We quantify the impact of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) on firm productivity through a series of large-scale randomized field experiments involving millions of users and products at a leading cross-border online retail platform. Over six months in 2023-2024, GenAI-based enhancements were integrated into seven consumer-facing business workflows. We find that GenAI adoption significantly increases sales, with treatment effects ranging from $0\%$ to $16.3\%$, depending on GenAI's marginal contribution relative to existing firm practices. Because inputs and prices were held constant across experimental arms, these gains map directly into total factor productivity improvements. Across the four GenAI applications with positive sales effects, the implied annual incremental value is approximately $\$ 5$ per consumer-an economically meaningful impact given the retailer's scale and the early stage of GenAI adoption. The primary mechanism operates through higher conversion rates, consistent with GenAI reducing frictions and improving consumer experience. Importantly, these effects are not associated with worse post-purchase outcomes, as product return rates and customer ratings do not deteriorate. Finally, we document substantial demand-side heterogeneity, with larger gains for less experienced consumers. Our findings provide novel, large-scale causal evidence on the productivity effects of GenAI in online retail, highlighting both its immediate value and broader potential.

翻译：我们通过在一家领先的跨境在线零售平台上进行的一系列大规模随机实地实验，量化了生成式人工智能（GenAI）对企业生产力的影响，该实验涉及数百万用户和产品。在2023年至2024年的六个月内，基于GenAI的增强功能被整合到七个面向消费者的业务流程中。我们发现，采用GenAI显著提高了销售额，处理效应范围从$0\%$到$16.3\%$不等，具体取决于GenAI相对于现有企业实践的边际贡献。由于实验组之间的投入和价格保持不变，这些收益直接转化为全要素生产率的提升。在四个对销售额有积极影响的GenAI应用中，隐含的年均增量价值约为每位消费者$\$ 5$——考虑到零售商的规模和GenAI采用的早期阶段，这是一个具有经济意义的显著影响。其主要作用机制是通过更高的转化率实现的，这与GenAI减少摩擦和改善消费者体验的预期一致。重要的是，这些效应并未伴随更差的购后结果，因为产品退货率和客户评分并未恶化。最后，我们记录了显著的需求侧异质性，对于经验较少的消费者，收益更大。我们的研究结果为GenAI在在线零售中的生产力效应提供了新颖、大规模因果证据，突显了其即时价值和更广泛的潜力。