Navigating Change: The Impact of AI on the eCommerce Landscape

As someone deeply entrenched in the eCommerce industry, the rapid advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) have left me contemplating the future of my career in a way I never expected. Having commenced my journey in eCommerce at the tender age of 14, I have spent the last 16 years delving into various aspects of the field. My professional path has taken me from sales roles to senior management positions, including Director of Product Management and Operations, culminating in my current role as Director of Partnerships at my agency.

Throughout my career, I’ve had the privilege of leading significant web development initiatives and high-stakes SEO and marketing campaigns. The projects I’ve worked on have ranged from $20,000 to over $1 million, all characterized by their strategic complexity. My expertise includes conversion rate optimization (CRO), user interface/user experience (UI/UX) planning, and formulating upsell strategies.

Recently, however, I’ve witnessed a seismic shift in our industry, largely driven by AI. A stark example is the agency where I formerly worked, which specialized in SEO and once boasted a team of 25 copywriters. After reconnecting with a friend still there, I learned that the team has now shrunk to just four writers. Yet, remarkably, the SEO department is generating $20,000 more in billable revenue each month compared to when I was part of the team. The introduction of AI has enabled a significant reduction in junior roles, as more junior content creation can be automated, leaving lead writers to refine AI-generated content and ensure compliance with copyright standards.

In another agency, the entire U.S. development team has been replaced by developers from Latin America, who now leverage tools like ChatGPT to facilitate communication through platforms such as Jira and Slack.

While I am not suggesting that our industry is on the brink of collapse, it is undeniable that we are moving toward a future where AI is poised to take over many traditional roles. We are already witnessing AI tools capable of constructing websites from Figma designs and generating code necessary for implementing upsells without the need for developers. Moreover, the emergence of AI-driven search and prompt-based optimization is actively reshaping the landscape of traditional SEO.

With these changes unfolding before my eyes, I find myself questioning what my future holds within this industry over the next five years as automation increasingly becomes the norm. As I pursue my Project Management Professional (PMP) certification,