Oscar Levi on E-commerce, AI and Agencies

This is a translation of the above interview

Henry
Look from e-commerce, AI impact and agencies, to experience for yourself what it’s like in this development. And I’m very happy to have Oscar Levi here, who I’ve known for a long time. How nice of you to be here, Oscar, to go through these three questions together. Can you introduce yourself briefly first, Oscar?

Oscar
Yes, I can. Thank you very much, Henry. My name is Oscar Levi. I am Head of Media Commerce at media agency Stroom and have been working there for 11 years. I am looking forward to the interview.

Henry
Very good. Thank you, Oscar. You already have a lot of experience in this field and have been through a lot. E-commerce is also changing. What developments do you see taking place in this market?

Oscar
Yes, the development we have all been talking about for a long time is personalisation. I think with the development of AI, we are going to get better and better at that, especially to bring offline personalisation to online. I have a nice example of that myself. I experienced this I think 15 years ago. I was walking down the Kalverstraat looking for new shoes. What I loved was that I entered Footlocker and the first thing that happened was that someone came up to me and said, ‘Oh, how good that you’re here! What kind of shoes are you looking for?’ Then you say, ‘Yes, the latest, hippest Nike’s.’ And then that person says, ‘Oh, come with me. You have these and these. This red one just came out and that blue one you should try on. What’s your size? I’ll go and get some.’ That experience has always stayed with me. How can you bring that online? You do some advertising, you get to a website, and then? You might see another carousel of offers, but that whole experience of ‘good you’re there’ and ‘this is what suits you’ is something you might now be able to pull off with AI.

Henry
Wow, yes. That’s a great image, that Footlocker example. I can totally picture you walking in that shop on Kalverstraat. You also hint at what AI could do in that. Do you see any other ways AI could impact e-commerce, specifically for personalisation, Oscar?

Oscar
Yes, absolutely. It’s about forming a website that can analyse a visitor’s behaviour. But I’ll just say something crazy: if I see you in the picture so well now, I could also see on Footlocker.co.uk a person who speaks to me and who might know me a little bit. Or who has access to my online data, such as my behaviour on social media. That person might then say, ‘Well, you’ll love these shoes.’

Henry
Wonderful, yes. A very nice vision. Do you think people will also take the step to share that data?

Oscar
Yes, that’s funny, isn’t it. People have no problem just giving that to an American platform. Maybe if you get a 5% discount on your shoes, that’s not a problem. Convenience is also important, of course. This does make it very easy. It’s always interesting to see how you can show media data in 10 or 25 years. If you could give that data to Footlocker and they say, ‘Well, you should just go and put these shoes on,’ then you feel unique. They are hip and trendy and suit you.

Henry
That’s right, yes. Nice. What role do you see for agencies in this changing impact of e-commerce and AI?

Oscar
I’m really talking about e-commerce now. How can I get more sales on my website and better conversion rates? From the media agency point of view, we are of course buying media. That’s a good question. If we look at collecting data and setting up reporting, there is quite a bit of repetitive work in that. A lot of automation and improvements can come with AI. Also in how we as a media agency collect data ourselves. How cool would it be if I have a chatbot from an operator, for example Funda, that can help me link IDs to my account, to my Facebook account, of people looking for certain flats in a certain price range? And that I get that back, that it is linked to my Facebook account, and that I immediately set up my campaign on that and move on. That way I can collect data very quickly without having to make a call. I can just get it in, link it to the system and go on like that. I think making data available, of course according to all the privacy rules, and getting data from different operators faster, allows us to find creative solutions. I see that as the role of a media agency. But the operators also need to open up to that. On the other hand, Google and Facebook also work a bit like that.

Henry
Nicely said, yes. Your work then also becomes much more fun, I think. Much more creative and strategic.

Oscar
Yes, and especially much faster. There are more opportunities to work with data faster. In the end, data is still something vague for everyone: what should I do with it? I believe that as a kind of operator, or with chatbots, you can ask questions like: ‘Give me this and that data,’ but not in code language, but just in the language I also use in conversations. How about if I, you know? What do you have for me? Can I link this data to my Facebook account? This is my login and I can do it for me, so to speak. And that that just happens and I can move on.

Henry
Wait a minute, yes, thank you. Nice development you outline. That personalisation is becoming very important, even on the front end of e-commerce sites, and that’s going to be possible. With data, there’s a lot more power in making the right segmentations and offers. The two, I think, will also come together.

Oscar
Yes, I think there’s a development there that could maybe take place with AI. But Henry, I really like to be surprised by all your insights on what else can be done.

Henry
Very good. Thank you Oscar, for this great interview.

Oscar
It was very nice talking to you.