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Sep 16, 2025 | 5 minute read

AI in Commerce: Time-Saving Tips Every Merchandiser Should Know

written by Elastic Path

Hero image of robot icon with light bulb above the head.

In B2B commerce, complexity is part of the job. Whether you’re segmenting catalogs by buyer type, launching time-sensitive promotions, or managing product data across multiple channels, it’s easy for merchandising tasks to spiral into hours — or even days — of manual work.

But what if you didn’t have to compromise efficiency to deliver personalization at scale?

Thanks to AI agents and intelligent commerce, the future of merchandising is fast, flexible, and far less manual. In this article, we’ll share nine ways merchandisers can save significant time by tapping into the power of AI in commerce.

1. Eliminate Catalog Sprawl with Dynamic Catalog Rules

Traditionally, merchandisers needed to create and maintain dozens (or hundreds) of separate catalogs to meet the needs of different customer segments — resellers, regional buyers, VIP tiers, etc. This catalog sprawl made merchandising slow and difficult to scale.

Catalog Rules replace that outdated model with automation. You can use one master catalog and dynamically control:

  • What products each shopper sees
  • Which pricing rules apply
  • What content appears based on account, channel, or time-based criteria

With fewer catalogs to manage and more control in your hands, you can personalize at scale without drowning in duplication.

2. Automate Subscription Access with Entitlements

For brands using subscription or tiered membership models, granting (and revoking) access to premium content, discounts, or perks can quickly become a logistical mess.

That’s where Entitlements come in. This capability provides intelligence for managing membership logic. You simply define the rules — like which perks Gold vs. Silver members get — and the system automatically applies or removes access in real time based on subscription status.

3. Streamline Promotions with a Rules-Based Builder

Running high-impact promotional campaigns usually requires multiple teams, late nights, and lots of manual QA. Promotions Builder changes that by giving merchandisers complete control through an intuitive, rules-based interface.

With Promotions Builder, you can:

  • Create multi-condition promotions targeting specific buyer behaviors
  • Define custom stacking rules to protect margins
  • Preview promotion logic using a Cart Preview API
  • Launch, pause, or tweak campaigns on the fly, with no developers required

AI in commerce doesn’t just mean chatbots — it also means automating complex logic that used to drain merchandising teams.

4. Skip the Copywriting with AI-Powered Descriptions

Creating product descriptions at scale can slow down even the fastest teams — especially when working with seasonal catalogs or fast-changing inventory.

With an AI composable commerce approach, you can integrate generative AI tools to draft product copy automatically based on structured data. Just feed in your specs, and let the AI do the heavy lifting. You can still review and edit for brand voice, but you no longer have to write from scratch.

5. Automate Visual Merchandising Rules

Reordering products manually on category pages or updating hero placements for promotions? That’s a thing of the past. With rule-based merchandising logic and our AI Merchandiser, you can automate:

  • Which products appear first for different customer segments
  • When certain products should appear based on availability or seasonality
  • Dynamic changes based on buyer behavior or business goals

A headless, AI frontend architecture makes it easy to connect merchandising logic to real-time conditions, without pushing every update through a dev cycle.

6. Personalize Without Manual Segmentation

When personalization means hand-picking product assortments for every audience, it’s not scalable. AI change that.

Using Catalog Rules and smart data attributes, merchandisers can improve real-time product visibility and pricing customization based on:

  • Account type
  • Customer history
  • Location or loyalty tier
  • Even shopper behavior

This gives merchandisers the power to personalize every touchpoint.

7. Get Proactive with AI-Powered Alerts

Instead of combing through dashboards, merchandisers can set up AI agents to detect anomalies (like a sudden spike in sales, low inventory, or underperforming products) and alert the right team in real time.

An API-first architecture makes it easy to monitor and flag issues before they impact the bottom line. You can even trigger automated merchandising responses based on what the AI detects.

8. Synchronize Updates Across Channels Instantly

Omnichannel selling requires merchandising consistency across websites, marketplaces, social storefronts, and mobile apps. Updating product data or pricing in one place and pushing it everywhere else can be a massive time sink.

A composable commerce architecture and AI frontend flexibility ensures your updates flow across all touchpoints simultaneously, and through a single connection. That means fewer clicks, fewer errors, and zero delay.

9. Let a GenAI Product Assistant Handle FAQs

GenAI product assistants will soon change how shoppers interact with your catalog.

Instead of typing keywords into a search bar, customers can ask natural-language questions like:

  • “What’s the best drill for concrete?”
  • “Do you have size 12 work boots in waterproof leather?”

The assistant pulls answers directly from Product Experience Manager, making it easy to serve accurate, real-time responses with no extra support burden.

For merchandisers, this means fewer customer service tickets and more self-service conversion.

AI in Commerce: Less Manual, More Meaningful Merchandising

AI in commerce involves real tools that merchandisers can use right now to reclaim hours, reduce errors, and deliver more personalized shopping experiences.

With Elastic Path’s intelligent commerce toolkit, you don’t need to rebuild your systems or rip-and-replace to get there. Just plug in the tools that make your work faster, smarter, and more scalable.

Get Started with Elastic Path

Schedule a demo to see how Elastic Path delivers unified commerce for leading global brands.