Just spotted this on The Neuron, here

"Amazon, Perplexity, and Adobe all agree: AI shopping assistants are about to change how we buy stuff online. Like, dramatically.

Adobe Analytics just released a bombshell report showing traffic to U.S. retail websites from generative AI sources has jumped a mind-boggling 1,200% since July 2024. That’s data based on 1T visits to US retail sites"

I totally understand that this is B2C, but we know that B2C habits, in time, replicate themselves in B2B. So now is why you need to start planning for this

"During last year's holiday shopping season, there was a 1,300% increase compared to the previous year—with Cyber Monday seeing an insane 1,950% year-over-year spike.

Adobe also surveyed 5K consumers directly to find out how they use AI.

The data shows AI is becoming our go-to research buddy:

39% of U.S. consumers have already used generative AI for online shopping.

53% plan to do so this year.

92% of those who've tried it say it enhanced their shopping experience.

87% are more likely to use AI for larger or more complex purchases.

Once shoppers arrive from AI referrals, they're more engaged—viewing 12% more pages per visit, with an 8% higher engagement rate and a 23% lower bounce rate than visitors from traditional channels.

Not all categories are created equal, though. Conversion rates are highest in electronics and jewelry, but lowest in apparel, home goods, and groceries.

This makes sense—TVs and watches have more objective specs (“find me a 65-inch TV under $1,000”), while clothing and groceries are more subjective and sensory.

So what tools are they using? Adobe’s report didn’t say, but here’s a few of the tools we know (and here’s a few others we just found):

Perplexity Shopping: Offers one-click “Buy with Pro” checkout directly within search results, with shopping queries up 5x since November and partnerships with 150+ merchants in the works (apparently it now works with Firmly).

Agora: An e-commerce search engine specifically for 25K small retailers (like Shopify store-fronts)

ChatGPT: People are also using GPT Search and Deep Research to help them shop online (including get coupon codes).

Not to be left out, Amazon's also building an entire ecosystem of AI shopping tools:

Rufus: Amazon's shopping chatbot that answers product questions, compares items, and makes recommendations based on your browsing history.

Interests: A new AI feature that continuously scans inventory for new products matching what you're passionate about, alerting you to relevant deals and restocks.

Health AI: An AI assistant to answer wellness questions and suggest products with “clinically verified” badges for answers reviewed by licensed clinicians.

Amazon's ultimate plan is to integrate these AI assistants with Alexa+, creating a seamless ecosystem where your voice assistant can instantly call the appropriate AI tool based on your request.

Our take: The entire product discovery process is changing from endless scrolling to concise, personalized recommendations.

While Google dominated product search for decades, these new AI assistants from Amazon, Perplexity, and others threaten to reshape the entire e-commerce landscape—and the data shows consumers are ready to embrace the change."

Can you drive revenue from social media?

Social selling is not about spamming people or inmails or connect and pitch

Our definition of social selling is 

"Using your presence and behavior on social media to build influence, make connections, grow relationships and trust, which leads to conversation and commercial interaction"
 

And the results?

For an AE, we can shorten sales cycles by 30%

And the average SDR will get 1 x ICP meeting a day

Which should increase your revenue by 20%

You can get these results by using our social selling methodology, that is certified by Institute of Sales Professionals (ISP)

"social selling techniques to influence buyers and changemakers - 2nd edition".

In this brand new edition, I have updated all the text, I have also got 15 practitioners, so people who are doing this already to explain how they are get (practical) business benefit. From the CEO that has been running a digital business for over 18 months to sales leaders and sales people who use social selling every day to drive revenue growth. 

Articles on how these business have and are implementing digital, from Mercer, Telstra Purple, Ring Central, Cyberhawk, Namos, Ericsson, DLA Ignite and more.

What does Mark Schaefer, Marketing guru think of the book "social selling - techniques to influence buyers and changemakers - 2nd edition"? watch the video here

It's available on Amazon worldwide.  Link to Amazon.com here and Amazon.co.uk here.