Mastercard is set to introduce an innovative AI-powered shopping tool named "Shopping Muse," aimed at providing users with highly personalized product recommendations. Developed in collaboration with Dynamic Yield, a personalization company acquired by Mastercard in April 2022, Shopping Muse seeks to transform the way customers explore and discover products within a retailer's digital catalog. The tool is adept at understanding colloquial language, deciphering modern trends such as "cottagecore" or "beach formal," and responding to user queries like, "What should I wear for a summer wedding?" or "Can you recommend pieces for a minimalist capsule wardrobe?"

To generate personalized suggestions, Shopping Muse analyzes the context of the user's shopping experience, direct inquiries, and the content of the conversation. Leveraging data from the retailer's product catalog and the shopper's on-site behavior, including clicks and added items to carts, the algorithms also consider real-time and known consumer preferences. For users who are logged in, past purchase and browsing history, both online and in-person, may be factored in. The tool's capabilities extend beyond text-based queries, as it utilizes advanced image recognition tools to recommend visually similar products even when users struggle to articulate their search criteria.

While initially focusing on the fashion sector, Mastercard envisions the potential expansion of Shopping Muse into other categories like furniture and grocery. Ori Bauer, CEO of Dynamic Yield by Mastercard, emphasized the significance of AI-driven innovation in providing consumers with tailored online shopping experiences, stating, "By harnessing the power of generative AI in Shopping Muse, we're meeting the consumer's standards and making shopping smarter and more seamless than ever."

Mastercard underscores the importance for retailers to adapt to changing demands by embracing technology, highlighting that more than one in four retailers already utilize generative AI solutions, with an additional 13% planning adoption within the next year. The release of Shopping Muse adds to the growing landscape of generative AI shopping tools, joining initiatives from tech giants like Google and Microsoft. As Gartner predicts a widespread adoption of generative AI technology in customer service and support organizations by 2025, the emergence of similar tools is anticipated in the future.