What Voice commerce represents for online commerce is much more than you can imagine from the beginning. Not surprisingly, it is a voice commerce process that focuses on sales through the resources of voice use provided by mobile devices. And from where we can have many business opportunities in digital commerce.
On the other hand, it must also be taken into account that Voice commerce or voice commerce is one of those opportunities in which a user does a voice search, either over the phone or with a virtual assistant, with in order to make an online purchase. Being a very innovative model and that in a certain way is going to revolutionize online commerce from now on.
Or for you to understand a little better from now on. It is constituted in a modern strategy that will serve you, so that through this special voice system, you have the opportunity to be in contact with what it really is. a derivation of transactional activities characterized by the use of the voice to be executed. As you will see, it is a substantial difference with respect to other models with similar characteristics. But from now on we will teach you a little better so that you know what it consists of and how you can get a better performance in its application in your business or online store. Not surprisingly, fortunately there are dozens of ways to make more sales online, many of which can be implemented in one way or another, as you will be able to see from this precise moment.
What is voice commerce or voice commerce?
Voice commerce uses voice recognition technology to reduce end users' dependency on hardware (such as mouse and keyboard), allowing them to use voice commands to find and buy products online. To use voice trading, all that is needed is a voice-powered device and a voice assistant.
But when did voice trading come about? Well, speech recognition technology dates back to 1961, when IBM engineer William C. Dersch created the first speech recognition system in history, called the "Shoebox." It recognized 16 spoken words, but at the time, it was only used to calculate math problems. However, it was the first step into the world of voice technology. In 2011, the voice assistant, Siri, was made available to iPhones, and in 2012, Android launched its own voice assistant.
However, although voice technology and voice assistants are not recent innovations, the adoption of voice commerce is still relatively new. Consumers are just starting to regularly use voice commands to search and shop online, with some still hesitating as they wait to test the waters of the hands-free approach to e-commerce.
In the last 5 years, there has been a huge rise in voice devices like the Amazon Echo and Google Home, leading to a parallel jump in consumers looking to try voice commerce. As more voice devices appear on the market, this trend is likely to continue to gather momentum.
How does voice trading work?
Voice trading is intended to be, and is, easy to implement. From a consumer point of view, all you need is your voice. Then you need the technology to make it happen. Here are the four requirements that are fundamental for its correct application
- You need a device that has a voice assistant; This can be a smartphone or similar voice-activated devices (like Amazon Echo or Google Home).
- You need to say a command to wake up the device, like "Hey Siri."
- You need to use a trigger word (usually a verb or an action). For example, if you say the command, "Siri, order product XYZ," "order" would be the keyword.
- You must be aware of your tones and inflections as your device will recognize what you have captured and will recognize that it is your unique voice and will try to avoid placing the command for what is suspected to be an "unknown" voice.
What are the benefits of voice trading?
Voice-powered devices are used for a variety of purposes, such as listening to music, checking temperatures, searching for information online, and performing everyday activities such as ordering food and shopping online. Because commerce is such a massive opportunity for voice technology, many companies have already taken advantage of voice commerce to improve their customers' online experience. The main benefits are:
Convenience
The biggest advantage of voice trading is how easy it is to use. All you need to activate it is a device with a voice assistant and your own voice. It allows consumers to shop when they are cooking, multitasking, or even driving. Buying products online has never been easier with hands-free voice trading.
Availability at any time of the day
Consumers can shop using voice commerce 24/7, just as they would in any store on the web, but voice technology also allows them to do so more easily and quickly, without a lengthy process. navigation and purchase.
Buying speed
With voice commerce, a customer does not have to log in or fill in their personal details at a company web store to purchase a product online - valuable time is saved and ease is maximized.
Personalization of shopping experiences
Because voice commerce is so easy to use, people tend to interact more with their devices. Devices can then gather more data from their owners, and use this data to personalize their customer experience. Companies that collect information on consumer behavior, preferences, and historical data can develop powerful products and marketing strategies to outperform the competition, while delighting their customers with every purchase.
What are the challenges of voice commerce today?
Language limitations
Every human voice is unique, and computers can have a hard time understanding accents and intonations.
Developers must continually improve language features to overcome this challenge. Today, English is the most developed and recognized language in voice technology, but Amazon has started selling Echo devices to more than 80 countries, so language development needs to be improved to keep up with the pace. demand.
Make interactions more "human"
In addition to language barriers, voice programs also struggle to make interactions with voice assistants feel more intuitive and natural, like those between two people. Solving this problem could impact consumer confidence in voice technology and drive greater use around the world.
Knowledge gap
There is a lack of information about the capabilities of voice assistants, and many consumers do not buy or use voice assistants because they feel they have little or no knowledge of what a voice assistant can do, how to use it, or if there are risks involved. on
What does the future of voice commerce look like?
