HC3152 E-Business Applications: Analyzing AI Use in EBay Australia

This report examines the application of Artificial Intelligence (AI) within EBay Australia's e-commerce business. It begins with an overview of AI and its relevance to e-commerce, followed by a background on EBay Australia's operations. The core of the report delves into specific AI applications, including chatbots for customer service, visual search engines, personalized recommendations, and voice assistance, highlighting their impact on sales goals and customer engagement. The report also explores EBay's utilization of AI, such as retargeting, sales intelligence, and integration with wearable technologies. Furthermore, it discusses the risks and limitations associated with AI implementation in e-commerce. The report concludes with recommendations for future AI strategies, referencing various sources to support its analysis and findings.

EBay Australia
E-Commerce Business
Artificial Intelligence
9/21/2019

E-Commerce Business
Table of Contents
Introduction...........................................................................................................................................2
Organization Background......................................................................................................................2
Current Operations............................................................................................................................2
Importance of AI...................................................................................................................................2
Chatbots.............................................................................................................................................2
Visual Search Engines.......................................................................................................................3
Personalized Recommendations........................................................................................................3
Voice Assistance...............................................................................................................................4
Sales Goals........................................................................................................................................4
Utilization of AI....................................................................................................................................4
Risks & Limitations...............................................................................................................................7
Conclusion & Recommendations..........................................................................................................7
References.............................................................................................................................................9
1

E-Commerce Business
Introduction
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a technology which allows the simulation of the human
intelligence processes with the aid of machines. These machines are usually the computer
systems. The idea of the technology is to develop the machines that may act and think like
humans so that the operations can be carried out with minimal human intervention. There are
numerous AI applications that are already in use. The technology is gradually expanding and
the application areas are also increasing. The Electronic-Commerce or E-commerce
applications are making active use of AI in their business processes and applications.
The report carries out an investigation of the use of AI by EBay, Australia and determines the
further areas of scope for the technology.
Organization Background
One of the first e-commerce sites to be set up was e-Bay which is a multi-national
organization based out of America. The company was set up in 1995 and it provides the
ability to carry out the consumer-to-consumer and business-to-consumer transactions on its
website and mobile app. E-Bay Australia was launched in 1999 and has successfully
completed 20 years in the country (Ebay, 2019).
Current Operations
The primary operation that the company carries out is the buying and selling of the goods
over the online platform. E-Bay has its website and a mobile app deployed in Australia which
can be used by the buyers to browse the items and select and purchase the ones that interest
them. The sellers need to pay fees so that they may get their items listed on the site. The
company also carries out online auctions wherein the buyers can bid for the items listed on
the site to purchase the same. Some of these auctions are carried out for the purpose of
charity.
Importance of AI
Artificial Intelligence (AI) plays a significant role in e-commerce as there is a wide variety of
operations that can be conducted using AI.
2

E-Commerce Business
Chatbots
Customer service is one of the most significant aspects of the e-commerce sites as these sites
are available for the users on a 24x7 basis. It becomes necessary to provide them with the
assistance and support at any hour of the day. Earlier, the use of chatbots was done on the e-
commerce sites to provide customary replies to the user. However, with the aid of AI, these
chatbots can understand the visitor query and can provide the response accordingly (Sha,
2019).
The customers might have certain queries on the buying decisions or may wish to seek
further information about their orders. They may also have several queries on the orders
placed by them in the past. The use of chatbots is done by the e-commerce sites to provide
response to the customers on a real-time basis.
Visual Search Engines
The involvement of AI in e-commerce has provided the organizations with the ability to use
visual search engines. There are several instances wherein the users may wish to have the
exact product they might have seen anywhere else. The search of the product on the basis of
the image can be done. The identification of the products matching with the image is
displayed by the e-commerce sites which make it easier for the customer to identify the
desired product. This has a positive influence on the customer engagement levels as well.
Personalized Recommendations
One of the most widely used features of AI in e-commerce is the personalized
recommendations to the customers. The customers that visit the e-commerce sites have varied
interests and preferences. The use of the customer browsing history, purchasing history, and
data from the social media accounts and others sources is collected by the AI algorithms.
These data sets are then analysed to provide the personalized recommendations for the
customers (Raturi, 2019).
There are so many alerts and notifications that are generated by the e-commerce apps on the
mobile devices and numbers of the users. These alerts are also personalized as per the
prediction and analysis results for every customer. When the user browses an e-commerce
application, then there is a list of recommended products that get displayed which is also
brought up with the use of AI. This is an importance feature and is necessary for the e-
commerce organizations as it provides a sense of connect and personalization to the
3

