How can Amazon benefit from NLP?

Amazon handles nearly 10,000 orders a minute, fulfilling shoppers’ requirements around the globe for everything from air fryers to zero-gravity chairs and everything in between. 

This A to Z approach has helped the global conglomerate to centralize itself as the destination for online shopping. 

That being said, Amazon could further develop its customer centric through the development of an NLP chatbot solution.

What is NLP?

Natural language processing (NLP) is a machine learning technology that allows computers to interpret and understand human language. The technology already has widespread adoption in many industries, such as within search engines and for virtual assistants.

How does Amazon currently use AI?

Amazon currently uses AI in a variety of different ways, helping to enhance the customer experience, streamline logistics and optimize the massive online marketplace. 

According to McKinsey research, 35 percent of sales on Amazon derive from product suggestions made by the predictive models and recommendation engines. 

These suggestions are curated by cross referencing the user’s purchase and search history with those of the aggregated data of similar customers.

Amazon’s Alexa already utilizes natural language processing to enable it to understand and respond with voice commands, as well as controlling smart devices. 

Alexa’s responses are personalized to the user's behavior and preferences. 

The American e-commerce giant does also utilize chatbots across their operations already, however these are primarily targeted towards helping resolve customer queries, process orders and provide support.

An NLP-powered production recommendation chatbot

As of 2024, Amazon lists over 350 million products on its platform. Trying to find an individual item can be difficult, especially if you do not have a clear idea of what you are looking for. When searching for a present for someone, often the user will be browsing through the different categories trying to find inspiration for the perfect gift. 

That’s where an NLP chatbot could come in, helping to answer queries such as:

“What present should I buy my 10 year old niece, I have a $50 budget”

Or

“I need a skincare product that is gentle on my face”

An added bonus to Amazon’s potential adoption of NLP is the extensive customer reviews on the product pages. 

Through the use of sentiment analysis, the general tone, emotions and opinions expressed within these reviews can be analyzed and used for the purpose of product recommendations. 

At present, users can filter products based on a simple rating system, showing the highest rating first. 

Through the further adoption of NLP, this rating system could be replaced by a chatbot that enables users to input their priorities, such as good build quality or value for money. 

Then, the chatbot would analyze the product reviews to identify which of the listings best matches the user’s expressed preferences.

Is it feasible?

Yes, a chatbot virtual assistant that can suggest products from textual instructions involving customer reviews is certainly feasible. 

NetGeist offers custom solutions involving NLP and personalized chatbots. If you have an idea of how NLP could help your organization, get in touch.