Automated Product Descriptions for Large E-commerce Retailers

What is an automated product description?

An automated product description is exactly what it sounds like: a product description displayed on your website, but one written by a piece of technology (meaning artificial intelligence) rather than a human.

There are a few reasons why retailers might choose to automate their product descriptions:

• Save time
• Save money
• Generate better descriptions

First, automated product descriptions can help large e-commerce retailers save time. Rather than writing descriptions for every item you sell, you can create them with generative AI at the click of a button.

In other cases, companies might have a content marketing team without having a professional copywriter on staff. These businesses are left with two options: use an AI writing tool or outsource the project to a freelance copywriter.

While both roads will likely lead you to better product descriptions, hiring a copywriter will be more expensive (and time-consuming) than using an AI writing tool.

Search the phrase 'writers for product descriptions' on sites like Upwork, and you’ll spend anywhere between $40 - $200 per hour for minimal descriptions. And according to ZipRecruiter, the average e-commerce copywriter earns $48,408 per year (or $23/hour).

AI content generators, however, gives you a professional e-commerce copywriter in a box that can write product descriptions at scale.

Copy.ai, for example, costs $49/month and lets you write unlimited words in both long and short-form content.This gives you everything you need for product descriptions in bulk and your other text-based marketing assets. And for those of you doing the math, unlimited content with Copy.ai is roughly two hours of the average copywriter's time.

Finally, online retailers may find that they get better quality output from an AI writing tool than they do from outsourcing to a writer on Upwork. This is becoming more and more common as AI tools are continuously improving in quality.

Considering the accessibility, affordability, and potential for growth offered by modern product description generators, there's no reason for large retailers to drag their heels on implementation.

Do product descriptions impact conversion rates?

Yes, product descriptions impact conversion rates. This happens both directly and indirectly.

Indirectly, product descriptions have the potential to bring more organic traffic. That’s because they’re large pieces of text on your product’s landing page, meaning it can be crawled/ranked by Google.

SEO-friendly product descriptions are a great way of attracting more customers to your online store through search engines.

But product descriptions also have a more direct impact on your conversions/sales.

The way your product is conveyed can be the deciding factor on whether or not customers go ahead with their purchase. Descriptions that are generic, thin, or vague tend to underperform compared to descriptions that are engaging, full, and…well… descriptive.

This makes product descriptions the ideal place to highlight the value of your products and the quality of your brand.

Which is better: Copywriters or AI writing tools?

Hiring a professional copywriter or working with generative AI writing tools are great options for product descriptions. Either route can lead to higher-quality content and give you more time to work on other areas of your business.

However, AI writing tools are certainly the more affordable option and produce the same quality results as a human writer. Plus, AI tools will help get the same (if not better) content completed in a fraction of the time it would take a person to write by hand.

And with most software, you can even get text in multiple languages. Copy.ai, for example, allows you to generate content in 25+ languages. This makes AI writing tools a more robust option for larger brands/teams with an international customer base.

To see it in action, check out this small video on how to create automated product descriptions with a tool like Copy.ai:

7 tools to create automated product descriptions

Below, you’ll find 7 of the best AI tools to create automated product descriptions. But for this article, our team decided to include a bit of raw output from each tool listed.

That way, you can get an idea of what each software can do at a practical level. In this demo, we’ll write a product description for this outdoor patio set by Zulily, an online e-commerce store with a wide range of products:

To keep things fair, we put identical input into each software. Here is our text input:

• Name: Two piece chaise patio love seat set
• Description: This outdoor patio set is perfect for all seasons and waterproof for rainy weather. It's perfect for hosting outdoor bbqs, reading a nice book on a sunny day, or watching the kids play in the back yard. It's very durable, affordable, and comes with fast shipping. Dimensions:74'' W x 26.38'' H x 48.43''
  

From that, we’ll be able to see what each tool writes for our automated product descriptions.

1. Copy.ai

Copy.ai is a generative AI platform that writes high-quality product descriptions in seconds. Enter a bit of information about your product, and you’ll have an SEO-friendly description generated with a click.

Then polish the output to match your brand’s voice/style, and you’ve got a strategy to write unlimited product descriptions for your store. And if you aren’t happy with the output on your first try, you can generate many more options just as quickly.

Here’s the product description Copy.ai created:

Raw Output

Planning a party, or just want some extra seating for the summer? This is the perfect outdoor chaise set. The durable wicker weave construction of the seating area has been designed for all seasons, giving you a comfortable spot for entertaining guests during spring and summer months, then a cozy place to relax in the falling temperatures during fall and winter. Enjoy BBQs, a good book, or watching your kids play from your new favorite spot.

Note: Remember, in each example from this article, you’re seeing the raw automated product description. We always recommend using AI writing tools as supplements to your writing process (rather than a complete replacement for it).

There’s another aspect of Copy.ai that you should keep in mind: it generates product descriptions in bulk.

With Copy.ai’s open API, you’ll be able to sync all of your store’s products to have descriptions generated in seconds.

