Bahrain-based fashion retailer Brands Seekers expected its artificial intelligence (AI) stylist to be just another tool on its site, but early data indicates the AI is becoming a main feature, according to its founder.

Ali AlShuwaikh, CEO, founded Brands Seekers in 2023. The online retailer sells products from hundreds of brands that include Adidas, Armani Exchange, Calvin Klein, Levi’s, New Balance, Ralph Lauren and Trussardi.

Although the company’s headquarters are in Bahrain, its warehouse and distributor are in Italy. That location, AlShuwaikh said, helps the retailer both with sourcing and to more easily ship worldwide. It also shielded his company from some of the effects of the U.S. and Israel’s ongoing war with Iran, he explained.

AlShuwaikh told Digital Commerce 360 that around the same time that Brands Seekers launched its AI stylist, it completed translating its site into dozens of languages. The two changes to the site work hand in hand, he explained.

AlShuwaikh called the site translation a “major” reason Brands Seekers has grown its web traffic this summer.

“We used to only be in English, and that gave us a limited reach to certain countries,” AlShuwaikh told Digital Commerce 360. “But now that we expanded to 55 languages, we’re in India, China, Japan, Mexico, all of South America, many of the European nations, major and small nations. So that gives us a huge edge when it comes to SEO [search engine optimization].”

How site translation brought AI traffic to Brands Seekers

The SEO play turned out to also be a generative engine optimization (GEO) play. AlShuwaikh credited the site translation with quickly expanding Brands Seekers’ web traffic from AI sources. The site has drawn about 19,000 visitors from AI sources since launching in the past several weeks, according to AlShuwaikh.

That’s because Brands Seekers is using AI agents in each language to connect its product catalog to the discovery platforms. He told Digital Commerce 360 that about 20% of Brands Seekers’ web traffic comes from AI sources.

The Brands Seekers website, which features an AI-powered stylist, is fully translated into 55 languages. Image credit: Brands Seekers concierge page

Still, he said the conversion rate from that traffic is low — “way lower than anyone else.” He chalked that up to how recent the change is. He said it will take the agents time to index all of his site’s data. He’ll be better able to judge the impact in a few months, he added.

“It’s completely different than getting a conversion out of, let’s say, Google Shopping or Google search or anything like that,” AlShuwaikh told Digital Commerce 360. “So it’s just the nature of the way people use ChatGPT, for instance.”

He said it comes down to users’ behaviors on platforms such as ChatGPT. A user could be coming to the site for general questions, size charts and guides for certain brands, or to its fashion blog. But they come from a variety of AI sources and queries, he said.

“Most of the data that’s coming is citations and news and comparisons,” AlShuwaikh said. “But hopefully it’s going to change in the near future.”

AI stylist helps lift Brands Seekers’ AOV, conversion

That conversion trend is the opposite when it comes to users who interact with Brands Seekers’ “Luxury Fashion Concierge AI Personal Stylist.” AlShuwaikh said it’s not just that the AI tool has lifted conversion, but it is also the main reason consumers are coming to the site to shop with Brands Seekers.

“The reason behind it is that it also offers complete outfits,” AlShuwaikh said. “Instead of having a cross-selling item, for instance, with any item that you’re purchasing, you do have an option to just shop for complete outfits. And I do see a lot of the order values are way, way higher right now than the way they were.”

The AI-powered personal stylist on Brands Seekers’ website suggests a full outfit centered around denim. | Image credit: Brands Seekers AI stylist

He also said Brands Seekers’ average order value (AOV) has doubled since launching the AI stylist, though he did not specify the amount.

Consumers first select whether they’re shopping for a complete look or a specific piece. They then identify the collection they’re shopping from (men’s or women’s), the occasion, budget and the garment focus they’d like to style around.

Upon the stylist returning results, consumers can select a piece to see the concierge’s notes. They can also purchase the products or request a new suggestion.

The stylist specifically displays products that the Brands Seekers site lists because consumers “like to shop from one place.”

“They like to find the product from one place,” AlShuwaikh said. “It’s way easier. So it’s powered by our products only.”

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