Major Tech Companies Using AI for Shopping
When it comes to shopping online, major tech companies are not just using AI to help you generate or summarize content — they are also utilizing it to enhance your shopping experience. OpenAI, Google, and Amazon have made significant investments in AI assistants that research new product categories for you and recommend the best products to buy.
Startups like Perplexity, Daydream, and Cherry have also entered the AI for product discovery space, leading to an increase in customers using AI for shopping. Onton, formerly known as Deft, is an AI-powered furniture shopping platform that has seen a substantial growth in its user base, with monthly active users soaring from 50,000 to over 2 million. The platform has served millions of searches and image generations, showcasing the increasing popularity of AI in the shopping realm.
Onton Raises $7.5 Million in Funding
To further fuel its growth, Onton recently announced a new funding round of $7.5 million led by Footwork, with participation from Liquid 2, Parable Ventures, and 43, among others. This funding round brings Onton’s total funding to approximately $10 million. The company plans to expand into new product categories such as apparel and consumer electronics with this new investment.
The company rebranded from Deft to Onton earlier this year to address confusion surrounding its original name and challenges in securing a premium domain. Co-founder Zack Hudson stated that while large language models are proficient at predicting probable intent, they have not completely addressed the issues in e-commerce. Onton uses neuro-symbolic architecture for its core technology, aiming to provide logical search results and eliminate the limitations of traditional LLMs.
How Onton’s AI Technology Works
Onton’s AI model leverages real-world information that may not be explicitly stated in a product description. For example, if you are looking for pet-friendly furniture, the platform’s tools can identify materials like polyester that make a product more stain and scratch-resistant, thus more suitable for pets. The platform’s AI can adapt to different product names across various sites and deliver accurate search results.
Onton offers various input methods and features to assist users in making informed decisions. Users can upload images or provide prompts to generate furniture recommendations based on their preferences. The platform also allows users to create an infinite canvas for ideation, incorporating existing images and products for visualization.
Enhancing the Shopping Experience
By offering diverse input options and innovative features, Onton aims to improve the shopping experience for users who may struggle to articulate their preferences. The platform has reported a 3-5x increase in conversions compared to traditional e-commerce sites, attributed to the trust users have in the platform’s data-driven recommendations.
Onton’s expansion into the apparel category is on the horizon, with plans to launch the vertical soon. The company is gearing up to compete with other AI-driven shopping platforms like Daydream, Aesthetic, and Style.ai. With a growing team of 10 employees and plans to hire more engineers and researchers, Onton is poised for continued growth and innovation in the AI shopping space.