Voice commerce has the potential to be a game changer for B2C and B2B e-commerce, once adoption barriers are overcome. According to Google, 20% of all searches are already done through voice commands. Currently, the voice technology user base in the US alone represents 42,7% of the population. Econsultancy forecasts that by 2020, voice commerce will account for half of all online searches. It is even expected to become a part of the bricks and mortar shopping experience, allowing people to search for things online and in stores, in the same way that they would interact with a store clerk.
The opportunity for B2B companies
For B2B companies, voice commerce is a great opportunity not only to improve processes in warehouses and offices, but also to stand out from the competition. B2B companies pioneering the adoption of new technologies such as voice commerce will be able to offer their B2B customers memorable, simple and innovative online experiences.
While voice technology is evolving, it is having an impact in many spheres, including e-commerce. In this article, we'll also take a closer look at how voice search is changing online shopping, what voice commerce is, and why it has the potential to become the next big thing in e-commerce. They will see that speech recognition technology is already changing the way we shop online.
Voice commerce is a technology that provides an alternative to using the keyboard and mouse to order and purchase products online. All the customer needs to search and buy something online using voice commands is a virtual assistant like Google Assistant or Amazon Alexa - and, of course, a voice. Voice trading is not limited to finding the product itself, but also ordering and purchasing it.
With the help of voice commerce, completing a purchase becomes faster and can be done at any time of the day, even while showering, if your assistant can hear them. According to a voice shopping consumer adoption report, the top reasons consumers like voice shopping are:
It's hands free
It is possible to do it while doing other things
It is faster to get answers and results.
If you are a retailer and don't prepare for this significant e-commerce trend towards v-commerce, then you won't be around.
How do you use voice trading?
To shop online using voice technology, customers need a mobile device or smart speaker and a virtual assistant. The most popular brands of smart speakers that use voice-controlled virtual assistants are Amazon Echo (powered by Alexa) and Google Home (powered by Google Assistant).
Voice-activated smart assistants are used for a variety of purposes: listening to any type of music, searching for particular information on any topic, running a home automation function, and even ordering food. Let's take a look at how virtual assistants are used for online voice shopping.
In the case of Amazon, customers can use an Alexa-enabled device to search, order, and buy Amazon products using voice. The word "Alexa" activates the device. For example, a customer would say "Alexa, order" and the name of the product they want to buy. Alexa checks a buyer's stored purchase history and suggests products based on previous data. If the past data does not show previous orders like the current one, then Alexa suggests "Amazon Choice" products first. Alexa announces the price of the product and asks if the buyer wants to buy the product. If the answer is yes, Alexa places the order; if the answer is no, Alexa can suggest other options.
Other applications in voice trading
Artificial intelligence has the power to transform anything remotely stupid into an intelligent object! Yes, AI has been doing this for quite some time and with the rise of voice assistants, things have gotten more exciting. Companies around the world have understood the importance of "Voice Commerce."
It all started with the speech-to-text technology developed by Google. "Google Voice Search" has been released for iPhones, this advanced application used data centers to easily compute data and be able to analyze it, this is actually a good example of human speech.
Voice assistants is a broad term and refers to conversation agents who perform different tasks for an individual or a user, be it functional or social in nature, interpreting the voice command and the context of the request. The software foundation of such smart objects has a combination of AI technologies such as Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR), Text-to-Speech Synthesis (TTS), Natural Language Understanding (NLU), to engage at the natural level. of the conversation with users.
This category of Internet of Things (IoT) devices is known by various names including: Smart Speaker, AI Assistant, Smart Personal Assistant, Digital Personal Assistant, Voice Controlled Smart Assistant, Voice Activated Smart Assistant) and conversation agent. All these devices are actively used in the market and are now being exploited to make consumers buy products promoted on their platforms.
Assistance to buyers:
According to one of the recent surveys, more than 3.250 billion digital voice assistants are used in this digital world and it is estimated that by the year 2023 it will reach 8.000 billion units, which is more than the total population of the Earth in this moment. If you consider the figures for the United States alone, there are almost 111,8 million users of digital voice assistants with an average use of once a month.
Voice assistants can take various forms, such as on a mobile device or a Bluetooth speaker such as "Alexa" or embedded software agents such as "Cortana" or "Catalina" on smartphones and computers.
The most popular voice assistant functions accessed by users are playing music, controlling smart appliances, providing weather information, answering general knowledge questions, and setting alarms.
But, with recent advances in artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies, the use of voice assistants for business use has increased. Today, digital assistants are seen as a new point of contact that enables new forms of interaction between consumers and brands.
Voice trading is helping its users order online using voice assistants. The number of consumers using smart speakers for their purchases is increasing rapidly, and the percentage of shoppers using virtual assistants is not limited to one product category, but varies across a wide range of products. Statistically, about 21% of US smart speaker owners have purchased music or movies and 8% have purchased household items.