"While the results were clear that sales were much higher when actual people were involved, the question of why remained. By testing AI streamers that looked and sounded different, study researchers found more realistic avatars-which behaved more like humans, with more human-sounding voices-made a real difference in what people bought. In fact, one key factor made the most difference: The avatar's ability to answer questions in real time increased sales by 25%, for an 86% rise in revenue."
"(That's not all: Surprisingly, adding a lottery to the livestream-where viewers could win prizes-helped increase sales by another 17%, boosting revenue 70%.) "Only enhanced real-time Q&A interactions allowed the digital streamers to achieve sales performances on par with human streamers," Wang concluded, suggesting quicker, interactive engagement is a key driver of sales, and that the best approach to selling online may be a mix of human and AI elements."
Sales data from e-commerce site Tmall.com compared 328 products across human-streamed, AI-streamed, and no-streamer conditions. Human streamers produced substantially higher sales than AI-powered digital streamers or no streamers. More realistic avatars with human-like behavior and voices increased purchase likelihood. The avatar ability to answer questions in real time raised sales by 25%, producing an 86% revenue increase. Adding a livestream lottery increased sales by 17% and boosted revenue by 70%. Only enhanced, real-time Q&A enabled digital streamers to reach sales parity with human streamers. Faster, interactive engagement appears to be a key driver, and a hybrid human–AI approach may work best.
Read at Fast Company
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