eCommerce Express Digest - November 2024

October 2024 has stated itself as being the month of AI – with Search Engine and Social platforms adopting and constantly innovating their offerings using artificial intelligence. Read on to find out more.

Chemist Warehouse announced it will be rolling out QR code payments in early 2025, making checkout faster and more convenient for customers. This innovation reflects the growing trend toward contactless payment options in retail, offering a streamlined and secure shopping experience. The system simplifies transactions and caters to tech-savvy consumers, enhancing overall customer satisfaction. Whilst this is an in-store update, it will be interesting to see what impact it has on the digital landscape if retailers implement this on mass. Learn more in this article from Nine News here.

A huge development went live in late October, with Google’s generative AI overview (AOI) summaries, now available in over 100 countries (including Australia). AOIs simplify search queries by providing concise overviews and linking to key content. This innovation improves user experience and offers marketers opportunities to optimize for AI-friendly search environments, driving traffic to relevant pages. You may have noticed this come up for you while searching on the search engine, mainly for questions.

In Paid advertising news:

Following on from that, there was also an announcement about Google Shopping will also be leveraging AI to deliver more personalised recommendations and tailored experiences, enhancing user engagement. This update supports brands in connecting with customers through advanced targeting and improved shopping journeys.

As well as this, Google Merchant Center introduced a new tool to highlight sales events directly in Shopping ads. This feature helps retailers capture attention during key promotions, streamlining visibility for limited-time offers. See the official word from Google and more analysis from Search Engine Land.

LinkedIn has introduced several updates to enhance its advertising tools, particularly in the event and video content spaces. The new features include expanded capabilities for Live Event Ads, such as promoting user posts and offering sneak peeks of upcoming events. Additionally, the platform has expanded its “Wire” program for in-stream video ads, now available in more markets. LinkedIn also updated its Accelerate AI-driven campaign creation tool, allowing more ad formats and objectives to streamline the process for brands aiming to optimise their marketing strategies​.

Lastly, ChatGPT Search has officially launched, integrating OpenAI’s language model with search functionality. This new search tool offers users AI-powered responses that go beyond traditional search results, delivering more conversational and context-aware answers. The system is designed to improve the search experience by offering clearer, more relevant results, making it easier for users to find what they need efficiently. This development marks a significant shift in the way search engines may evolve, especially with increasing reliance on AI.

For more details, read the full article here.

We’ll let you get back to preparing for (or browsing) Black Friday sales and be back next month with the top ecommerce and digital marketing items. Have we missed something important or have a question? Let us know!