Running a successful Shopify store takes a lot of work: product creation, shipping, marketing, security, and more. The good news is that AI tools have arrived to make life easier for Shopify store owners. Take one of these AI apps for a test drive and see if it meets your needs.
The Top 8 Must-Have AI Tools For Shopify
1) CreatorKit
- Free Trial Available: there is a free plan available (subject to usage and feature limitations)
- Notable Features and Integrations: Shopify integration, background creation, and removal.
Presenting your products with the right photos and videos is essential to lifting conversions. CreatorKit is an AI-powered tool that makes it easier to create photos and videos. The app, released in 2021, also includes multiple templates to create images faster.
While focused on Shopify, CreatorKit images suit social media platforms like TikTok. Paid plans include real-time chat support for customers, while the free plan offers email-only support.
2) Octane AI: Advanced Quiz Maker
- Free Trial Available: A free trial and three pricing plans are available. The higher tier plans allow you to customize CSS, product display and offer insights based on product reviews.
- Notable Features and Integrations: The app integrates with Shopify, Klaviyo, and Zapier.
Launched in 2018, Octane AI is one of the older AI solutions on the Shopify platform. The app is designed to recommend products by using quizzes. The app can offer more specific product suggestions by asking prospects a series of questions. In addition to increasing purchases, users report that Octane AI increases email opt-ins.
3) ChatGPT
- Free Trial Available: there is a free version and a paid version available.
- Notable Features and Integrations: ChatGPT is a general-purpose AI tool capable of answering questions, solving math problems, creating some programming code, and other functions.
ChatGPT, offered by OpenAI, was the first generative AI to see widespread use. While not explicitly created for Shopify, it can be a helpful tool for those willing to invest some time in experimentation.
For example, you can describe the features of your product (e.g., red shirt, large size, cotton, made in the USA, etc) and ask ChatGPT to create an engaging description. After a few back-and-forth iterations, you are more likely to get a helpful response. Experiment with providing additional context, such as “most of our customers are single women aged 18-25 who live in metropolitan areas in the United States,” to see if that provides greater context.
The true power of ChatGPT for Shopify unlocks when you pay for the paid plan (i.e., ChatGPT Plus). The paid plan is notably more powerful because it was trained on a more extensive data set. In addition, you get access to new features faster, like the ability to collaborate with others in a Chat GPT session. Currently, Chat GPT is focused on text chat and cannot be used to interact directly with your customers.
4) Arena Commerce AI
- Free Trial Available: Yes, you can start using it for free
- Notable Features and Integrations: Arena Commerce AI integrates with Shopify and WooCommerce.
Arena Commerce AI works on any website. Through a chat interface, the AI suggests products to your customers based on their interactions. For example, a clothing ecommerce website could use it to recommend accessories to complement a complete outfit.
Arena’s AI is customizable in several ways to provide a better experience. You can choose the size of responses – a great feature to remember with mobile users. Also, you can select the ‘temperature’ – meaning how strict (or creative!) you want the AI to be in its interactions.
5) Yodel ChatGPT Product Description
- Free Trial Available: There is a free plan available with a limited number of tokens per month.
- Notable Features and Integrations: increase your SEO traffic by using the app to create meta descriptions. The app also offers bulk features to create and edit many variations quickly.
Do you like the ChatGPT concept but want a solution that is more focused on Shopify? Yodel is an AI-powered copywriting assistant focused on product descriptions. In contrast to the open-ended nature of Chat GPT, Yodel has a narrow focus on helping you create product descriptions.
Like other generative AI tools, there is a learning curve to master Yodel. Reviewers report that it took them some time to experiment to produce useful results. It is also wise to create backups of your descriptions before using the app if you encounter unexpected problems.
6) InCharge
- Free Trial Available: there is a free trial available.
- Notable Features and Integrations: the app integrates with Shopify and significant online advertising platforms (Amazon, Facebook, Google, Snapchat and TikTok)
Much of the excitement in AI is focused on generative AI – using AI to create text, images, and other media. InCharge shows us that there is another way to use AI to grow your Shopify business: leveraging analytics.
Since the introduction of Apple iOS 14 in 2020, online marketing has been getting difficult. Without the tried and true way of tracking results, how are you supposed to decide which ads and marketing strategies to invest in? InCharge’s analytics technology uses AI to help Shopify stores increase their return on advertising spend (ROAS). The InCharge approach to analytics is special because it combines first-party data (What is first-party data?) and data from multiple platforms.
7) Translation Lab
- Free Trial Available: Translation Lab has a free plan.
- Notable Features and Integrations: The app’s supported languages include English, Danish, Dutch, Spanish, Swedish, French, Japanese, and Portuguese.
Opening your store to buyers in other countries (or who use different languages) was tremendous work. Translation Lab is about to make that easier! Launched in 2019, the app is based on Google’s neural machine translation technology. In addition to language translation, the app offers multi-currency support.
Machine translation is a helpful way to get a first draft. However, verifying the quality of translations before using them on your website is also wise. Otherwise, you might make mistakes and hurt your brand’s reputation.
8) Squirai AI SEO
- Free Trial Available: the app is free as of December 2023.
- Notable Features and Integrations: the ability to scan your website to detect images that lack an ALT text description.
Achieving success in Shopify SEO requires paying attention to countless details. One lesser-known way to improve your SEO results involves your images. For the best results, all of the images you use on your store should have ALT text – a short written description of the image. Writing and updating all of these image descriptions required a tremendous amount of work.
Squirai AI SEO is an AI resource focused on image processing and text creation. Put this app into action, and you’ll quickly be able to generate ALT text for all of your images.
How to Choose the Right AI Tools for Your Shopify Store
Selecting the best AI tools for your Shopify store involves considering several key factors:
Compatibility with Your Store
Ensure the AI tool integrates smoothly with Shopify to reduce technical issues and allow for a seamless user experience.
Functionality and Features
Identify your specific needs. Whether it’s improving customer service, personalizing product recommendations, or optimizing inventory management, choose a tool that aligns with your goals.
Ease of Use
Opt for tools with intuitive interfaces. A user-friendly design means you and your team can utilize the AI effectively without extensive training.
Scalability
Consider whether the AI solution can grow with your business and handle increased traffic and data without compromising performance.
Cost-Effectiveness
Evaluate the pricing structure to find a solution that fits your budget while offering the features you need, ensuring a good return on investment.
Customer Support
Reliable customer support is essential. Choose providers that offer timely assistance to address any issues that may arise.
Security and Compliance
Prioritize tools that protect customer data and comply with regulations. Robust security measures help maintain trust and meet legal requirements.
Common Challenges in Implementing AI Tools for Shopify
Implementing AI tools in your Shopify store can offer significant benefits but also presents several challenges. Understanding these obstacles is crucial to ensure smooth integration and maximize the tools’ effectiveness.
Integration Complexity
Integrating AI tools with your existing Shopify setup can be complex. Compatibility issues may arise, especially with customized themes or multiple third-party apps. Ensuring seamless integration requires careful planning and possibly technical expertise.
Data Privacy Concerns
AI tools often rely on collecting and analyzing user data to provide personalized experiences, raising data privacy concerns. It’s essential to ensure that any AI tool you implement complies with data protection laws to safeguard your customers’ information and maintain their trust.
Keep Your Audience Engaged With Arena
Growing your Shopify business is far easier when your customers keep returning to your website and staying engaged for long periods. Reach out to Arena today to discuss how you can use live chat, live blog, and other solutions to keep your audience engaged and growing so you can sell more products.
