It’s not just a hype, voice assistants are about to transform retail

Unless you have been living under a rock the last few years, you've probably heard of voice assistants in the form of Amazon’s Alexa, Apple’s Siri, Google’s Assistant or Microsoft's Cortana. It’s fair to say that voice assistants are having something of a moment right now.

Such is the momentum behind the technology that 2019 has been hailed as ‘the year of the voice’ and just this week the Office of National Statistics added smart speakers to their basket of goods which it uses to measure consumer price inflation.

From their humble beginnings in the early 1960s with IBM’s Shoebox device (which understood a mere 16 words and 9 digits!) to the 21-language, 50,000 skill Amazon’s Alexa juggernaut of today, voice assistants and the voice recognition technology that powers them has come on leaps and bounds in a few short decades.

As with any technological leap (and anyone who grappled with Siri in the early days will certainly agree with the term ‘leap’), players across all industries and sectors are exploring ways that voice can drive new efficiencies, revenue streams and product lines.

Out of them all, retail is already galloping ahead in terms of maturity.

The retail market for voice assistant purchases already topped $1.8bn in 2017 and is predicted to hit $40bn in 2020 as more consumers become comfortable ordering with their voices.

Voice’s potential in retail and e-commerce

Checkout-free shopping already exists in many forms, Sainsbury’s and Tesco have started to implemented "scan, pay and go" technology and of course, Amazon are planning to open up to 3,000 cashierless stores by 2021 according to Bloomberg.

Consumers are already using biometrics like fingerprint to pay for purchases and voice as a verification method is just round the corner. A voiceprint is nearly impossible to hack which gives it an added benefit of security and is good news for retailers in terms of regulation compliance.

There are also many user arguments for voice technology in contact centers and customer service teams as they can help automate processes and save money, all whilst making the whole process more seamless. Rather than trying to recall the third, seventh, and tenth letter of a password you created 5 years ago which was the street you lived on but can’t remember the name of (we’ve all been there...), voice can be used for personal identification. This means speedier security checks and ultimately a better customer experience.  

Using highly accurate, natural language-driven algorithms, automated voice recognition tools enable retailers to make informed assumptions about the gender, age, location and even mood of the speaker. This creates highly valuable data, which is key to understanding your customer base before they have made any purchases and so journeys can be tailored to an individual instantly.  

Delivering more relevant, enhanced user experiences in this way ultimately means retail businesses can drive better conversion and retention rates, which can only help the bottom line.

Voice in the wild

This all might sound rather fanciful to some of you, but there are already real-world examples of voice being utilised in the wild.

The Mars Agency launched The Bottle Genius skill which can serve up in-store whisky recommendations. It answers questions based on a person's favourite whisky flavour, occasion or desire to try something new and serves up three recommendations along with tasting and brand information. Meanwhile, Benefit Cosmetics pioneered a UK-first when it launched its first voice-led campaign with Send Me A Sample earlier this year.

Over at Amazon, despite their general caginess about specific figures, the online retail giant claimed that voice sales tripled in the US over the holiday season in 2018 compared to the same period in 2017. Highlighting softening consumer attitudes towards voice ordering.

Voice’s challenges in retail and e-commerce

Despite the vast potential of voice technology there remain barriers and hurdles to wider adoption that are not just specific to retail. Much of these centre around privacy.

In her blog post ‘Home Security: The Tipping Point for Smart Speaker Privacy Fears?’, Jen Heap claims that privacy concerns are still a hurdle for smart speaker adoption, whether that’s avoiding them for certain actions such as shopping, or in owning one at all.

22% of smart speaker owners report they leave the room or lower their voice so ‘it can’t hear them’, and around 48% believe the technology is always listening to them according to Accenture. You might have even heard about the series of events that led an Amazon Alexa device to record a couple's conversation and send it to a random contact.

Along with privacy, users also seem to have an issue with trust,  ‘Accuracy in the Age of Voice Search’ report asked 4,000 UK and French consumers about their voice adoption habits and how much they trust voice search. Accuracy is a core issue for people when it comes to using voice technology. One in three consumers has found inaccurate or conflicting information about opening hours displayed online.

Yext believes these issues are the root cause of consumers’ mistrust in voice search results that brands must proactively build if voice technology is to be as successful. Trust is especially important when it comes to handling money, including using a device to make payments, transferring money and using it to pay bills.

The reluctance comes from concerns about security or a fear of being hacked and having personal details stolen. E-commerce and online banking went through very similar stages of development, but once there is tighter security, people will use it more.

The future of voice

Smart assistants have clearly come a long way since the days of Clippy, the friendly paper clip everybody loved to hate. Although voice assistants are shaping up to become the hubs of our connected homes and increasingly connected lives, it's evident there are a number of barriers that need to be overcome before voice technology sees mass adoption.

However, the voice assistant market is booming and it’s hard not to see how the technology won’t take off within retail. One thing's for certain, as technology and consumer behaviour changes, so too will the impact of voice controls on the retail sector.

What do you think? Will voice bring about a revolution in retail or is it all just overhyped nonsense? Let me know in the comments below and don’t forget to like and share if you enjoyed the read!