There are many audio devices such as (Google Home), (Amazon Echo) and so on. It is expected that the use of voice technology will increase in the future allowing customers to build better communication with brands through their voice interactions. Any online activity can be done using your voice, whether it is browsing, buying or selling.
To search for a specific item across a website, you just have to call up its name, rather than typing it into the search bar. According to research conducted by the company (Ilumeo); A data science consulting firm in Brazil, found that (48%) of respondents use voice assistants at least once a week and (87%) of them primarily use voice search. In addition, (84%) find it easier to use their voice than writing and (70%) find brands that use this technology to be of higher value. In the case of AI, the computer can recognize your voice individually and can also save customer interaction history to better understand their concerns. So, you can say that in the next five years, voice commerce will make customers’ shopping experience more efficient. In today’s market, there are a lot of challenges to running a successful E-Commerce store.
There are a lot of trends and developments in this field to improve user experience and enhance good customer service, as one of the most important of these trends is voice commerce. In this article, we will try to shed light on the concept of voice commerce, how it works, and its most important benefits…
What is voice commerce?
Voice commerce is simply using your voice to search for or buy products online. As customers flock to buy everything from the web, from clothes to groceries, brick-and-mortar stores face fierce competition. In fact, E-Commerce sales grow by about 15% annually, while the actual growth rate is less than 2%. COVID-19 has exacerbated this trend significantly.
Voice search:
Voice search, also called voice-enabled, allows a user to use a voice command to search the Internet, a website, or an application.
It’s true that voice commerce is still new to us, but voice search has been around for a while. Various search engines and applications have used it but mostly for voice search only.
Use of voice technology to purchase products:
If you need to search products or buy many things, you’ll still need to look at the screen and scroll manually…but if you know the product and store you want to buy at, or just want to re-order, then voice commerce is perfect. You can do it in a few seconds without even touching the device.
Choosing a middle ground may be the best option, for example you can use your voice to search for things and this is of course faster, after that you can just select a product manually and again use your voice to order it easily.
Voice assistants:
At this point, in addition to reading the voice, the systems can also recognize and execute commands.
No matter if it’s Apple’s Siri, Google Assistant, or Amazon’s Alexa, just choose a command to summon the assistant and start buying.
You can choose different languages in the settings so that your natural language is well understood. Your smart speaker, phone or other device will recognize your voice and command, search for the product and order it for you. Just answer the given questions and everything will be easy.
This is why if you are the owner of an E-Commerce mobile app, you should definitely allow voice assistants to come in. This will enable more customers to buy in your store and attract new customers to start shopping there.
Increase customer interaction with voice assistants:
We will now show you some recent statistics to highlight the great importance of voice assistants and voice search, which will increase in the year (2022):
- According to (Statista) statistics, the number of digital voice assistants used worldwide is estimated to reach (8.4) billion dollars by the year (2024).
- Also, according to (Voicebot), voice commerce sales will reach (164) billion dollars worldwide by (2025).
Here are also the percentages of owners of voice assistants who actually perform activities via voice on a regular basis:
- (51%) of users are searching for products.
- (36%) of users add items to their shopping list.
- 30% of users track packages (a series of actions to obtain a package).
- (22%) of users make a purchase.
- (20%) of users provide ratings or reviews.
- (18%) of users contact support.
- (17%) of users rearrange items.
How does voice commerce improve customer experience?
- Faster and more convenient shopping trips.
- Creating more personalized shopping experiences.
- Better discovery opportunities for products and brands.
Benefits of Voice Commerce:
- Speed: Telling voice commands is much faster than typing.
- Convenience: It is still impossible to browse the different products in stores without looking at the screen, but buying using voice commands is still more convenient than using traditional methods, as you can do the order while you are doing your other work.
- Personalization: The voice assistant is often able to guess what product the customer wants to buy. Companies use data from past purchases and improve the overall shopping experience by offering their customers products that matter most.
- Security: means that payment security in voice commerce works on the same principle as in other E-Commerce stores by integrating these systems into each platform so that the provider is responsible for its security.
How does it fit into E-Commerce
In the past years, global digital transformation has enhanced customer connectivity with smart speakers and voice-activated technologies such as (Alexa) and (Siri).
These voice systems allow brands to deliver interactive and personalized experiences to customers.
Also, implementing voice commerce will increase the sales conversion rate of E-Commerce sites by connecting through sales channels that customers already use.