00:00Dr. Kung Tian is Senior Lecturer in Marketing at Kent Business School at the University of Kent.
00:08What's particularly interesting about Singles Day this year is about AI is moving from behind the scenes to the center
00:18of the shopping experience.
00:19In the past, AI was mainly used to recommend product or help retailers manage inventories.
00:27Now, we are seeing AI shopping assistants that can understand what consumers actually want, compare different products, and help them
00:36make purchasing decisions.
00:38So, is AI then genuinely encouraging consumers to spend more?
00:43I think we need to distinguish two things between increasing spending and improving shopping experience.
00:52AI can certainly encourage purchases by making the shopping easier, more personalized, and more convenient.
01:02Virtual try-on, for example, can reduce uncertainty about products, while AI assistants can help consumers find better deals.
01:11But that doesn't necessarily mean consumers are spending more overall.
01:16They might simply be buying the same products more efficiently or shifting their purchase between different platforms.
01:26And there is another important point.
01:28AI can actually make consumers more vice-conscious by helping them compare alternatives.
01:36So, my view is that AI is already changing how people shop.
01:40But whether it generates genuinely additional consumption is a much more complicated question.
01:47Yeah, that's really interesting there, what you say about making consumers more selective.
01:52So, are we seeing a change in how people are shopping?
01:55It's not just about discounts anymore on single-stay, is it?
01:59Yeah, nowadays, the online shopping is transformed from the discount searching to more personalized and more about the shopping experience.
02:10For example, one example is Dong Yuhui in the Douyin.
02:16It becomes the phenomenon, the online seller.
02:19And people watch their live streaming become a part of their shopping experience rather than the product itself.
02:27So, AI combined with the personalized recommendation and the whole online shopping experience become the key thing nowadays.
02:35Do you think the international reach of single-stay will keep growing?
02:40I think this is a trend that will keep on going for sure.
02:45I think this is because combining the technology and advanced business model to meet consumers' demands more efficiently, more conveniently,
02:55and also become more price competitive.
02:59This is a trend to extend to lots of the marketing in the globe.
03:04I think this is a trend that will keep growing.
03:04I think this is a trend that will keep growing.
