From Data to Dollars: Quantifying the ROI of AI Visibility Tools Among U.S. SME Importers
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.71222/fhvmkr84Keywords:
AI visibility tools, SMEs, supply chain management, logistics cost, inventory turnover, gross margin, ROIAbstract
As small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) play an increasingly important role in supply chains, AI visibility tools have emerged as a key means to enhance logistics efficiency and financial performance. This study analyzes a panel of 156 early-adopter SMEs from 2022 to 2024, employing a two-stage Difference-in-Differences approach combined with Propensity Score Weighting (PSW) to assess the impact of AI visibility tools on logistics costs, inventory turnover, and gross margin. Robustness checks include staggered DiD and Callaway-Sant'Anna dynamic treatment effect estimations. Empirical results indicate that the adoption of AI visibility tools significantly reduces logistics costs (by approximately 8.5%), increases inventory turnover (by approximately 12.3%), and improves gross margin (by approximately 3.6 percentage points), demonstrating the tools' economic return on investment (ROI). This study provides quantitative evidence for SME digital transformation and offers managerial insights for technology investment decisions.
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Copyright (c) 2025 Xiangying Chen (Author)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
