Hey, thanks for tuning in to another Partner Interview at EcomBalance. At EcomBalance, we’re all about creating win-win partnerships where we are able to grow with other companies in the ecommerce space.
In this exclusive interview, we have a conversation with Max Sinclair from Ecomtent.
Max Sinclair is the Founder and CEO of www.ecomtent.ai. Ecomtent enable sellers to create product listings at scale with AI, including product lifestyle images; infographics, and optimised copy.
Prior to founding Ecomtent, Max spent over six years working at Amazon. He held a number of leadership roles including for the launch of Amazon Business (B2B) in the UK, and owning customer browse and catalogue quality for the launch of Amazon in Singapore.
Connor: Hey Max, thanks for taking the time to chat with us here. We love getting to know our partners better so that our community can benefit from what our partners are offering and doing in the industry. To get started, can you give us a high-level overview of Ecomtent and how it got started?
Max: Ecomtent enables marketplace sellers to create optimised product listings with Generative AI. Using Ecomtent’s self-service tool, customers can generate beautiful product lifestyle images, generate infographics instantaneously from hundreds of templates, and generate optimised copy in any language all in seconds.
Before starting Ecomtent, I worked at Amazon for six years. My now co-founder showed me the potential of Generative AI in September 2022 (the pre-chatGPT era), and I immediately saw its potential to revolutionise how sellers create content.
Connor: That’s awesome! Can you dive a bit more into the AI generated ecommerce product listing services you offer? I’m sure our audience would love to know exactly what problems you could solve for them.
Max: Ecomtent offers three main AI-powered services to help sellers create optimized product listings faster and at scale:
- AI-generated lifestyle images – Our image generation tool allows sellers to instantly create unique, high-quality lifestyle images by simply entering a text prompt. This saves tons of time and money compared to shooting traditional product photos.
- AI-generated infographics – Sellers can choose from hundreds of templates to instantly generate eye-catching infographics with key product features, specifications, comparisons, etc. Infographics make listings stand out and are proven to boost conversions.
- AI-generated listing copy – Our AI can generate optimized titles, bullets, and descriptions in seconds in any language. This copy is keyword-rich, clear, and compelling. No more writing dozens of listings from scratch or paying a freelancer.
The end result is beautiful, converting listings that build trust and get more sales. We help sellers scale their content faster than ever before. And it’s all self-service, on-demand through our easy-to-use platform.
Connor: Jumping off of that…if there was one problem you’d say that Ecomtent solves best for your clients, what would it be? Why?
Max: The #1 problem Ecomtent solves for sellers is eliminating the time and cost barriers to creating high-quality, converting product listings at scale.
Before, creating customized lifestyle images, infographics, and optimized copy was extremely time-consuming and expensive. Sellers either had to do it all manually themselves or hire photographers, designers, and writers. This limited how fast they could list new products and optimize existing listings.
With Ecomtent’s AI, sellers can create an unlimited amount of unique, high-converting content in seconds right within our self-service platform. The speed is game-changing. Sellers can launch and iterate on product listings 10x or 100x faster.
Plus, there’s no more spending thousands on photo shoots, graphics, and copywriters. Our AI-generated content is affordable for sellers of any size.
The advantage is sellers can list more products in less time, for less money. And because our AI is optimized specifically for ecommerce, the content converts better. Sellers see increased sales, lower costs, and faster time-to-market.
Ecomtent eliminates the two biggest bottlenecks – speed and budget – to help our clients scale their ecommerce businesses faster than they ever thought possible. The AI advantage is undeniable.
Connor: As the company continues to grow over the next year, what are your plans for expansion? Any new products, services, or enhancements to your current services?
Max: We have big plans to expand Ecomtent’s capabilities and value to customers over the next year.
First, we’re focused on enhancing our existing AI services. We’ll continue training our models on more product image data so the generated lifestyle photos become even more realistic and relevant. For copy, we’ll expand into more languages and optimize for different product categories.
