{"id":7081,"date":"2026-09-09T21:57:12","date_gmt":"2026-09-09T21:57:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lockitsoft.com\/?p=7081"},"modified":"2026-09-09T21:57:12","modified_gmt":"2026-09-09T21:57:12","slug":"elevated-brands-group-integrates-agentic-ai-assistant-ask-across-retail-properties-to-drive-ecommerce-performance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lockitsoft.com\/?p=7081","title":{"rendered":"Elevated Brands Group Integrates Agentic AI Assistant Ask Across Retail Properties to Drive Ecommerce Performance"},"content":{"rendered":"

The integration of artificial intelligence into the retail sector has transitioned from a futuristic experiment into a core operational strategy, reshaping how consumers interact with digital storefronts. Elevated Brands Group, the parent organization overseeing specialized home goods and decor retailers Rugs Direct and Lightopia, has announced significant performance gains following the deployment of its on-site conversational shopping assistant, known as Ask Cleo. Powered by advanced agentic AI technology developed by Constructor, the conversational tool has demonstrated a dramatic impact on key performance indicators (KPIs), most notably driving consumer add-to-cart rates up to nine times higher compared to traditional shopping methods across both platforms.<\/p>\n

The rollout reflects a broader industry movement toward natural language search and conversational commerce. As online shoppers increasingly demand instantaneous, highly customized answers to complex design and technical questions, retailers are adopting AI-driven agents that can mimic the consultative experience of an in-store design expert. For Elevated Brands Group, the implementation of Ask Cleo marks a strategic milestone in its digital evolution, positioning its niche e-commerce properties to better compete against dominant retail giants through superior customer engagement and tailored product discovery.<\/p>\n

Chronology and Rollout Timeline of Ask Cleo<\/p>\n

The deployment of Ask Cleo across Elevated Brands Group\u2019s digital portfolio followed a carefully phased timeline designed to test, refine, and optimize the conversational agent before full-scale deployment. The initiative began with extensive back-end preparation, including data structuring, brand voice training, and integration with existing product catalogs. <\/p>\n

The initial public debut of the AI assistant took place in May, when Lightopia introduced Ask Cleo to its e-commerce site. As a specialized lighting retailer, Lightopia provided an ideal testing ground for a technical conversational agent due to the complex nature of lighting specifications, including voltage, dimmability, bulb compatibility, and architectural constraints. <\/p>\n

Following the successful deployment at Lightopia and a thorough review of early consumer interaction data, Rugs Direct followed weeks later with its own official rollout in early June. By staggering the launches, Elevated Brands Group was able to apply insights gained from Lightopia\u2019s initial consumer interactions to fine-tune the AI agent’s responsiveness ahead of the Rugs Direct debut. Both platforms now utilize Ask Cleo to handle natural language queries, assist with practical design dilemmas, and guide shoppers through extensive product inventories.<\/p>\n

Quantifying the Impact: Data and Performance Metrics<\/p>\n

While classic keyword-based search continues to account for the majority of overall web traffic and user volume, the conversion metrics associated with Ask Cleo have exceeded internal expectations. According to Sharon Gautschi, chief merchandising officer of Elevated Brands Group, consumers who actively engage with the conversational AI assistant exhibit add-to-cart rates that are eight to nine times higher than those of users relying exclusively on traditional search functionality.<\/p>\n

Gautschi emphasizes the importance of contextualizing these metrics against broader engagement levels. Traditional search continues to capture the highest volume of site traffic on a smaller, more direct base, while conversational AI is still in its scaling phase regarding overall user adoption. Nevertheless, behavioral trends indicate a clear correlation between the depth of interaction and commercial intent. Analytics from both Rugs Direct and Lightopia reveal that as shoppers ask more clarifying questions and engage in multi-turn dialogues with Ask Cleo, purchase rates and average order values consistently increase.<\/p>\n

The utility of the AI agent varies naturally depending on the specific retail environment. On Rugs Direct, shoppers frequently leverage Ask Cleo to navigate material compositions, physical dimensions, thickness, and stylistic compatibility for living spaces. Conversely, visitors to Lightopia utilize the assistant for highly technical specifications, such as determining appropriate fixture sizes for vaulted ceilings, analyzing color temperatures, and confirming electrical requirements. This domain-specific versatility highlights the effectiveness of the underlying technology in addressing vertical-specific consumer friction points.<\/p>\n

