AI is Changing Your Shopper Journey With Chris Perry of Firstmovr - Episode 407

Ecommerce Braintrust

Today, we’re joined by a familiar voice and a musically inclined CPG thought leader: Chris Perry of firstmovr. He’s spent the last several months educating brands on how to prepare for a new age of product discovery and conversion paths with the dawn of AI-enabled search.

We’re thrilled to have him back to share key insights and practical takeaways from his recent trainings.

Tune in to find out more!

KEY TAKEAWAYS

In this episode, Julie, Jordan, and Chris discuss:

• The Changing Digital Shelf: How the digital shelf continues to evolve rapidly and the growing importance of frictionless and personalized shopping experiences driven by AI.

• Personal Experiences with AI Search: How tools like Rufus and ChatGPT are influencing their own shopping behaviors.

• Choice Paralysis and AI Solutions: Choice overload for consumers and how agentic AI tools can curate and simplify decision-making, much like a “Costco experience” for endless online assortments.

• Training and Transition for Brands: Chris details the challenge of bringing legacy organizations up to speed, highlighting the need to expand skillsets from basic e-commerce “math” to effectively leveraging AI “calculator” tools.

• Brand Case Studies and Shopper Journeys: Through real shopping scenarios (e.g., searching for whitening toothpaste for sensitive teeth), Chris explains how AI-driven search results can differ from traditional ones, urging brands to rethink content strategy and optimization.

• Prompting and Shopper-Centric Content: Tips for brands to analyze and adapt to AI tools’ pre-filled questions and dynamic prompts, which often reveal emerging shopper concerns and influence purchase considerations.

• Practical Optimization Insights: Actionable steps brands can take, such as focusing on clear, shopper-centric product content and continually testing how products show up in AI-influenced search environments.

• Looking Ahead: The future convergence of search and AI, predicting that the lines between “search bar” and “AI assistant” will soon blur, fundamentally changing shopper expectations.

• Tips for Brands: Brands are encouraged to treat the digital shelf as an ongoing process, not a project, and to use practical experimentation, shopper empathy, and iterative optimization to stay ahead.

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

Connect with Chris Perry

Learn more about firstmovr

Connect with our host, Julie Spear

Connect with our host, Jordan Ripley

Learn more about Acadia