E-Commerce Business
customers. The customers feel important and the overall engagement and satisfaction levels
can improve as an outcome.
Voice Assistance
The primary need of the technology in the present times is to reduce the timeframe involved
in the execution of the business operations. Also, the technology shall be used so that equal
access opportunities can be provided to all the user types.
The use of AI in e-commerce is significant so that the equal access opportunities can be
provided to the differently-abled users as well. The feature of voice assistance is extremely
significant for the users with poor hand coordination or poor eyesight. The users can simply
voice out the instructions and the matching action is performed by the e-commerce app. The
users are exempted from the need to key in every requirement. This leads to the increase in
the usage of these sites and applications.
Sales Goals
The use of AI is done at the business side of the e-commerce firms to keep a track of the sales
goals and carry out the mechanisms to achieve the same.
There are a large number of e-commerce companies that have been set-up. This has led to an
increase in the competition in the industry. It has become necessary for the organizations to
develop the ways through which they may stay ahead of the rest of the competitors. The use
of AI is significant in this aspect (Feng, 2019). The prediction using the AI models and
concepts can be done to understand the sales and marketing trends. The e-commerce
organizations can develop and modify their sales strategies accordingly. The e-commerce
market is a volatile market in which the change in the trends and patterns take place at a rapid
scale. The use of AI makes it possible for the companies to have flexible and scalable
strategy in place.
Utilization of AI
There are a number of ways in which e-Bay is making use of AI to enhance its customer base
and maintain the customer engagement and satisfaction levels.
One of the primary use cases of AI by e-Bay Australis is retargeting the potential customers.
The customer activity on the e-Bay web portals, such as the website and the mobile app is
used by the AI algorithms to predict the specific deals, offers, and discounts for the
4

E-Commerce Business
customers. These are notified to the customers as personalized offers which are a great step to
make sure that the customer engagement levels are maintained. The customer preferences and
choices are targeted through such a step and the engagement levels of the customers improve
with the same (Marr, 2019).
There are numerous e-commerce giants that are present in Australia. Some of the primary
competitors of the organization include Amazon Australia, Woolworths, Coles, and many
others. The success of the company can only be determined when it stays ahead of its
competitors. The identification of the exceptional target prospects is done with the aid of AI
in e-commerce by e-Bay. Sales intelligence is one such application of AI that is effectively
used by e-Bay. There are a large number of information sources that are available with the
organization. These include the customer records and the associated information from the e-
Bay portals, information from the rest of the web sources, social media data, and many more.
These sources are used to keep a track of the sales trends and patterns for all the major
competitors. The development of the sales strategy, such as announcement of the special
deals and offers during the festive season, announcement on the specific product launches,
etc. is done accordingly so as to target more number of people.
One of the recent developments of the application of AI by e-Bay is the ability to carry out
the sales using the wearable technologies. The amalgamation of AI and Internet of Things
(IoT) is done by the organization to allow the users to place order using their smart watches
and other gadgets. This provides the utilization of the smart technology and allows the
customers to place orders from any location. The data from the wearable technologies is also
used to personalize the shopping experience for the users (Katariya, 2019).
The involvement of AI in e-commerce has provided the associations with the capacity to use
visual search engines. There are several instances wherein the users may wish to have the
exact item they may have seen anywhere else. The search of the item based on the image
should be possible. The identification of the items coordinating with the image is displayed
by the e-Bay portals which make it easier for the customer to identify the desired item. This
impacts the customer engagement levels too. One of the most widely used features of AI in e-
commerce is the personalized recommendations to the customers. The customers that visit the
e-commerce sites have varied interests and preferences. The use of the customer perusing
history, obtaining history, and information from the online networking records and others
sources are collected by the AI calculations. These informational collections are then
5

E-Commerce Business
analysed to provide the personalized recommendations for the customers. There are such a
large number of alerts and warnings that are generated by the e-Bay applications on the
mobile devices and numbers of the users. These alerts are additionally personalized as per the
prediction and examination results for every customer. When the user browses an e-Bay
portal, then there is a rundown of recommended items that get displayed which is likewise
raised with the use of AI. This is an importance feature and is necessary for e-Bay as it
provides a sense of connect and personalization to the customers. The customers feel
significant and the overall engagement and fulfilment levels can improve as an outcome
(Wiggers, 2019).
Customer service is one of the huge aspects of the e-commerce sites as these sites are
available for the users on a 24x7 premise. It becomes necessary to provide them with the
assistance and support at any hour of the day. Earlier, the use of chatbots was done on the e-
commerce sites to provide standard replies to the user. However, with the aid of AI, these
chatbots can understand the guest query and can provide the response in like manner. The
customers may have certain queries on the purchasing decisions or may wish to seek further
data about their orders. They may likewise have several queries on the orders placed by them
before. The use of chatbots is done by the e-Bay portals to provide response to the customers
on a real-time premise.
The essential need of the technology in the present times is to reduce the timeframe involved
in the execution of the business operations. Likewise, the technology will be used so equal
access opportunities can be provided to all the user types. The use of AI in e-commerce is
critical with the goal that the equal access opportunities can be provided to the differently-
abled users too. The feature of voice assistance is extremely critical for the users with poor
hand coordination or poor eyesight. The users can essentially voice out the guidelines and the
coordinating activity is performed by the e-Bay application and the website. The users are
exempted from the need to key in every requirement. This leads to the increase in the usage
of these sites and applications (Pan and Nugent, 2018). The use of AI is done at the business
side of the e-commerce firms to keep a track of the sales objectives and do the mechanisms to
achieve the same. There are a large number of e-commerce companies that have been set-up.
This has led to an increase in the competition in the business. It has become necessary for the
associations to develop the courses through which they may remain ahead of the rest of the
competitors. The use of AI is huge in this aspect. The prediction utilizing the AI models and
concepts should be possible to understand the sales and marketing trends. E-Bay develops
6