Training the AI Agent: Data Integrity and Brand Voice<\/p>\n

\"Rugs<\/figure>\n

The development and refinement of an effective retail AI agent require meticulous data management and continuous optimization. Elevated Brands Group spent an estimated four to six weeks training Ask Cleo, drawing from a comprehensive repository of proprietary content. This foundational data library included public relations materials, search engine optimization (SEO) blog posts, design guides, and detailed product specifications.<\/p>\n

Gautschi attributes the success of the implementation largely to the company\u2019s internal emphasis on data integrity. Maintaining uniform, up-to-date specifications across expansive product catalogs remains a persistent operational challenge for many large retailers. Elevated Brands Group\u2019s organizational nimbleness allowed its team to seamlessly feed structured data into the AI model, ensuring that Ask Cleo delivers accurate, reliable information without hallucinating product features or availability.<\/p>\n

Beyond raw data, significant emphasis was placed on aligning the AI’s persona with the brand identities of Rugs Direct and Lightopia. Elevated Brands Group designed Ask Cleo to function less like a sterile database query tool and more like an informed, taste-conscious design consultant. The agent is programmed to offer proactive design advice, contextual suggestions, and styling recommendations rather than simply mirroring basic product lists. <\/p>\n

To maintain this standard, the merchandising team routinely tests the AI by submitting challenging customer queries. Responses that fall short of company standards or require optimization are documented and sent back to their third-party development partner, Constructor, to continuously refine the agent’s behavioral algorithms and conversational logic.<\/p>\n

Off-Site AI Traffic and Broader Market Implications<\/p>\n

In addition to on-site conversational search capabilities, Elevated Brands Group is closely monitoring the evolving landscape of external AI traffic referrals. Platforms such as OpenAI\u2019s ChatGPT, Anthropic\u2019s Claude, and Perplexity are increasingly sending prospective shoppers directly to e-commerce properties. Currently, off-site AI referral traffic accounts for less than 10% of total visits to Rugs Direct and Lightopia. <\/p>\n

While acknowledging that external AI-driven traffic remains a modest slice of overall acquisition channels, Gautschi expresses optimism regarding its growth potential. Competing against industry behemoths like Walmart and Wayfair presents continuous challenges for mid-market specialized retailers, making diversified traffic acquisition channels vital for sustainable growth. Elevated Brands Group views the rise of external AI referral traffic as an opportunity to capture high-intent shoppers who have already narrowed their product preferences through preliminary conversational research on third-party platforms.<\/p>\n

From an economic perspective, the company anticipates that traffic originating from AI-powered search platforms will ultimately yield superior return on investment (ROI) and return on ad spend (ROAS) compared to conventional paid digital marketing programs, provided the incoming traffic demonstrates high qualification and conversion propensity.<\/p>\n

Industry Standing and Future Outlook<\/p>\n

The technological advancements implemented by Elevated Brands Group are reflected in industry benchmarking reports. Rugs Direct holds a prominent position as No. 622 in Digital Commerce 360\u2019s Top 1000 Database, a comprehensive market research tool tracking North America\u2019s largest online retailers based on annual e-commerce sales. Furthermore, the retailer is ranked No. 492 in Digital Commerce 360\u2019s specialized AI Rankings, available via the Top 1000 Pro with AI Database, underscoring its proactive adoption of emerging retail technologies.<\/p>\n

As consumer expectations shift permanently toward instant, conversational, and highly personalized digital experiences, the success of Ask Cleo serves as a case study for mid-sized retailers seeking to leverage artificial intelligence. By combining rigorous data integrity, targeted brand voice training, and strategic third-party partnerships, Elevated Brands Group has demonstrated that specialized e-commerce platforms can successfully harness agentic AI to drive meaningful engagement, enhance customer satisfaction, and accelerate core commercial metrics.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The integration of artificial intelligence into the retail sector has transitioned from a futuristic experiment into a core operational strategy, reshaping how consumers interact with digital storefronts. Elevated Brands Group, the parent organization overseeing specialized home goods and decor retailers Rugs Direct and Lightopia, has announced significant performance gains following the deployment of its on-site …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":7080,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[1050,292,2597,459,967,48,3581,63,714,282,3582,49,50],"class_list":["post-7081","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-e-commerce-trends-indonesia","tag-across","tag-agentic","tag-assistant","tag-brands","tag-drive","tag-ecommerce","tag-elevated","tag-group","tag-integrates","tag-performance","tag-properties","tag-retail","tag-shopping"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lockitsoft.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7081","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lockitsoft.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lockitsoft.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lockitsoft.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lockitsoft.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7081"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lockitsoft.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7081\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lockitsoft.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7080"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lockitsoft.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7081"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lockitsoft.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7081"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lockitsoft.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7081"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}