Byte-Sized AI is a bi-weekly column that covers all things artificial intelligence—from startup funding, to newly inked partnerships, to just-launched, AI-powered capabilities from major retailers, software providers and supply chain players.
Target debuts AI-powered holiday shopping tools
The Minnesota-based retailer announced earlier this month that it had launched several holiday-inspired AI tools for shoppers.
To make gifting for children and young adults easier, Target launched Bullseye Gift Finder, which uses simple questions about the recipient to recommend a variety of gifts that suit their age, interests or needs. The company did not immediately make clear how the system works in the background, but it’s likely to be run on a recommender system, which uses machine learning and data to suggest the most relevant products to users, paired with generative AI. In this case, part of the data used for decisioning comes directly from the user, though other correlations are being made behind the scenes.
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Target joins a variety of other retailers and marketplaces, like Etsy and Walmart, in helping shoppers up their gifting game this holiday season. The Bullseye Gift Finder isn’t the only way it’s leveraging AI this year; it also announced that it has begun “experimenting” with its Virtual Shopping Assistant tool, powered in part by generative AI.
The feature can be used on a variety of product listings—all Target-owned brands at present—to answer consumers’ questions about the item they’re browsing. For instance, a consumer might ask the assistant, “Will this garment shrink when I wash it?” or “Does this shirt run small or large?” and receive an answer.
Alibaba launches Pic Copilot, a seller listing tool
Alibaba announced early this month that it had released a seller-focused listing tool for its small and medium-sized merchants, who may have fewer resources at their disposal than larger brands and retailers.
The tool, which it calls Pic Copilot, has a variety of capabilities for multiple product categories, including fashion and apparel.
“Pic Copilot features 12 user-friendly, one-click advanced AI design tools aimed at making tasks such as swapping image backgrounds, perfecting images and videos, conducting virtual try-ons, and generating ads a hassle-free experience,” the company noted in its announcement of the tool.
Pic Copilot’s capabilities mirror those of some Amazon seller tools that have been unveiled in 2023 and 2024.
According to the Pic Copilot site, the tool has already shown promising outcomes for sellers testing it out. Alibaba notes that, to date, the tool has helped sellers see nearly an 8 percent increase in product clickthrough rate, a 79 percent decrease in marketing design spend, and over a 50 percent increase in conversion.
Resale technology company scores additional investment
UK-based startup Truss announced that it has secured £300,00 from FIGR Ventures, adding to existing funding and grants. FIGR Ventures is also a new player on the block, and Truss marks its first portfolio investment.
Truss works to build what Woody Lello, its CEO and co-founder, calls “digital backbone for the future of fashion resale.” That’s because Truss uses AI to decrease the amount of time needed to classify and identify products being sold secondhand.
The technology can help close the gap on poor or incomplete product data that makes discoverability more difficult for consumers, consequently resulting in lower sales for resellers and secondhand marketplace platforms. It can identify the color, category, print, likely search terms, SKU number and more about each product run through its system, which can then be easily used to enrich a product’s listing on a resale marketplace site.
The startup has been actively seeking funding to match a £1.1 million Innovate UK grant it received; securing that same amount of funding from investors will allow the grant money to be activated, per Tech EU. Prior to FIGR’s investment Truss had secured £345,000.
Lello said that despite its newness, FIGR is the perfect partner for Truss.
“FIGR has been an incredible investment partner for TRUSS, providing critical match-funding for our Innovate UK grant, as well as invaluable support. Their dedication and belief in our mission have been instrumental in advancing our technology and driving innovation forward,” he said in a statement.
Perry Ellis teams with Syte for product recs
Perry Ellis announced this week it has partnered with Syte, which uses recommendation engines to share the most relevant products with shoppers on a brand’s site.
The company’s technology has been trained on billions of individual customer interactions on apparel-focused e-commerce sites. As a result of that training, the engine can predict what a customer might want to see next—or instead, which can prevent them from navigating away if they encounter out of stocks on certain items.
Other Syte customers in the fashion and apparel spaces include fast-fashion purveyor PrettyLittleThing, luxury brand Prada and retailer Farfetch.
Jay Nigrelli, executive vice president of direct to consumer at Perry Ellis, said the technology provider has already produced impressive results for the menswear brand.
“Syte’s recommendation engine has been a game-changer for us,” Nigrelli said in a statement. “Our customers can find what they’re looking for faster, and we’re seeing measurable improvements in metrics like average order value and customer satisfaction. This partnership allows us to offer an intuitive, enjoyable shopping experience, and we look forward to deepening our relationship with Syte as we continue to innovate.”
According to Syte, Perry Ellis has already seen significant movement on conversion rates, average order values and average revenue per user. AOV alone has lifted by 16 percent since the outset of the companies’ partnership.
