Argos has integrated an AI-powered visual commerce tool into its online shopping experience as the retailer looks to give its product pages a more dynamic and customer-focused feel.

The move marks the latest phase of Sainsbury's group's partnership with UK software company StoryStream to power user generate content (UGC) and content discovery across hundreds of product pages.

Sainsbury's acquired Argos in 2016 with the firm becoming one of the brands within the Group, alongside Habitat and Tu clothing.

StoryStream uses AI to collect and manage UGC, influencer posts and social proof, and then distribute it across websites, social media and e-commerce platforms.

The company’s offering includes live video shopping, shoppable UGC, link and story streams, and interactive story-style shopping experiences.

Using the StoryStream API, Argos can now embed authentic, rights-approved UGC directly into its fully native on-site experiences, without using plug-ins or widgets, the firms said.

StoryStream said it delivered a unified approach using the StoryStream API to replace third-party plug-ins, allowing the team to feed over 500 PDPs on Argos with authentic UGC, directly integrated into their site.

In a post on LinkedIn, Sainsbury’s Group explained the solution came as the retailer was seeking a way to provide “consistent and relevant social proof at scale” across hundreds of product pages.

“Social proof plays a vital role in helping our customers make confident purchase decisions, but the real challenge is delivering it in a way that feels authentic, consistent and scalable,” said Tom Cusack, group customer generated content manager and product at Sainsbury’s Group.

“Having proven the impact of using StoryStream on Sainsbury’s, we’re now scaling that approach across Argos, Habitat and TU Clothing - curating high-quality UGC at scale while keeping full control of our on-site experience.”

Social proof of scale in retail refers to visible signs that a brand or shop is trusted, popular and widely adopted, signs that help reassure potential customers that their purchasing choices are correct.

The retail group entered its first collaboration with the e-commerce specialist in 2021.

At the time, Sainsbury's said the collaboration aimed to make online shopping more inspiring by integrating authentic content from real customers, such as homemade cakes during Bake-Off week or tributes to frontline workers during the COVID-19 crisis.

Since then, Sainsbury's has launched over 30 StoryStream-based campaigns, it said.

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