Regardless of what industry you find yourself talking about, the words “artificial intelligence” are bound to be mentioned at some point of the conversation, especially if you’re speaking with someone who is technology-inclined. And the high level of attention that is accorded to this technology is rightly given. It could probably be, after all, one of the most disruptive technologies of our time since the first car, which ended up replacing horse-drawn carriages.
Because artificial intelligence is such a popular topic, some of you may be here out of curiosity. So, for the sake of those who aren’t as well-versed in web development as our usual audience, I’m going to give a brief introduction on some of the key concepts involved.
What is a Content Management System?
A content management system is a set of programs, or a single software application, that is used to create and organize digital content. A few worthy mentions are Asana, WordPress, Drupal, and of course, Joomla!. A CMS is what makes the life of a web developer much easier because it practically eliminates the need for expert knowledge on the various programming languages in order to produce a professionally-made website.
The use of a CMS is highly recommended for web development beginners and those who have neither the time or the patience to learn the intricacies of web development.
What Exactly is Joomla?
Joomla! is an open-source content management system (CMS) that is used for creating various web content. It is one of the most popular content management systems due in large part to the plethora of features that it boasts. These features include: multi-language support, page caching, and the availability of plugins and extensions.
This particular CMS also removes the technical aspect of creating and managing websites. Because of this, Joomla! is not just user-friendly, but more importantly, it is flexible. As a general rule, web developers are free to choose their preferred CMS based on whichever suits them best. It’s really a matter of personal preference.
But if one looks at the purpose for which the CMS is to be used, then it becomes clear that WordPress is utilized for blogs and Joomla! is more for eCommerce.
Why Would I Want a Smart Joomla eCommerce Website?
Aside from the fact that it’s where the whole field of technology is headed (AI integration for almost everything), the smart eCommerce website is apt to net you a number of advantages that could effectively boost your sales. These advantages come in the form of personalization, organization, optimization, recognition, and conversation.
Personalization
There’s just a certain value to personalized things. In similar fashion that a bespoke suit is more flattering than an off-the-rack garment, and has a higher perceived value to the person wearing it, any and all types of content that are geared toward a particular person have a direct impact on the user. In fact, modern SEO places a huge emphasis on content that is deemed relevant to the user — what can be more relevant to a person than that which is personalized? So, apart from relationship-building purposes, an AI-driven website is also bound to get indexed more favourably.
In the digital marketing field, businesses that are able to present optimized content are more likely to gain loyal customers because of the convenience of getting things set up for you. This also benefits the people on the other side of the equation (the website handlers) in that AI will be able to take note of usage patterns and apply them whenever necessary, thereby reducing the number of processes that one has to go through to get things done. One such example can be found when setting up themes for particular categories, and the items that are under those categories. The AI simply recognizes the pattern and applies it to all items that fall within the selected category.
Organization
Speaking of categories, another instance when AI would be advantageous is when it comes to organizing and curating content. Context can be derived from text clusters, and artificial intelligence will be able to sort content from there on out.
AI can also be used in the auditing process, where human error is a real problem. Not only would audits be more accurate, but they would also be performed more efficiently.
Recognition
One of the first uses of AI was to help improve the quality of pictures that were taken by smartphone cameras. This is achieved through the ability of the smartphone camera’s software, wherein artificial intelligence has been built-in. The artificial intelligence is able to detect various factors in a particular shot. It considers things like background, lighting, object distance, etc in order to select the best settings for a particular shot.
Well, the ability of AI to recognize images can be used to the benefit of website owners. Many times, the search for proper images can be time-consuming, given copyright laws and terms and conditions. Content managers have to manually search for media from various sources. What if you could skip this tedious process altogether by having AI do it for you?
Conversation
This isn’t something that’s new — chatbots have been around for quite some time — and smart assistants such as Google’s Google Assistant, Apple’s Siri, Amazon’s Alexa, and Samsung’s Bixby have all been accepted as standard.
The most important aspect to focus on here is the integration of text-to-speech technology into content management systems as well as the ability to enable users to make effective use of voice commands to navigate your eCommerce site.
Why is this important? Simple.
About 75% of people with physical disabilities still make use of computers according to a study conducted by Forrester University. By creating a voice-command enabled eCommerce website, these people are going to be able to browse and make purchases more easily. This, in itself, is a win-win because these customers are able to order the things that they want and your business nets additional sales.
Apart from allowing visually-impaired customers to interact with your site, text-to-speech technology also has the potential to improve how you’re able to present your brand to your potential customers. There’s a reason why children love having stories read to them — with artificial intelligence, the voice reading out text can be made to sound more human-like than ever, just enough to convince an audience that they are indeed, listening to a human.
