How AI Transformed UntilGone’s Ecommerce Experience

With today’s ecommerce brands up against obstacles like heightened consumer expectations and the effects of inflation, the stakes are higher than ever. To stand out in this competitive landscape, businesses need to be one step ahead of shoppers and integrate tools designed to build a world-class customer experience.

Richard Bell, President and Owner of UntilGone, is well aware of this and stays at the forefront of the latest technological advancements to set his business apart. After seeing the power of artificial intelligence tools, like ChatGPT, Bell knew he could use this exciting and innovative technology to enhance his daily deals marketplace, UntilGone.

Fast-forward to today, Bell uses several Google AI tools to improve backend efficiency and the customer experience for UntilGone and his three additional online marketplaces: Daily Steals, Pick Your Plum, and ShopHempDeals.

AI-written product descriptions

Bell first began testing the waters with AI by using it to write product descriptions and quickly realized it was a game changer.

With Google Gemini integrated into his custom backend via API, Bell has been able to craft SEO-optimized descriptions for his four online marketplaces, saving his team a significant amount of time.

This is especially important given how often products rotate across these different marketplaces. With many of them changing weekly or even daily, his team can now focus on other tasks designed to grow the businesses.

"Having the right prompts is the secret sauce. Gemini can take a list of features and turn it into a nice paragraph-long description that is accurate, correct, and able to go live," explained Bell. "It's been a game-changer for the team’s productivity and helping with SEO."

Personalized product recommendation emails

After seeing such success with AI-written product descriptions, Bell knew it was time to take things further and explore how this technology could enhance user engagement.

Each of his marketplaces sends emails to customers promoting the deals of the day. Bell saw an opportunity to improve these emails and figured an AI-powered tool could create more compelling content.

Using Google Cloud for Retail’s Recommendation AI, Bell has been able to automatically create personalized product recommendation emails based on a shopper’s browsing or purchasing history for three of his marketplaces — UntilGone, Daily Steals, and Pick Your Plum. Previously, one of his team members manually created these emails, and the same email went to each customer.

“We use Google Recommendation AI to recommend products in emails that are personalized for an individual based on their engagement with our site. The tool will start identifying your preferences based on factors like what you're engaging with and what products you buy,” explained Bell.

Since implementing this AI tool, customers have become more engaged with both promotional and transactional emails, leading to increased sales. Additionally, it has helped minimize backend tasks, saving the team ample time they’ve reallocated.

“We used to use randomly selected bestsellers from the last 90 days for the transactional emails, and since making AI-driven recommendations, we've seen a 200% increase in revenue. The AI recommendations have also allowed us to automate many of our email campaigns, with the AI-driven recommendation emails becoming our highest-grossing emails on average (about 20% better than our next best email type), saving the team a great deal of time and driving more revenue,” remarked Bell. 

Enhanced search capabilities

In addition to using Google Cloud for Retail to create personalized emails, Bell also uses it to enhance UntilGone's search functionality. This feature provides shoppers browsing UntilGone’s site with custom recommendations based on their search history.

This tailored search functionality also helps Bell automate recommendations based on each shopper's demographic. Since they have a wide range of customers, showing products that align with Gen Z or Baby Boomer preferences can further encourage sales.

“The search functionality actually produces a bigger ROI than the personalized email recommendations, especially because we have a wide demographic in our customer base,” explained Bell. “A Gen Z shopper isn't necessarily going to want the same product mix that a retiree would want. When you have a broad range of shoppers, having an AI tool that automates recommendations is very valuable.”

The final word

Embracing new technologies is the key to improving your online business in today’s digital-first landscape. With the competition fiercer than ever, being adaptable and taking advantage of innovative tools can set you apart from other online brands.

Thankfully, BigCommerce’s freedom and flexibility enables brands to integrate outside tools and grow their business with the latest technological innovations.

Learn more about UntilGone’s success on BigCommerce and explore how the platform’s suite of AI-powered tools can boost your business.