IT Home Executive: Most E-commerce Apps Lack Native AI Interaction
According to IT Home, the vast majority of e-commerce and instant retail apps currently lack native AI interaction capabilities, suppressing customers' genuine consumption demands.
The majority of e-commerce and instant retail applications lack native artificial intelligence interaction, hindering consumers from fully expressing their purchasing needs, according to IT Home.
Speaking at the 2026 China Internet Conference on July 8, Jia Jia, Senior Vice President of Taobao Shanguo, stated that instant retail differs fundamentally from traditional retail through immediate demand, swift fulfillment, and localized supply. Consumers in this sector typically expect delivery within 30 to 60 minutes.
The instant retail market is experiencing rapid growth, projected to surpass one trillion yuan in 2025 and exceed two trillion yuan by 2030. However, current interaction models within the industry are limited. Many apps restrict users to simple keyword searches, preventing the articulation of complex or scenario-based demands.
Jia Jia highlighted that Taobao Shanguo, in collaboration with Qianwen, launched a dedicated AI agent for instant retail during the recent Spring Festival. Within a week, AI-driven orders exceeded 100 million, indicating a shift towards more complex, conditional purchasing requests. The AI is now capable of understanding nuanced scenarios and completing orders, transforming the service from a mere product search tool into a comprehensive consumer task handler.