Michaels Launches AI Shopping Assistant to Inspire Creativity and Simplify Product Discovery
Key takeaways:
- Ask Mike helps customers discover products through natural-language conversations instead of traditional keyword searches.
- The AI assistant has already powered nearly 75,000 customer conversations, with most focused on finding products for creative projects.
- Future enhancements will include AI-generated product overviews and personalized recommendations within product pages.
Michaels has launched Ask Mike, a new AI-powered shopping assistant built with Google Cloud’s Gemini Enterprise for Customer Experience that helps shoppers move from inspiration to purchase through personalized, conversational guidance. Available across Michaels.com and its mobile apps, Ask Mike enables customers to describe their creative ideas in natural language and receive curated product recommendations for everything from DIY home projects to party planning. Since launching in May, the assistant has powered nearly 75,000 conversations, with more than 60% focused on product discovery, demonstrating growing demand for AI-driven shopping experiences. Michaels plans to continue expanding the tool with new capabilities, including AI-generated product overviews and contextual recommendations directly on product pages.
Why it matters:
- AI helps shoppers quickly find the right materials and ideas based on their creative goals.
- Customers receive tailored recommendations that feel more like working with a creative partner than using a search bar.
- Michaels is demonstrating how generative AI can drive customer engagement, product discovery, and conversion across digital shopping experiences.
Learn more here: Michaels Unveils ‘Ask Mike’ AI Assistant, Built With Google Cloud’s Gemini Enterprise for Customer Experience
Why Loyalty Programs Are Becoming the Engine Behind AI-Powered Shopping
Key takeaways:
- Retailers are leveraging first-party customer data to fuel personalized recommendations, AI shopping assistants, and more relevant customer experiences.
- AI is helping brands tailor interactions based on verified purchase history, preferences, and real customer behavior rather than broad audience segments.
- As consumers increasingly use AI to research and shop, loyalty programs are becoming a critical source of data that connects customer intent with personalized product recommendations.
Retail loyalty programs are evolving from rewards tools into the foundation for AI-powered customer experiences, as PYMNTS reports. As shoppers increasingly discover products through AI assistants instead of traditional search, retailers are using the rich first-party data collected through loyalty programs to deliver more personalized recommendations, conversational shopping experiences, and targeted offers. Brands including Ulta Beauty, Sephora, Fanatics, and CVS are demonstrating how loyalty data can power AI across search, commerce, and retail media, helping organizations move beyond rewarding past purchases to anticipating future customer needs. As AI reshapes the shopping journey, the value of a loyalty program is no longer measured by points alone, but also by the quality of the customer intelligence it enables, according to PYMNTS.
Why it matters:
- Retailers with strong loyalty ecosystems are better positioned to deliver AI-driven experiences in a world with fewer third-party tracking options.
- AI allows brands to anticipate customer needs and guide purchasing decisions before shoppers even reach a product page.
- What began as a rewards program is becoming a competitive advantage that supports personalization, commerce, marketing, and long-term customer relationships.
Learn more here: Loyalty Data Is Now AI’s Favorite Currency
Why Trust, Not Just Personalization, Will Define the Future of Financial Services
Key takeaways:
- AI-driven experiences should make customers feel understood and supported, not monitored or overwhelmed by how much a company knows.
- The most effective personalization uses customer insights thoughtfully to deliver relevant guidance without crossing the line into intrusion.
- AI can streamline routine interactions and improve efficiency, but people are still essential for high-stakes financial decisions that require empathy, judgment, and reassurance.
As AI transforms customer engagement in financial services, personalization is becoming more sophisticated—but success depends on more than using customer data, as The Financial Brand reports. Financial institutions that build lasting relationships will be the ones that use AI to provide timely, relevant guidance while respecting customer privacy and knowing when human expertise matters most. The strongest customer experiences don’t simply reflect what a company knows about a customer; they demonstrate empathy, context, and good judgment. As AI takes on more routine interactions, the human touch remains essential for the complex financial conversations where trust is earned, and loyalty is built, according to The Financial Brand.
Why it matters:
- Financial institutions that balance personalization with transparency are better positioned to build long-term loyalty.
- Knowing when to use customer data—and when not to—can improve engagement while protecting confidence in the brand.
- Organizations that combine intelligent automation with meaningful human interactions will be best equipped to deliver personalized experiences that customers value and trust.
Learn more here: The Trust Threshold: When Does Personalization Cross the Line into Surveillance?