Additionally, we plan to further automate and streamline the content creation process for sellers. For example, we’re developing technology to automatically pull key product data like features and specifications from a seller’s catalog or listings and synthesize that into infographics, bullet points, and other content.
Connor: And how specifically would you say that Ecomtent and your team is different from other similar businesses in the industry?
Max: We are finetuning models specifically for Amazon conversion, We’ve also built a suite of tools specific to the selling-on-marketplaces use case.
Connor: What made you decide to get involved in the ecommerce-centered SaaS space? What’s your starting eCommerce story? From what we’ve found, a lot of business owners in the same space have fun stories of how they first started…
Max: I’ve always wanted to run my own business. Working at Amazon, I met hundreds of extremely impressive founders and entrepreneurs. When I saw the potential that Generative AI had to revolutionise ecommerce as I believed it will, I thought I would always regret it if I didnt jump into the opportunity with both feet.
Connor: Love it! Talking more about the eCommerce industry, where do you see it going in the next 1-2 years? Any unique predictions that you could share?
Max: I believe the ecommerce industry is on the cusp of major changes in how consumers discover and search for products online. In the next 1-2 years, I predict we’ll see a major shift away from endless scrolling and keyword searching towards more assisted and conversational searches.
For example, Microsoft’s new Bing chatbot shows the potential for AI to have natural conversations with shoppers to understand their needs and recommend relevant products interactively. Rather than typing specific product names or attributes, shoppers will be able to describe what they’re looking for in conversational language.
The AI will then suggest products, ask clarifying questions, and guide users to the right purchases for them. I think these conversational, AI-assisted searches will become ubiquitous across ecommerce sites and marketplaces.
Connor: Giving you an open mic for a minute, what is something you’d want the EcomBalance audience to hear?
Max: I want the EcomBalance audience to know that AI is the most transformative technology for ecommerce since the internet itself. We’re just scratching the surface of what’s possible.
Specifically, generative AI like we use at Ecomtent has unlimited potential to enhance how sellers market and sell online. Smart sellers who embrace it now will have an unfair competitive advantage for years to come.
For example, AI-generated content will revolutionize product listings. Infinitely unique, optimized photos, titles, bullets, and descriptions without any manual effort. Or AI chatbots that provide 24/7 automated support and make personalized recommendations to turn visitors into loyal customers.
The possibilities to drive greater sales, efficiency, and innovation are endless. Ecommerce is changing rapidly. Brands that leverage AI early on will shape the future. The level of business value AI can unlock is hard to overstate.
My advice is don’t wait. Start testing Generative AI now for your store. Let the technology work for you rather than against you. Done right, AI can free you up to focus on the human aspects that matter most – building connections with customers.
The future of ecommerce is AI-assisted. I’m excited to see savvy brands use it to grow and thrive in new ways!
Connor: Changing gears a little bit…When it comes to bookkeeping and accounting, what do you think the biggest pain points for business owners are? Feel free to speak from personal experience as well.
Max: From my experience, one of the biggest pain points for ecommerce business owners is tracking expenses and revenue in a centralized, organized way.
When you sell on multiple channels like Shopify, Amazon, Walmart etc., the financial data gets very fragmented. Piecing together reports from all the different platforms to get an accurate profit/loss picture can become an administrative nightmare.
I’ve also seen many sellers struggle with properly categorizing expenses for tax purposes. It’s easy to misclassify advertising costs, product costs, operational expenses etc. in a way that raises your tax bill unnecessarily.
And handling invoicing, accounts receivable, accounts payable across channels compounds the organizational challenges. Maintaining a clear financial picture in a fast-growing ecommerce business is hugely challenging.
The right accounting software, processes, and professional support is crucial. But it’s time-consuming to implement and maintain.
Connor: As we close this out, I just have one more question. Where is the best place to find and follow you and the company online? Also, if you have one, is there any special offer that you’ll be offering to the community today?
Max: You can find me at www.ecomtent.ai or on LinkedIn. We can give your readers a 15% discount with the code EcomBalance15 at checkout.