E-Commerce Business
and modifies their sales strategies in like manner. The e-commerce market is a volatile
market where the change in the trends and patterns take place at a quick scale. The use of AI
makes it possible for the organization to have flexible and scalable strategy in place.
Risks & Limitations
There are a few risks and challenges that are also associated with the utilization of AI in e-
commerce. The understanding and consideration of the same shall be done before the
implementation is carried out.
One of the major risks is the privacy risks and attacks. The AI algorithms and models are
used along with the other technologies, such as Big Data, Internet of Things, and Cloud
Computing. There is specific security issues associated with these technologies. For example,
the data sets that may be collected from the social media accounts or the wearable
technologies are utilized for developing the AI models and decision-making mechanisms.
There may be issues around the consent from the users on the utilization of the data sets. The
issues of misuse and invasion in the privacy of the users are one of the primary challenges
that are observed (Pan and Nugent, 2018).
The implementation time and the costs involved are the other limitations that may be seen
with the usage of AI in e-commerce. The implementation time may vary on the basis of the
need of the technology. The increased implementation time may not do much good to the
organization. There is also significant amount of cost that is associated with the AI
technology with their usage and implementation in the e-commerce areas.
AI is relatively new technology that still has a large number of roadblocks in terms of the
availability of the data sets for the usage and the skill shortage for the adoption of AI. There
are also a number of changes that are required to be made internally that shall be considered
before implementation.
Conclusion & Recommendations
E-Bay in Australia is one of the top e-commerce organizations. The company makes good
use of technology and makes sure that it innovates in terms of the technical usage and
improvements. E-Bay has its website and a mobile app deployed in Australia which can be
used by the buyers to browse the items and select and purchase the ones that interest them.
There are different ways in which the organization makes use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in
7

E-Commerce Business
its business operations. The use of the technology is done in sales intelligence, personalized
recommendations for engaging the customers, chatbots, working on the potential and target
customers, and many others. There are a few considerations that shall also be made while
using such technologies in terms of privacy considerations and risks, implementation issues,
and change management.
There are a few recommendations that are provided to e-Bay and similar e-commerce
organizations in terms of the usage of AI.
 The organizations must always abide by the local and international regulatory policies
and norms while using the data sets. The data management shall be done in such a
way that the violation of these norms does not take place. The consent from the user
shall always be asked and the utilization of the information sets shall be done
thereafter.
 There are a number of technical and logical tools and controls that have been
developed for the purpose of enhancing information security and privacy. The
integration of such tools and controls must be done across all the e-commerce portals
to make sure that the occurrence of security risks and attacks are avoided (Pan and
Nugent, 2018).
 Planning is one of the most significant activities that shall be conducted before an
organization decides to implement the AI or other technology. The evaluation of
benefits and the risks must be done with the development of the plans across all the
areas before implementation is done.
 The introduction of changes is evident with the utilization of AI of other trending
technologies. The organization shall be ready and must have the plans in place to
handle such changes that will be observed.
8

E-Commerce Business
References
Ebay (2019). Electronics, Cars, Fashion, Collectibles, Coupons and More | eBay. [online]
eBay. Available at: https://www.ebay.com.au/ [Accessed 21 Sep. 2019].
Feng, Z. (2019). Constructing rural e-commerce logistics model based on ant colony
algorithm and artificial intelligence method. Soft Computing.
Katariya, S. (2019). eBay’s Platform is Powered by AI and Fueled by Customer Input.
[online] Ebayinc.com. Available at: https://www.ebayinc.com/stories/news/ebays-platform-
is-powered-by-ai-and-fueled-by-customer-input/ [Accessed 21 Sep. 2019].
Marr, B. (2019). The Amazing Ways eBay Is Using Artificial Intelligence To Boost Business
Success. [online] Forbes.com. Available at:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2019/04/26/the-amazing-ways-ebay-is-using-
artificial-intelligence-to-boost-business-success/#794700422c2e [Accessed 21 Sep. 2019].
Pan, A. and Nugent, J. (2018). Feasibility Study of Artificial Intelligence Application in
Electronic Commerce. SSRN Electronic Journal.
Raturi, G. (2019). How eCommerce companies are using AI to drive Higher Sales & User
Experience. [online] Medium. Available at: https://becominghuman.ai/how-ecommerce-
companies-are-using-ai-to-drive-higher-sales-user-experience-20d9d9bbb2b0 [Accessed 21
Sep. 2019].
Sha, N. (2019). Creating a Brand Value and Consumer Satisfaction in E-Commerce Business
Using Artificial Intelligence. SSRN Electronic Journal.
Wiggers, K. (2019). How AI helps eBay connect buyers and sellers across 1.2 billion listings.
[online] VentureBeat. Available at: https://venturebeat.com/2019/03/13/ebay-details-how-ai-
improves-user-experience-across-1-2-billion-listings/ [Accessed 21 Sep. 2019].
9