What Consumer Intent Says About the Growth of Voice Commerce

Apple introduced us to Siri in 2011 and seven years into amp8220the voice revolutionamp8221 itamp8217s looking a lot more like a slowly rolling quotevolutionquotamp160 But not for long amp160Not because of Apple although the tech giant certainly will play a role but because Amazon is betting its future on a voicebased interface that is increasingly integrated into popular household devices and paired with both digital and physical retailVoice will change how brands go to market and interact with consumers but not quite yetamp160amp160A new report by The Information rocked a few boats earlier this month when it revealed practically no one was buying via voice amp160According to people familiar with Amazonamp8217s internal figures only 2 of those who own devices with Amazonamp8217s Alexa digital have made a voice purchase in 2018 amp160Just 2 of the estimated 50 million Alexaenabled devices reportedly sold overall amp160Of those 2 90 didnamp8217t repeat the experience although more 20 according to the report have interacted with Alexa to follow up on the status of an orderThis fits nicely with research conducted by Performics and Northwestern Universityamp8217s Intent Lab a partnership that tracks consumer intent digital satisfaction we call it the Digital Satisfaction Index oramp160DSI and how it leads to purchases amp160While we are in the early stages of adoption there are already concrete behaviors emerging amp160Most disconcerting to marketers will be how much brands can be intermediated by the programming amp16085 of consumers have on at least one occasion purchased the first option selected for them by the virtual voice assistant according to research by our sister agency DigitasBy 2022 55 of all households in the US are expected to own a smart speaker and voice commerce in the US is expected reach 40 billion according to research by Activate and comScore respectivelySo what is the most used function on Amazonamp8217s Alexa amp160News according to our Intent Lab research thanks to the prevalence of Amazon devices in the home amp160Consumers are largely asking about news not adding laundry detergent to their Prime shopping list amp160To be fair no digital assistant on the market is primarily used for shopping Appleamp8217s Siri is being asked about the weather Google Assistant to report the traffic and Microsoftamp8217s Cortana to give sports scores amp160But still shopping isnamp8217t floating to the top for consumers amp160This is in part because voice best lends itself to mobile functions hence the weather queries and Alexa dominates at home due to Amazonamp8217s popular Echo family of devices amp160Intent Lab research already shows that shoppers are more comfortable buying products with Alexa because shopping is native to Amazon amp16047 would buy from Alexa using Amazon Prime 29 from Appleamp8217s Siri 16 from Google Assistant and 8 from Microsoft CortanaWhile Alexa has a home court advantage literally Siri leads for categories most likely to be searched on mobile devices amp160When it comes to which product categories consumers would consider using a voicecontrolled digital assistant the Intent Lab found19 would buy household items15 were interested in ordering meals13 would buy groceries11 would make an electronics purchase11 considered buying personal carecosmetics9 were interested in apparel6 would spend on travelThe consumer intent around grocery is notable in that Amazon recently enabled voice ordering from Whole Foods on Alexa amp160Paired with a new grocery pickup program available at select stores this could help push some Prime members to utilize the technologyBut there are real barriers to overcome amp160Consumers have trust and privacy issues 42 of Intent Lab respondents said they donamp8217t make purchases with voice because they donamp8217t feel comfortable sharing private information and 23 wonamp8217t say amp8220buyamp8221 because they donamp8217t trust the information theyamp8217re getting from the tool according to the Intent Labamp8217s DSI amp160A lack of visual capability is also holding back the tide but thatamp8217s likely to change as voice is embedded into a plethora of new devices with screens inside and outside of the home including carsFor now voice lends itself best to concrete tasks as consumers find it most useful for getting short specific answers 35 directions 31 product information 17 and simple productbrand comparisons 12As marketers closely watch how this emerging channel performs brands need to create proactive voice strategies that include strong partnerships with the platforms target functionality work to build trust invest in cues and skills that build relationships with the human user and add value to consumeramp8217s livesPhoto credit Thomas KolnowskiUnsplashClick the social buttons above or below to share this story with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers

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What Consumer Intent Says About the Growth of Voice Commerce

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Esteban Ribero

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What Consumer Intent Says About the Growth of Voice Commerce

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