SPORTS BUSINESS JOURNAL: Fanatics leans into AI to improve merchandise sales

Justin Tsai doesn’t expect artificial intelligence to fix everything. “I’m not walking around with a big AI stick looking to use it,” joked the chief product officer for Fanatics Commerce. But he does see the technology as a potential difference maker for Fanatics users’ core digital experiences, particularly the way they shop around sports’ biggest moments.

By the time this year’s March Madness ends, Fanatics will have rolled out approximately 2,400 new products during the three-week period. The sheer output emphasizes the need for fans to find all those items in the first place so they can scoop them up. To boost that, Fanatics has fortified its digital ecosystem through a partnership with Google Cloud, using the tech giant’s Vertex AI Search for Commerce to help that merchandise hunt.

Tsai has been with Fanatics for more than a year, with a focus on enhancing the company’s digital operations. He spent the first three months engaging with users via interviews, surveys and focus groups to identify problems they encountered while shopping. He came away with four areas of improvement…