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Product discovery and search in the age of AI
I’m Melina, a product marketing executive, DTC brand founder, and ecommerce enthusiast. I write a weekly newsletter, Curious Commerce, on fun ecommerce, consumer, and marketing topics. Subscribe to get the latest in your inbox.
In The Devil Wears Prada, Miranda Priestly, played by Meryl Streep, has an iconic monologue about the power of the fashion industry — exemplified by the cerulean sweater. She shares how a creative design decision made at a luxury fashion house — the decision to use a certain shade of blue — trickles down to the high street, where, without even choosing to, the average consumer participates in these trends.
I think a lot about how what we buy is shaped not only by creative decisions, but by financial ones. Namely, how brands spend money to ensure that our eyeballs see, consider, and ultimately buy their products. Advertising is nothing new, but the omnipresence and sophistication of marketing continues to increase. With the popularization of AI applications, the way we shop is once again changing.
When Google reorganizes their search results page and adds AI-driven summaries, the information we use to make purchase decisions will change. When Amazon uses AI-driven algorithms to order their search results, the things we buy will change. Like in The Devil Wears Prada, decisions made far removed from the everyday consumer trickle down and affect us profoundly, often without our knowledge.
This is Part I of a series related to the evolution of product search and discovery, focused on how AI is changing how we find what to buy - and how brands market to us.
How do we decide what to buy?
My favorite way to model how consumers purchase is McKinsey’s consumer decision journey.