Simply create a file with the technical specifications of your product, and Copy.ai will make a high-converting and persuasive description in seconds:

Then you can have those descriptions implemented on your product pages by integrating this data with your e-commerce platform. This can save your marketing team hundreds of hours as you write, test, and optimize your descriptions for higher conversions.

And the best part is that our API isn't just limited to product descriptions, either. Instead, you can use this to sync Copy.ai with your entire sales/marketing stack to experience growth like never before.

You can use CopyAI’s automation to supercharge nearly every tedious aspect of your marketing or sales funnels. On top of product descriptions, you can also run:

• Programmatic SEO: Write hundreds of SEO-friendly articles around your products to drive more organic traffic to your pages month over month.
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• Outbound Sales: Showcase your products by targeting potential customers and sending personalized cold outreach messages/follow-ups (all of which are done on auto-pilot, of course).
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• Thought Leadership: Generate compelling thought leadership articles to build authority in your niche and build more brand awareness.

Imagine having the ability to create long-form posts that drive organic traffic at the click of a button; being able to create engaging social posts that bring more inbound leads; or taking a list of LinkedIn URLs and generating hundreds of personalized email/InMail messages in minutes.

These are just a few examples of how workflow automation can help your online store, but the sky is the limit. You can use Copy.ai to generate any text-based assets you need, such as paid ads, eBooks, product demo scripts, and much more.

This allows you to solve multiple problems with a single tool and 100x your teams’ output (without sacrificing an ounce of quality).

Price: $49/month for unlimited words.

Forever Free Plan: Yes (2,000 words)

Get started with Copy.ai today!

2. Rytr

Rytr is another AI writing tool specifically focusing on short-form copy – product descriptions included. Like most other tools on this list, you need to enter some information about your product to generate a description at the click of a button.

Here’s what Rytr created for this patio set's product description:

Raw Output

Take your outdoor living space up a notch with the Two Piece Chaise Patio Lounger! Whether you’re looking to entertain guests, relax with a book in the sun, or let the kids run wild in the backyard – this set is crafted with durability and affordability in mind and will be sure to last you through all seasons. Plus, it’s waterproof so you don’t need to worry about rainy days! Get ready for an unforgettable outdoor experience and purchase your Two Piece Chaise Patio Lounger today.

Keep in mind, though, that Rytr doesn’t generate long-form content (like blog posts, ebooks, video scripts, etc.). If you want other marketing assets for your online store, you’d likely want a more well-rounded tool.

Price: $29/month for unlimited words.

Content Type: Short-form (exclusively)

Free Trial: Yes

Forever Free Plan: Yes (10,000 characters, not words)

3. Copysmith

Like Rytr, Copysmith is an AI word generator that can help with product descriptions and other short-form campaigns. Currently, it doesn’t create long-form content. It can, however, be a useful tool for writing SEO-friendly product descriptions.

Set Product Description as the use case, determine the number of variants you want produced, and give a bit of detail about the product you’d like to sell. And just like that, you’ll have a product description ready to polish.

Here’s what Copysmith produced from our input:

Raw Output

This two-piece chaise patio love seat set is perfect for any outdoor space. The set is made of a waterproof and durable material that is perfect for any weather condition. The set also comes with fast shipping and is great for bbqs or watching your kids play. Dimensions: 74'' W x 26.38'' H x 48.43''.

Price: $19/month for 75 credits (or 30,000 words)

Content Types: Short-form (exclusively)

Free Trial: Yes

Forever Free Plan: No

4. Writesonic

Writesonic can help business owners create unique text-based marketing assets, including both long and short-form content. It comes with a pre-set template for product descriptions and allows you to stretch your budget by changing the quality of the output generated.

You can set your quality to:

• Economic
• Average
• Good
• Premium

Economic quality is the least expensive option, and you get less words created as you move toward Premium quality. Here’s what Writesonic wrote for our product description in Economic mode:

Raw Output

Looking for a comfortable, elegant patio set that is both stylish and waterproof? Look no further than the Two piece chaise patio love set! This set is perfect for all seasons and has a waterproof rating for rainy weather. The perfect size for hosting outdoor bbqs, reading a nice book on a sunny day, or watching the kids play in the back yard, this set is also fast and secure shipping. It's a must-have for any outdoor set.

To be fair, you’d get better output by switching the quality settings to Premium. However, Economic mode is currently the default setting, so it’s worth seeing what kind of output you’d be working with.

Price: $12.67/month for 47,500 “good” words

Content Type: Long and short-form content

Free Trial: Yes

Forever Free Plan: Yes (6,250 words)

5. Ginnie

Ginnie is an automated content generator that is slightly different from the other tools on this list. It’s specifically designed to make product descriptions for e-commerce stores and only for the following departments:

• House & Home
• Apparel
• Jewellery
• Toys
• Beauty
• Consumer Electronics

But unlike the other software in this article, you don’t add text input to generate your product description. Instead, you select from a series of drop-down menus to identify the type of product you’re selling.

This can be a bit limiting, depending on the niche of your online store.

