-driven personalization.
The buying journey also differs. Regular businesses tend to have a longer sales cycle, often influenced by referrals, contracts, and in-person interactions.
In eCommerce, on the other hand, the buying journey moves faster, with customers making quick purchasing decisions based on digital marketing, retargeting, and AI-powered product recommendations. This speed means eCommerce businesses must constantly refine their messaging, offers, and targeting based on real-time user behavior.
Segmentation strategies also vary. Regular businesses categorize their customers based on industry, job role, or specific pain points, while eCommerce brands use dynamic segmentation that adapts to real-time actions, preferences, and even psychographics. This allows for hyper-personalized product recommendations, email campaigns, and promotional offers tailored to individual users.
Another key difference is how businesses approach customer lifetime value (CLV). Regular businesses focus on long-term contracts, renewals, and account management, aiming to maximize retention over time. eCommerce brands, however, optimize CLV through AI-powered retention tactics like personalized discounts, loyalty programs, and subscription models, ensuring repeat purchases and stronger customer relationships.
At its core, eCommerce personas are more data-driven, transactional, and dynamic, while regular business personas emphasize relationships, trust-building, and long-term engagement.
Both require strategic AI applications, but eCommerce businesses must move at a much faster pace.
Why AI Customer Personas Are Important in eCommerce Marketing
Because eCommerce moves fast, businesses need real-time, data-driven insights to keep up. That’s where AI-generated personas change the game, allowing for dynamic segmentation, hyper-personalization, and better decision-making.
In traditional marketing, most businesses have an ideal customer profile (ICP). If the budget allows, they take it one step further and break down the ICP into different customer personas or profiles like age group, income, ethnicity, gender, etc. This work is labor intensive and can take weeks or even months.
With the power of AI, we can do the same but much faster. Marketing personas can provide a data-driven, dynamic representation of your ideal customers. Unlike traditional personas built on assumptions, they are adaptable, evolving with your customers’ behaviors and preferences. This flexibility means you’re better equipped to meet your audience where they are, with exactly what they need.
For example, better personalization allows you to deliver experiences that feel customized for your customers and their personalities. A 2021 research study by McKinsey indicates that companies excelling at personalization generate 40% more revenue from these activities.
Here’s how to do it, step by step.
Step 1: Define Your Ideal Customer
Before using AI, start by mapping out who your best customers are. This step needs to go beyond demographics. Think about their values, motivations, and habits.
Some things to consider are:
? Demographics – Age, gender, education, and occupation.
? Geography – Where they live and how location influences their shopping habits.
? Interests – Hobbies, beliefs, and lifestyle choices.
? Behavioral Patterns – Shopping frequency, product preferences, and communication channels.
?? Pro Tip: Use customer interviews or surveys to gather qualitative data about your audience’s motivations and values. Tools like Google Forms, Hubspot Forms, Typeform, or Vervaunt’s Census App can streamline this process.
??Brands Utilizing AI for Innovation?
eCommerce giants are leveraging AI to personalize user experiences. Here are some leading examples:
Amazon employs AI to adjust product prices in real-time based on demand, competitor pricing, and user behavior. This dynamic pricing strategy ensures competitive offers for customers. Additionally, Amazon's recommendation engine analyzes browsing and purchase histories to suggest products tailored to individual preferences, enhancing the shopping experience.
Amazon’s dynamic pricing strategy is powered by advanced AI and machine learning algorithms. These tools analyze real-time data, such as competitor prices, demand trends, and inventory levels, to adjust prices dynamically. For instance, Amazon updates product prices approximately 2.5 million times daily to maintain competitiveness and optimize profits.
Their recommendation engine leverages collaborative filtering, content-based filtering, and machine learning to provide tailored suggestions. By analyzing browsing behavior, purchase history, and even search patterns, the system adapts in real-time to offer highly personalized recommendations.?
Nike leverages AI to offer personalized fitness recommendations through its apps. By analyzing user activity and preferences, Nike provides tailored workout plans and product suggestions, fostering deeper customer engagement.
Nike's AI initiatives extend beyond fitness recommendations. The company has developed its generative AI product design model, leveraging exclusive athlete data. This AI-driven approach allows Nike to rapidly prototype and bring athletes' visions to life, significantly speeding up the design process.
Nike's "Nike Fit" feature uses AI and computer vision to scan customers' feet using smartphone cameras, providing accurate sizing recommendations and reducing size-related returns. This technology enhances the online shopping experience and boosts consumer confidence in purchases.
领英推荐
Sephora's Virtual Artist utilizes AI and augmented reality to allow customers to virtually try on makeup products. By scanning their face, users can see how different products look in real-time, enhancing the online shopping experience and reducing the uncertainty of purchasing cosmetics online.
Sephora's AI initiatives extend beyond virtual try-ons. The company has integrated various AI technologies to create a seamless omnichannel experience. For instance, their Color IQ system uses AI to determine the best product suggestions based on customers' skin tones and preferences, personalizing the shopping experience both online and in-store.
Additionally, Sephora has partnered with Inhalio to provide a Fragrance IQ System, allowing customers to experience perfume scents virtually without physically trying them on. This innovative approach combines AI with sensory technology to enhance the online fragrance shopping experience.
