Artificial intelligence is shaping the future of online commerce. One of the most underpublicized trends is the growing role of AI in peer to peer marketplaces. AI is beginning to solve a number of the most pressing challenges in the shared economy industry.
The Evolving Role of AI in Peer to Peer Marketplaces
The online shopping experience has changed remarkably over the past decade. One of the biggest changes has been the sudden popularity of peer to peer marketplaces. A recent study by PWC shows that the market for peer to peer platforms will rise to $355 billion by 2025.
As the growth of peer to peer marketplaces accelerates, some of the shortcomings are becoming more widely understood. A growing number of peer to peer platforms are turning to artificial intelligence to solve these challenges. Some of the problems that AI can solve include:
- Helping inexperienced sellers set the right prices for their listings
- Detecting and eliminating spam
- Removing sellers that use misleading information in their listings
- Matching customers with the most appropriate listings
The potential applications of AI are virtually endless. AI will become more important to peer-to-peer platforms as it is more impregnated into their business models. Entrepreneurs aspiring to build a peer to peer marketplace must consider hiring highly qualified AI programmers to have a competitive edge.
Prominent peer to peer marketplaces that are left are ageing artificial intelligence
The most promising peer-to-peer e-commerce platforms are utilizing AI to improve their services to both sellers and buyers. Here are some compelling examples of digital marketplaces that are being transformed with AI.
Facebook marketplace
Facebook has developed one of the most popular peer-to-peer e-commerce platforms on the Internet. Over 800 million people use the marketplace every month.
Artificial intelligence has played an important role in the new Facebook Marketplace. Facebook originally used AI to combat fake news and spam. However, its AI technology is proving to be even more valuable with its marketplace. There are a number of ways that artificial intelligence is transforming Facebook Marketplace.
The most cutting-edge application of AI on the Facebook Marketplace is with automated pricing suggestions. When sellers list a product, the platform will automatically recommend a price for the listing. Facebook has not disclosed the variables that its AI Technology uses for pricing suggestions. However, it likely includes the following:
- The location of the seller
- The probability of a product selling at a given price, based on previous listings
- The average time it takes for a similar product to be sold at various prices
- The general condition of the item
Many people have difficulty setting the best possible price for products. Facebook has made it much easier for them with its new artificial intelligence technology.
Airbnb
Airbnb is one of the brands that led to the birth of the sharing economy. The company’s unique concept helped it get off the ground. However, Airbnb would not have been able to retain market share without investing in innovative AI solutions.
Airbnb has discovered a number of ways to utilize artificial intelligence. In fact, the company has an entire blog on Medium dedicated solely to its AI technology. Airbnb has used machine learning to help rank property listings. The machine learning algorithms look at both the number of clicks that a listing receives, as well as the ratio of clicks to bookings. AI algorithms use this data to determine the popularity of various property listings and recommend similar ones to customers using the Airbnb search engine.
Airbnb is also using AI-assisted computer vision to look for discrepancies between listed amenities and the actual property. The artificial intelligence algorithms behind these tools are able to identify specific objects in a photo and see if they match the details of the features listed. Machine learning technology is helping Airbnb filter out listings with misleading information.
AI is the Future of Peer-to-Peer Marketplaces
Peer-to-peer marketplaces are using AI to significantly improve their business models. They have found that it is ideal for selling products more efficiently and combating fraudulent listings. New AI applications will probably be developed in the near future.
