Online Merchants

Create, manage, or automate orders or invoices, using order management or invoicing software.

AI: Fully automatable - Order management and invoicing workflows are mature automation tasks that can be completely handled by existing software and AI.

Receive and process payments from customers, using electronic transaction services.

AI: Fully automatable - Electronic payment reception and processing are already fully automatable and can be managed end-to-end by software and AI-driven services.

Deliver e-mail confirmation of completed transactions and shipment.

AI: Fully automatable - Email confirmations for transactions and shipments are standard automated workflows fully handled by software systems.

Design customer interface of online storefront, using web programming or e-commerce software.

AI: Fully automatable - AI-driven design and no-code/e-commerce tooling in 2025 can produce complete storefront interfaces and the underlying web code or platform configuration without human developers in many cases.

Determine and set product prices.

AI: Fully automatable - Dynamic pricing algorithms and data-driven rules can determine and set product prices automatically in most retail contexts.

Calculate purchase subtotals, taxes, and shipping costs for submission to customers.

AI: Fully automatable - Calculating subtotals, taxes, and shipping costs is deterministic and already fully automated by tax engines and shipping-rate services.

Compose descriptions of merchandise for posting to online storefront, auction sites, or other shopping Web sites.

AI: Fully automatable - By 2025 large language models can reliably generate varied, accurate, SEO-tailored product descriptions from product attributes and examples, requiring only minimal human review.

Upload digital media, such as photos, video, or scanned images to online storefront, auction sites, or other shopping Web sites.

AI: Fully automatable - Uploading media is a routine, scriptable task that can be fully automated via APIs, connectors or RPA given credentials and access.

Calculate revenue, sales, and expenses, using financial accounting or spreadsheet software.

AI: Fully automatable - Calculations of revenue, sales, and expenses are deterministic tasks that AI and spreadsheet/accounting software can perform end-to-end when provided the financial data.

Prepare or organize online storefront marketing material, including product descriptions or subject lines, optimizing content to search engine criteria.

AI: Fully automatable - Generating and organizing marketing copy (including SEO-optimized product descriptions and subject lines) is well within AI capabilities and can be automated and iteratively improved using analytics.

Transfer digital media, such as music, video, or software, to customers via the Internet.

AI: Fully automatable - Transferring digital media over the Internet is already fully automatable through CDNs, digital delivery platforms, and scripts that AI can orchestrate.

Create or maintain database of customer accounts.

AI: Fully automatable - Creating and maintaining customer account databases is standard IT work that can be automated reliably with existing database, CRM and integration tools, subject to privacy controls.

Devise, select, or purchase domain name and web address.

AI: Fully automatable - AI can generate domain-name ideas, check availability, and complete registration via registrar APIs, automating selection and purchase in most cases.

Initiate online auctions through auction hosting sites or auction management software.

AI: Fully automatable - APIs and automation tools can create, configure, and launch auction listings end-to-end without human intervention, so this task is fully automatable in practice.

Measure and analyze Web site usage data to maximize search engine returns or refine customer interfaces.

AI: Fully automatable - AI and analytics tools can fully measure, model, and recommend website optimizations and search-targeting changes, and can automate A/B tests and reporting to maximize returns.

Disclose merchant information and terms and policies of transactions in online or offline materials.

AI: Fully automatable - AI can draft, format, and publish merchant disclosures and transactional terms programmatically, automating most of the creation and distribution of those materials.

Create or distribute offline promotional material, such as brochures, pamphlets, business cards, stationary, or signage.

AI: Fully automatable - AI can generate print-ready designs and integrate with print‑on‑demand and fulfillment services to order and distribute physical promotional materials end-to-end.

Fill customer orders by packaging sold items and documentation for direct shipping or by transferring orders to manufacturers or third-party distributors.

AI: Partial - Physical packaging and order fulfillment require manual or robotic labor; AI can optimize, orchestrate, or control systems but cannot universally perform the physical handling by itself in 2025.

Correspond with online customers via electronic mail, telephone, or other electronic messaging to address questions or complaints about products, policies, or shipping methods.

