Meta announces AI-powered ad tools to enhance e-commerce advertising

Meta has officially announced new tools to help e-commerce and retail businesses for various purposes.

Among the launched tools is “omnichannel ads,” which enables advertisers to show ads that highlight nearby locations to people most likely to shop in-store.

The company recently hosted Meta Marketing Summit E-Commerce Edition to throw light on the emerging trends in the e-commerce space in India.

Meta Director of E-commerce and Retail Vertical, Meghna Apparao stated, “E-commerce and retail are witnessing a material shift in India driven by more offline retail brands reaching customers online, quick commerce continuing to grow rapidly, and online shopping in tier-2 and tier-3 markets continuing to accelerate."

She continued, "While AI-powered personalization and discovery, Reels and creators, and messaging have already unlocked immense value for the e-commerce and retail brands"

"Meta’s continued thrust on innovative ad tools for the sector is going to prove pivotal for its growth, enabling brands to create impactful shopping experiences and deliver on business outcomes that matter most to them," Meghna added.

Retail brands with offline store presence that implement omnichannel strategies are expected to gain the most from omnichannel ads.

Meta is also introducing a new optimisation that allows its ads system to display additional products from the catalogue when promoting a preferred product set with the AI-powered Advantage+ catalogue ads.

To note, Meta will continue to explore new features including using Gen AI to place clothing on virtual models.