MasterCard Unveils Generative AI Chatbot to Help You Shop On

Photo by: Ron Mcclenny on Unsplash

MasterCard had decided to launch its Shopping Muse generative artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot assistant for e-commerce that aims to assist consumers in searching for and discovering products in a retailer’s digital catalogue.

On November 30, 2023, the company revealed the AI system in a blog post, stating it is a digital personalisation and AI subsidiary of MasterCard. Dynamic Yield by MasterCard, Shopping Muse is meant to recreate the in-store human experience by translating consumers’ colloquial language into tailored products and accessories.

Overview

According to Dynamic Yield by MasterCard, consumers can use Shopping Muse to translate colloquial language into discovering products on a tailored digital catalogue. Shopping Muse is designed to explore modern trending looks, dress codes, aesthetics and unconventional search terms such as beach formal or cottagecore. 

Dynamic Yield by MasterCard, Sri Bauer said, “Personalisation gives people the shopping experiences they want, and AI-driven innovation is the key to unlocking immersive and tailored online shopping”. Bauer added, “By harnessing the power of generative AI in Shopping Muse, we’re meeting the consumer’s standards and making shopping smarter and more seamless than ever”.

Dynamic Yield by MasterCard

Shopping Muse is powered by Dynamic Yield, a personalisation platform and decision engine that MasterCard acquired in April 2022 from then-owner McDonald's. MasterCard rebranded Dynamic Yield after the acquisition, and the company has offices around the globe, including New York, Tokyo, Barcelona, Riga and Tel Aviv. According to reports, Dynamic Yield helps over 400 brands across various industries. It delivers individualised product recommendations, offers and content based on multiple factors such as past page views, customer affinity profile information, AI algorithms and past purchases.

On April 5 2022, during the acquisition of Dynamic Yield, the President of Data and Services at MasterCard, Raj Seshadri, commented on the issue. Seshadri said, “Every day, we safely connect billions of people with their favourite merchants, brands and banks worldwide. Undoubtedly, consumers are hungry for highly relevant, right-place, right-time experiences.

”. Seshadri added, “We’re delighted to welcome the talented Dynamic Yield team to MasterCard. Together, we’ll extend our consumer engagement services to meet that demand and help more brands create stronger connections across channels”. Bauer said, “Together with MasterCard, we can put the notion of one-size-fits-all marketing in the rearview for good. Consumers are seeking truly personalised experience, and brands that don’t adapt risk being left behind”.

How Shopping Muse functions

Shopping Muse was built with Israeli company Dynamic Yield’s deep personalisation capabilities; it is a generative AI tool that helps consumers search for and discover products in a retailer’s digital catalogue. Generative AI systems, like DALL-E and OpenAI’s ChatGPT, are designed to convert colloquial user commands into audio, text, video or even computer code. 

The solution translates consumer requests through a Chatbot into tailored product recommendations, including suggestions for coordinating products and accessories. It builds on the conversation context over time and can recommend products visually similar to others based on image recognition, even if technical tags are missing. Shopping Muse considered past purchases and browsing history to estimate future buying intent by suggesting items that are complementary, not redundant, but based on the consumer’s affinity and broader collective behaviour.

Benefits of using Shopping Muse

MasterCard has shared several Shopping Muse offers for both consumers and retailers, such as:

Saving time and effort: Shopping Muse reduces the risk of buying the wrong item while making it easier to discover new products.

Enhancing customer satisfaction and loyalty: It provides a more personalised and engaging shopping experience by helping consumers find relevant products. Shopping Muse strengthens the relationship between consumers and retailers by increasing the likelihood of repeat purchases and referrals.

Boosting sales and revenue: Shopping Muse increases traffic and conversions to the retailers’ websites and improves order value. Retailers are also awarded the opportunity to showcase their products and services while differentiating them from the competition.

The Future of Shopping with AI

The move by MasterCard shows how determined it is to provide more value beyond the transaction while helping its customers and partners grow their businesses, engage their customers, and make smarter decisions across the enterprise. Shopping Muse is an example of how AI is transforming the retail industry and how it can create new challenges and opportunities for consumers and retailers.

Experts at Bitcoin Apex website mentioned that by 2025, 80% of consumer interactions will be managed by AI. A recent report by McKinsey predicts that AI will create $400-660 billion in value for the retail industry. AI also poses social and ethical issues, such as security, privacy, transparency, bias and accountability, which must be addressed and regulated.

MasterCard has collaborated with Feedzai, an AI firm specialising in financial fraud detection. Feedzai’s software will be integrated with MasterCard’s proprietary security stack. This move by MasterCard to launch Shopping Muse generative artificial intelligence shows how determined it is to move with time.