Online retailers struggling with various issues, AI tools gaining ground

Retailers are launching AI tools at a relatively high rate, but there is still room to improve when it comes to serving hyper-personalized experiences and understanding the customer intent. They are also struggling with a slew of issues during high-demand times, such as the holiday season, ranging from site performance to serving up personalized recommendations -- both key factors in a consumer's journey when shopping online. Those are top findings from a Lucidworks Retail TouchPoints best practices survey that outlines retailers' top concerns, such as performance, product "find-ability" and customer experience. Nearly three-quarters (73%) of retailer cite downtime, degraded site performance, and poor customer experience, as top worries during peak shopping periods, according to a press release. "Retailers put endless pressure on themselves to create the perfect shopping experience for customers," said Diane Burley, Lucidworks vice president of content, in the release.