For example, we couldn’t add all the information we needed about our patio set, though we did manage to select some general descriptors. Here’s what Ginnie wrote for our product:

Raw Output

Perfect for sharing a meal with family or cocktails with friends, this patio set can rise to any outdoor occasion. Its laidback casual style has a broad appeal that works in most décor schemes. Crafted from versatile wicker, it's both durable and great looking. Available in a low-maintenance and high quality stainless steel finish.

Price: $50/month for 25 product descriptions

Free Trial: Yes

Forever Free Plan: No

6. Anyword

Anyword is a copywriting tool that helps with both long and short-form content. For product listings, it gives users the following options:

• Amazon product listing
• Walmart product listing
• General product listing
• Product review
• Perfect product headlines

Like most tools on this list, all you need to do is add the product's name and a general description. You’ll get three options for product descriptions automatically generated. Here’s what Anyword came up with from our input:

Raw Output

Ready for some fun in the sun? Or maybe even a cozy night around the fire? With this outdoor patio set, you can do it all! Its waterproof coating ensures that even the rainiest weather won't stop your outdoor adventures. Plus, its durable, affordable, and comes with fast shipping - perfect for hosting backyard BBQs, reading a good book, or just watching the kids play. Don't miss out - get your outdoor patio set today! Dimensions: 74'' W x 26.38'' H x 48.43''

Price: $29/month for 20,000 words

Content Type: Long and short-form

Free Trial: Yes

Forever Free Plan: No

7. HypotenuseAI

HypotenuseAI is an AI content generator that helps e-commerce businesses create website copy and marketing assets. You can upload products in bulk from Shopify, BigCommerce, WooCommerce, and other online shopping platforms.

From there, you can generate product descriptions – like the one below – at the click of a button:

Raw Output

This comfortable patio set is perfect for hosting outdoor events. With a versatile design and affordable price, this patio set is perfect for any back yard. It's made of waterproof and weather-resistant materials, so you can enjoy it all year long. With dimensions of 74'' W x 26.38'' H x 48.43'' D, this patio set offers plenty of space for you and your guests to relax in comfort.

HypotenuseAI is a good option for product descriptions and long-form blog posts. It also creates other marketing copy, including content for social media.

However, it should be noted that it doesn’t come with as many rich tools or templates as other options on this list, such as CopyAI, Rytr, or Writesonic.

Price: $29/month for 100 credits (roughly 25,000 words)

Content Type: Long and short-form content

Free Trial: Yes

Forever Free Plan: No

Final tips on writing good product descriptions

Again, once you’ve entered some input into your AI writing tool, you’ll have a few options for product descriptions that are automatically generated. But you’ll likely want to polish the output to ensure the final draft matches your brand’s voice/style.

And for that, you’ll want to understand what makes some product descriptions stronger than others. Here are a few things to keep in mind.

1) Understand how your target audience speaks

A big part of audience research is figuring out the wants and needs of your audience. But copywriters need to go a step further: they need to understand how customers express those wants and needs.

You can figure this out by learning how your target audience speaks about:

• Their current struggle
• Solutions they’ve tried in the past
• The ideal solution they’re looking for

Fortunately, there’s an easy way to find this information. Simply identify a few of your direct competitors and read customer reviews on related products. Then you can highlight positive and negative phrases to use in your copy.

Below, you’ll see an example where we put positive sentiments in green and underlined negative sentiments in red:

This will give you an idea about how your customers speak and how you can best convey the benefits of your products to customers. Which leads nicely to our next point…

2) Focus on the product’s benefits rather than the features

Most e-commerce stores write product descriptions in terms of features. Copywriters – the good ones, at least – write in benefits.

So what’s the difference?

Features tell customers what your product is and how it works. Benefits highlight why those features matter to the customer at a practical level.

For example, imagine you’re selling running shoes online. And one feature of these shoes might be that they have extra padding in the soles. Rather than saying:

“These shoes have extra padding in the soles”

You would want to ask yourself how this translates to the customer's desired outcome. That way, you can craft your copy focus on the tangible benefits:

“Protect your knees and get more mileage from your runs with extra padding in every sole.”

Once you start writing product descriptions rich with benefits (rather than features), conversions begin to rise.

3) Keep product descriptions short, sweet, and scannable

This last tip is particularly important when using an AI writing tool to generate product descriptions. When everything can be done at the click of a button, it can be tempting to let your descriptions run on longer than they have to.

Keep your product descriptions to a handful of benefit-driven sentences, and when possible, add a few bullet points to keep things scannable.

Doing so will help your audience quickly understand whether the product is right for them and, ultimately, increase sales from your online store.

Leverage AI for automated product descriptions

Even small writing tasks like product descriptions can quickly add up and become overwhelming.

Fortunately, you’ve got powerful AI-driven technology working in your corner. These tools will allow you to create SEO-friendly product descriptions in minutes, along with your other text-based marketing assets.

Ready to give it a shot? Take Copy.ai for a spin today and see how quickly it can generate high-converting product descriptions for your online store!

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