Warby Parker's app features an AI-powered virtual try-on tool that uses augmented reality to let customers see how different frames look on their face. This feature enhances the online shopping experience by providing a realistic preview, helping customers make informed purchasing decisions.
Their virtual try-on tool is powered by advanced AI and AR technologies, including Apple’s ARKit and Face ID. These technologies allow for precise mapping of facial features, ensuring that frames are accurately placed on a user’s face. The tool even accounts for lighting effects, providing a lifelike preview of how glasses will look.
It integrates personalization into its try-on experience. By analyzing user preferences and facial features, the app suggests frames that best complement individual styles. This enhances customer satisfaction and increases conversion rates by helping users make confident purchasing decisions.
Stitch Fix combines machine learning algorithms with human stylists to deliver personalized clothing selections. By analyzing user preferences, feedback, and current fashion trends, Stitch Fix curates boxes of apparel tailored to each customer's style, enhancing satisfaction and retention.
Stitch Fix's AI-driven approach extends beyond initial recommendations. The company uses machine learning algorithms to analyze customer feedback on each "Fix" (curated box of clothing), continuously refining its understanding of individual preferences. This feedback loop and human stylist insights allow Stitch Fix to improve its recommendations over time.
For example, they've used AI for outfit completion, creating dynamic ad copy, and improving product description pages. Recently, they introduced a feature using GPT-4 to help stylists write personalized notes for clients more efficiently, saving up to 20% of note-writing time.
?? Site Launch Spotlight: STX.com
In January, we launched three new Shopify Plus projects. One of them was STX Sporting Goods, a leading global manufacturer of innovative sports equipment and apparel. The project involved migrating STX's eCommerce platform from Adobe Commerce (Magento) to Shopify Plus. The goal? A faster, more flexible, and cost-efficient eCommerce experience.
What’s New:
The result is a sleek, modern online store that makes shopping easier for STX’s loyal athletes and teams. ?? Visit the site here
For a detailed overview of the project, including specific customizations and solutions implemented by our talented team, please visit our STX Portfolio Page.
?? Resources and Suggested Reading
?? SEO and Content Marketing
Looking to position your brand as an industry authority? This article on Forbes lays out four essential steps to leverage content for credibility, trust, and influence.?
Creating great content but not seeing results? This piece dives into a critical yet often-missed factor that could be holding your content back from reaching the right audience.
SEO Conferences You Can’t Miss in 2025 Want to stay ahead of the latest SEO trends? This roundup of top SEO conferences for 2025 will help you connect with industry experts, gain insights, and refine your strategy.
The digital marketing landscape is evolving fast. From AI-driven search to new consumer behaviors, this guide covers the biggest trends shaping the industry in 2025.
?????? B2B Marketing
Think GIFs are just for memes? Think again. This guide breaks down how B2B brands can use GIFs to boost engagement, simplify messaging, and add personality to their marketing strategy.
AI-powered marketing sounds great in theory, but execution is another story. This article explores the challenges B2B brands face with GenAI adoption—and what it takes to get it right.
LinkedIn remains a powerhouse for B2B marketing, but success requires the right strategy. Tom Pepper breaks down what’s working in 2025 and how to maximize your ad performance.
Managing B2B campaigns on LinkedIn just got easier. The new Companies Hub feature streamlines targeting, insights, and campaign performance tracking. Here’s how marketers can leverage it.
?? Paid Search
Paid Search Predictions: What’s Next for Google Ads in 2025? With AI-driven automation, evolving ad formats, and shifting user behaviors, Google Ads is changing fast. This deep dive explores what advertisers should expect—and how to stay ahead.
With voice search on the rise, PPC strategies need to adapt. This guide covers four key ways to optimize your paid search campaigns for voice-driven queries and stay ahead in 2025.
Amazon is opening up its powerful ad tech to other retailers, allowing them to run sponsored ads on their own sites. This move could reshape digital advertising for eCommerce brands.?
Google just launched Meridian, an open-source marketing mix model designed to help advertisers measure the true impact of their campaigns across channels. Here’s how brands can use it to refine their strategies.
?? 9 Popular eCommerce Podcasts You Should Listen To
I’m a physical book kind of person, but when it comes to staying sharp in eCommerce, podcasts are my go-to. Here are the ones that help me stay ahead of the curve, and hopefully, they’ll do the same for you.
?? Final thoughts and some Shero news
This past week, we had the incredible opportunity to attend the Smart Commerce event in Helsinki, where my partner, Beth Shero shared key insights on how Nordic merchants can learn from U.S. eCommerce trends. The event was a great platform to connect with industry leaders and discuss the future of Shopify in the region.
We also officially announced our expansion into the Nordic market! With a strong local team and the backing of Ambientia, we are ready to help Finnish and Nordic brands scale their eCommerce operations with world-class Shopify expertise.
It's an exciting time, and we can’t wait to support more merchants in this new chapter. If you're in the Nordics and want to learn more, reach out to our team at [email protected].
Until next time!
Warm regards,
Gentian?