What’s it about?
Germany’s largest online retailer, Otto, is implementing artificial intelligence to fundamentally change the digital shopping experience. With an AI assistant based on Google Gemini, customers can express their product wishes in natural language or search via image recognition. The system is intended to make online shopping as intuitive as a personal consultation in a brick-and-mortar store, while simultaneously reducing the number of returns.
Background & Context
The AI-powered search function at Otto goes far beyond classic keyword searches. The assistant processes contextual queries and understands colloquial phrasing as well as dialectal nuances. Users can find products via the smartphone camera by uploading photos or screenshots. The system asks targeted follow-up questions to capture needs more precisely and generate tailored suggestions from an assortment of more than 18 million items.
Alongside the shopping assistant, Otto has developed a second AI helper for customer service. This one processes queries about deliveries, invoices, and returns automatically, with the aim of significantly reducing waiting times. The strategic focus on mobile devices is consistent: around 85 percent of access to the Otto shop now takes place via smartphones or tablets. Through improved advisory quality and more precise product recommendations, the company hopes to reduce incorrect purchases and thereby lower the return rate.
In the long term, Otto plans to build a comprehensive AI ecosystem that accompanies the entire purchasing process — from the initial product idea through to aftercare. This transformation fits into a broader development in e-commerce where personalized, data-driven shopping experiences are increasingly becoming the standard.
What does this mean?
- Customers can search for products via natural language or image recognition, particularly improving the mobile user experience
- The AI accesses extensive product data, reviews, and descriptions to generate individual recommendations
- Automated customer service through AI reduces waiting times for standard queries about deliveries and returns
- More precise advice is intended to reduce incorrect purchases and thereby lower the return rate — an important factor for sustainability and profitability
- Otto is positioning itself as a pioneer in AI integration in German e-commerce and could thereby set standards for the industry
Sources
How Otto is revolutionizing online shopping with AI (Computerwoche)
From catalog to AI shopping: Otto drives new retail revolution (Wirtschaft TV)
To an AI assistant in two weeks (Otto Group)
E-Commerce: How Otto uses generative AI for the transformation of online retail (Horizont)
This article was created with AI and is based on the cited sources and the language model’s training data.