With ever more people using voice assistants to shop, are retailers missing a trick? Mike Cockfield, CEO at Khaos Control Solutions, looks at how business can quickly implement voice technology to offer customers a buying process that is as simple and effortless as possible.
Catalogue retailer Argos has recently launched a partnership with Google to provide a voice shopping service that allows users to check the availability of stock and reserve items to collect in store. They are the first UK retailer to offer voice shopping through an integration partnership.
Argos’ decision to implement this new technology is a clear example of a retailer attempting to modernise and adapt to new technology in order to keep up with their competitors. If voice technology proves successful for Argos, other companies will likely follow in their footsteps. This begs the question then, is voice technology the future for eCommerce?
Currently the Amazon Echo is the only service which allows users to use voice technology to shop with. Unlike the other personal assistants on the market such as the Google Home and Apple Homepod the Echo allows users to buy products directly from Amazon by using simple voice commands such as “Alexa order me some toothpaste”. Its ease of use and convenience has boosted sales for Amazon and allowed it to remain number 1 in the eCommerce market.
Based on the success Amazon have achieved, voice technology has the potential to revolutionise eCommerce. Personal home assistants like the Amazon Echo are becoming more common in people’s homes and the market for these products is growing fast. It is clear from the amount of Echo’s that Amazon has sold and are projected to sell, that people are open to this technology. Latest figures from Amazon suggest they sold tens of millions of these devices in 2017. Sales of the Google Home also rose by 483% in 2017 and a recent study conducted by Juniper Research found that 40% of UK households will likely own an Amazon echo by next year. As millions of people already own a device and millions more are likely to purchase one in the near future, it is evident to see the opportunity that voice can present.
The study by Juniper Research also highlights that the use of voice technology is widely underutilised at the moment. This means there is huge opportunity for businesses that can quickly implement voice technology in to part of their overall strategy and offer customers a buying process that is as simple and effortless as possible. Businesses aren’t currently utilising this technology despite all the figures indicating that consumers are using it to shop. It is estimated that 22% of Amazon Echo and Google Home owners use these devices to buy products, and these figures are expected to rise. That means there are hundreds of thousands of people shopping with these products and even more will shop with them in the future.
The amount of people using an Amazon Echo to shop also demonstrates how buyer behaviours are changing. When we think about how much the way people shop has changed in the last 20 years, it is staggering. 15 years ago the majority of shopping was done on the high street. People had to leave their homes and go in store to buy what they wanted and were confined to the shops opening hours, which was a huge barrier for consumers. Then came online shopping and the eCommerce market and consumers began shopping from the comfort of their own home using their laptop or computer. Next, mobile buying became the norm with the rise of apps such as ASOS. As technology evolves, so too does the way people shop.
Shoppers want an easy process and want to be able to shop when its convenient for them. This is why brick and mortar stores are failing. Why go out of your way when you can shop from wherever you are at that moment, so long as you have your phone?
If buyers want an easy buying process and the only thing stopping someone from being able to shop is whether they have their phone on them or not, it makes sense that voice is the next step in the evolution of online shopping. With voice technology you no longer need your phone to shop, you just need an Alexa in your house. You don’t even have to be in the same room as your Alexa, provided you can shout loud enough. It will be interesting to see if there is a rise in noise complaints as a result of more people buying home assistants.
Looking at the success Amazon has managed to achieve in implementing voice technology it is surprising more businesses aren’t implementing it. Ultimately, any business that sells a product online is in direct competition with Amazon, therefore businesses should look to Amazon for ways to remain competitive with them. What Amazon have done in implementing voice technology is made their buying process very simple. For businesses to remain competitive they must focus on making their own buying process and their buyers’ journeys as simple as possible. One way in which businesses can do this is by implementing voice technology as Amazon have and Argos are.
For businesses, voice technology will present a new set of challenges. The need for accurate and up to date stock control will become even more important. If companies sell across multiple channels and over sell an item as a result of voice sales they will disappoint customers and leave them frustrated, which can damage a businesses reputation.
The safety of user data will also be a top priority. With the introduction of GDPR businesses can now be fined £20 million or 4% of annual revenue for a data breach. Businesses will need to ensure they have adequate systems in place to protect user data accumulated from voice technology. There have already been instances of voice assistants recording users and sending this data to other users.
Voice technology also raises an interesting question about Marketing. If users are shopping more with their voice then they aren’t seeing the product before they buy it. Businesses rely on a customer’s ability to browse their products as it increases the chance of impulse buying. For voice technology, marketers will have to find new ways of advertising products and getting them in front of people. Product descriptions will also have to be optimised for voice so customers can be told product information rather than reading it.
These are just some of the challenges businesses may face as voice technology becomes more widely adopted. At the moment, the future of voice technology and eCommerce is still somewhat of a mystery. In its current guise, the technology isn’t advanced enough to make voice a truly powerful eCommerce tool. Argos have stated they do not expect instant results from this new Google Home integration. Given the rapid pace at which technology advances, it is easy to imagine how powerful this technology could be in the future.
In 10 years’ time voice technology will be far more sophisticated. With possible links to AI, voice assistants could resemble something closer to that found in comic book film rather than its current incarnation which is more like a vocal, more helpful, Msn Chatbot. Voice technology has the potential to be a real opportunity for business and could become a powerful tool in attracting buyer and generating revenue
By Mike Cockfield
CEO