Decoding the Future of Voice Commerce
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Decoding the Future of Voice Commerce
VP of Product, Lynette Tay shares her opinion on why the future of customer experience lies in voice activation and Singapore is lagging behind.
“To be pandemic prepared, is to be tech-prepared,” says VP of Product, Lynette Tay,
What life will be like in 2025 in the wake of the global pandemic and other crises, Lynette shared her view that human-technology relationships will deepen as larger segments of the population come to rely more on digital connections for work, education, healthcare, daily transactions, and essential social interactions. The implementation of social distancing and avoiding physical contact have given voice technology new momentum and encouraged a push towards touchless controls and experience.
The latest popular mobile application to feed our manifestation of the desire to connect with one another as we isolate ourselves at home is Clubhouse due to its by-invite-only exclusivity and the ability to draw in notable figures like Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Thereby bringing their brands to a personal level. Following a similar concept, Facebook recently announced in April their plans on rolling out audio products and platforms such as Live Audio Messenger Rooms and allowing users to post voice messages on their newsfeeds.
Audio products and platforms go beyond providing entertainment values
Apart from voice messaging, voice technologies integrated with Artificial Intelligence (AI) like smart home devices bring about more than just entertainment values. Such technology has one goal: to make our lives more convenient and productive.
“Consumers are sharing their smart home experiences online and seeking opinions about technologies and products available”
– APAC leader, Stephen Dale, general manager of Social listening firm, Digimind.
At the comfort of our own homes, interactive audio products and applications like Google Assistant, Google Nest Hub, and Apple Siri are also frequently used for road navigation and simple commands directed to a phone. Other areas experimenting with voice tech include security and access control in retail banking as well as enhancing customer experiences across the retail, hospitality, and healthcare industries.
According to a report by Digimind, it is predicted that by 2030, the smart home industry is expected to reach USS$400 billion worldwide, with APAC accounting for 25% of it.
However, Singaporeans are not receptive to voice tech just yet!
Do these comments ring a bell? The voice space in Singapore is not new but as a conservative growth market, the adoption of voice tech is very low. There is also a perceived risk that voice-activated devices cannot properly detect and understand our query. However, speech recognition these days has hit 95% accuracy at parity with humans. By leveraging the privacy and convenience smart home audio devices can offer, there are great opportunities for voice commerce in the future. With any new technology that comes into play, changing established behaviors and habits is the key to driving adoption.
The Future of Customer Experience is Voice-Activated
The rising trend of voice products and platforms, in general, is attributed to three factors: 1. Convenience, 2. Brand Personality, 3. Engagement. Diving into voice-activated devices displays higher effectiveness in enhancing online customer experiences. Given that the global pandemic has forced almost all businesses to adopt an online presence, in such a competitive market how can businesses stand out? Voice commerce in Singapore is still uncommon but has great potential because of the evolving online demographics and the increasing availability of smart audio devices.
- Demographics Reshaping Consumers’ Online Purchasing Behaviors
The demographics of online audiences are evolving as Gen Zs, known to be core influencers of both Millennials and Gen X, reshape online behaviors. Being digital natives, their unique experiences will change the ways businesses sell their products and services. Some distinctive traits include the need to look for information before making a purchase and a personalized customer experience with brands.
Voice commerce has the capability of bringing personalization to the homes of consumers through smart home devices. Paired with modern digital voice assistants notably Google Home, Apple’s Siri, and Amazon Alexa, brands are opening up to more consumer propositions. One existing example would be the integration of Sephora and Google Home Hub. Customers are able to do their makeup while guided by the voice from Sephora’s how-to videos made by their own experts, hands-free on Google Home Hub. From there, customers can use their voice to pause, skip or rewind the video. Such integration attaches a voice to the brand and enhances customers’ experience by allowing them to feel like they are engaging with a person and not just a corporate image. It also helps with forming connections and relationships, as well as building customer loyalty at the convenience of the customers at home. Microsoft and Amazon have underscored that voice commerce can be leveraged to ride on the trend of ‘personalization’ as a possible road forward to success.
2. Increasing Availability of Smart Audio Devices
The low adoption of voice-activated products at home may be attributed to the lack of availability and access to such devices in Singapore as well as the lack of local use cases among brands. Currently, only Google Nest Mini and Google Home smart speakers are available in the Singapore market, with several Google Assistant-compatible smart speakers from third-party vendors. However, there is still potential growth for voice commerce due to the growing traction of smart audio devices, and it is expected that the adoption of smart homes and speakers will increase over the coming years albeit at a slower rate. Smart home devices and speakers will soon reach a tipping point and become a more influential medium in the shopping purchase journey.
Conclusion
Research conducted by Microsoft and Econsultancy indicated that 60% of respondents agree that future interactions with assistants will resemble a real relationship, with assistants in command to act on their behalf. It is evident that voice is at an inflection point as we become more comfortable speaking to smart assistants and internet-enabled devices. This increases their influence on our purchasing decisions. Making voice an integral part of businesses takes time, but those who put the wheels in motion now can be at the forefront of voice tech when consumers are more receptive to the new way of interfacing with apps or devices.
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