AI: Partial - AI chatbots can resolve many routine customer inquiries across email, phone, and messaging, but complex complaints and nuanced service recovery typically require human agents.

Purchase new or used items from online or physical sources for resale via retail or auction Web site.

AI: Partial - AI can automate online purchases and provide sourcing recommendations, but purchasing used items, physical inspection, and complex negotiation often require human judgment and action.

Compose images of products, using video or still cameras, lighting equipment, props, or photo or video editing software.

AI: Partial - AI can synthesize and edit product imagery and provide composition guidance, but physically operating cameras, lighting, and props in diverse real-world shoots typically still requires humans or specialised robotics and oversight.

Cancel orders based on customer requests or inventory or delivery problems.

AI: Partial - AI can automatically process standard cancellation requests based on rules and integrations, but exceptions, disputes, and policy-sensitive cases still require human judgment.

Order or purchase merchandise to maintain optimal inventory levels.

AI: Partial - Routine reorder placement can be automated from inventory signals, but supplier negotiations, complex procurement decisions, and exception handling generally need human involvement.

Select and purchase technical web services, such as web hosting services, online merchant accounts, shopping cart software, payment gateway software, or spyware.

AI: Partial - AI can research, compare, and even initiate purchases of hosting and services via APIs, but account creation, billing verification, and regulatory/KYC steps often require human input.

Determine location for product listings to maximize exposure to online traffic.

AI: Partial - AI can analyze traffic data and recommend listing locations and categorizations, but marketplace dynamics, experimentation, and strategic tradeoffs typically require human oversight and ongoing testing.

Promote products in online communities through weblog or discussion-forum postings, e-mail marketing programs, or online advertising.

AI: Partial - AI can craft and run advertising and email campaigns and generate forum/blog posts, but authentic community engagement, trust-building, and policy-sensitive moderation often need human participation.

Collaborate with search engine shopping specialists to place marketing content in desired online locations.

AI: Partial - AI can create and manage programmatic shopping campaigns and interact with APIs to place content, but collaborating with human search-engine specialists and negotiating placements often still requires human judgment and relationships.

Investigate products or markets to determine areas for opportunity or viability for merchandising specific products, using online or offline sources.

AI: Partial - AI can aggregate and analyze online data (search trends, reviews, pricing) to identify opportunities, but sourcing offline primary research and contextual field insights remains difficult to fully automate.

Maintain inventory of shipping supplies, such as boxes, labels, tape, bubble wrap, loose packing materials, or tape guns.

AI: Partial - AI systems can track inventory levels and trigger automated reorders, but the physical tasks of stocking and handling shipping supplies require human or robotic execution beyond typical AI alone.

Develop or revise business plans for online business, emphasizing factors such as product line, pricing, inventory, or marketing strategy.

AI: Partial - AI can generate detailed business plans, financial models, and strategy options, but final strategic choices and stakeholder-aligned decisions typically need human oversight and accountability.

Investigate sources, such as auctions, estate sales, liquidators, wholesalers, or trade shows for new items, used items, or collectibles.

AI: Partial - AI can search, aggregate, and prioritize suppliers and listings online, but physical inspection, provenance verification, and negotiation remain human-dependent.

Implement security practices to preserve assets, minimize liabilities, or ensure customer privacy, using parallel servers, hardware redundancy, fail-safe technology, information encryption, or firewalls.

AI: Partial - AI and IaC/managed services can design and configure encryption, firewalls, redundancy and failover automation, but physical hardware choices, procurement, and high‑risk security decisions still require human oversight.

Participate in online forums or conferences to stay abreast of online retailing trends, techniques, or security threats.

AI: Partial - AI can monitor, summarize, and even post to forums or join virtual events to surface trends and threats, but active professional engagement and contextual judgment are still needed from humans.

Integrate online retailing strategy with physical or catalogue retailing operations.

AI: Partial - AI can analyze sales/channel data and generate integration plans and automation, yet implementing cross‑channel strategy and organizational coordination requires human leadership and change management.