When you think of artificial intelligence (AI) your mind is naturally drawn to Skynet or Blade Runner. Evolved, sentient beings, often with a desire to rise up against humanity for some reason. While we're not quite there (yet) AI technology is certainly on the rise. Especially when it comes to AI marketing. AI has substantial benefits and applications in marketing in fact -- so it's time e-commerce companies got on board to leverage this transformative technology.

About Bazaarvoice At Bazaarvoice, we create smart shopping experiences. Through our expansive global network, product-passionate community & enterprise technology, we connect thousands of brands and retailers with billions of consumers. Our solutions enable brands to connect with consumers and collect valuable user-generated content, at an unprecedented scale. This content achieves global reach by leveraging our extensive and ever-expanding retail, social & search syndication network. And we make it easy for brands & retailers to gain valuable business insights from real-time consumer feedback with intuitive tools and dashboards.

With the Artificial Intelligence (AI) market predicted to grow at a CAGR of 53.65% from 2015 to 2020, momentum for AI is undoubtedly surging. AI, which is essentially the capability of a machine to imitate intelligent human behaviour (such as visual perception, speech recognition, etc.) and carry out multiple tasks, is proven to drive greater efficiency, and is on course to play a key role in propelling the growth of the retail sector. As consumers continue to demand greater speed and easier access to product and service information, fuelled by our connected world and the internet of things, AI will dramatically enhance the customer experience through improving responsiveness, personalisation and productivity. The potential of AI and its anticipated impact on the future of retail is massive, and by embracing it early on, brands and retailers have the opportunity to gain a major competitive edge. In a world where a growing number of customers now check their smartphones while in store and browse consumer-generated content (CGC), such as product ratings, reviews and Q&As, photos and videos, retailers and brands need to evolve and react to demands that blur the lines between online and offline shopper journeys.