Armando Roggio

Text messaging’s app-like Rich Communication Services is now available on most mobile phones, giving retail marketers options reminiscent of text-only versus HTML email. Originally, email messages were text, similar to mobile’s Short Message Service, commonly known as texting. Email messages did not fully support HTML until 1996, with the release of Hotmail (originally HoTMaiL). That was some 25 years after email’s invention and two years after Jeff Bezos founded Amazon.

Fraudsters can now use generative AI to create fake photographs of product damage, false shipping records, and other forged evidence for ecommerce refund claims, potentially costing billions. U.S. retailers processed approximately $849.9 billion in merchandise returns in 2025, of which some 9% were fraudulent, according to the National Retail Federation and Happy Returns. Not surprisingly, ecommerce had a much higher overall return rate, at 19.3%, than brick-and-mortar.

Shoppers who don’t know what they want are an opportunity for marketers to showcase a product. The word “intent” has always been part of the marketing vocabulary. Examples are “purchase intent” and “informational intent.” Each describes targeting prospects based on an apparent need. AI’s growth in search and shopping adds precision to “intent” behaviors and opportunities. Imagine how someone would look for a coffee grinder in a traditional search versus in a chat with Claude, Gemini, or ChatGPT.