The tone of e-commerce has evolved over time into a chance for the retail sector to create chances at the same time. Voice-activated purchasing, which was once just a twinkle in futurists’ eyes, has now emerged as a true game changer in altering consumer behavior and brand engagement. Natural language processing and artificial intelligence will usher in voice commerce. This means that voice commerce allows customers to browse products, verify availability, place an order, and even connect with the business in a more convenient hands-free manner.

How Does Voice Commerce Work?

Voice commerce, sometimes known as voice-activated shopping, is a mode of operation in which customers use their voice to search for products, make purchases, or interact with a brand while shopping. NLP and AI underpin voice commerce technology. It comprises of interpreting a user’s commands and voiced requests.

The following technique demonstrates in detail how voice commerce works:

1. Voice Recognition

Voice-activated devices, such as smartphones or smart speakers, need a predetermined wake word or phrase for activation—examples include “Hey Alexa” or “Okay Google.” Once the device is activated, it waits for the user to give it commands in voice.

2. Natural Language Processing (NLP)

A voice-enabled device will use NLP technology to analyze and understand the spoken words of the user whenever he or she speaks out a command or query. NLP algorithms analyze the speech by separating words and phrases from each other, understanding what the user wants to do, and extracting all crucial information, including product names or what actions to take.

3. Query Interpretation

After processing the spoken words, the voice-enabled device therefore decodes the user’s query and takes appropriate actions depending on the decipherment. For example, if a user says, “Find me a new pair of running shoes,” the assistant takes that as a product search query and starts the search process.

4. Search for products

Upon interpreting the user’s query, the voice-enabled device then scans through its database or the e-commerce platform it is linked with for all products that best fit the description by the user. Among the main roles are querying the product database, accessing internet catalogs online, or connecting to any other third-party shopping platform to seek listings of products according to user preferences or search parameters.

5. Product Recommendations

Besides, voice-enabled devices may also offer personalized product recommendations to users based on their previous purchase history and behavior while browsing. They will then analyze the user data in order to predict using the machine learning algorithms which products the user is likely to be interested in.

6. Transaction Processing

When a user has made the decision to make a purchase, then the voice device takes over, giving directions on the process of the transaction. This involves walking the user through the checkout, order summary, and payment details confirmation steps. Of course, depending on the device and services it’s connected to, consumers could eventually make voice-activated purchases or receive verbal instructions on how to complete a purchase through a related mobile app or website.

7. Confirmation and Feedback

After every transaction, the voice-enabled device will confirm the purchase, mentioning details like the time by which the delivery is expected or any other notifications regarding the purchase that may be necessary. They would also be given an opportunity to offer feedback in terms of their shopping experience; this would help business enterprises be in a position to make proper refinements in their voice commerce offerings based on user feedback and preferences.

Opportunities in Voice Commerce

Voice-activated purchasing creates a plethora of options for firms eager to embrace this new trend. That means a new opportunity: as voice assistants become more popular, with examples such as Amazon’s Alexa, Apple’s Siri, and Google Assistant, brand managers are shifting their strategies to a more unique approach of bringing clients on board. Businesses that incorporate voice commerce into their digital strategies will have the ability to:

• Enhance Customer Engagement:

Voice-activated shopping combines a seamless and interactive experience that allows brands to reach out to customers in a way that looks more personal and human-like. Businesses that involve voice interactions in their digital strategies create more engaging experiences and hopefully reach consumers at a more emotional level. The Voice Commerce will offer brands the possibility to have a more human relationship with the audience, thus allowing for greater customer loyalty and a higher repurchase index.

• Drive Brand Differentiation:

In an increasingly crowded marketplace, the only way to stand out from the competition is through unique shopping experiences for your customers. The innovation and intuitiveness of voice commerce offer businesses a unique opportunity to stand out.

Read Also: How to Measure the Success of Your Voice Commerce Strategy

Brands can define their identity, further differentiating themselves among the minds of consumers, with voice technologies that make the purchase process easier and provide a new level of customer service. This differentiation not only attracts new customers but also strengthens brand loyalty among its current customers by maintaining or surpassing its service standards and quality of products.

• Expand Accessibility:

The voice-activated shopping will break down barriers to entry for consumers who might otherwise struggle with traditional online or in-person shopping experiences. In fact, for persons with disabilities or senior citizens, voice commerce offers an alternative that is way easier and more user-friendly, empowering them to go through the entire process from browsing to ordering and receiving support services on the products with ease. This will, in turn, gradually increase the audience base and establish the name of the brand for accessibility and inclusivity, and thus work wonders for the brand in terms of reputation and goodwill.

• Foster Innovation and Experimentation:

The dynamic area of voice commerce enables businesses to get really creative and actually try out new exciting approaches and emerging technologies like voice-activated ads, interactive games, and voice-based experiences. Thus, businesses will take a lead by trying out emerging technologies and riding on them to take advantage of new trends and consumer preferences through experimentation. Such an innovation-oriented spirit is what is driving growth and placing businesses as leaders and pioneers within the evolving and always-changing scenarios of digital commerce.

• Seamlessly Integrate Across Channels:

Voice commerce enables businesses to design seamless shopping experiences spanning across the various touchpoints and devices. By seamlessly integrating voice technology with existing e-commerce platforms, mobile applications, and physical stores, businesses can provide customers with a consistent and frictionless shopping journey. For instance, whether it’s purchasing with a smart speaker or finalizing a transaction via a mobile app, consumers will bridge from one channel to the other seamlessly while achieving a better shopping experience and an increased overall satisfaction.

• Capture Valuable Customer Insights:

Voice commerce produced a lot of data and insight to be used by business to better perceive their customers’ preferences, behaviors, and buying trends. Analysis of voice interactions, search queries, and transactional data may reveal some meaningful insights for businesses about consumer trends, market demand, and competitive landscape. Data helps in the driving of these approaches that empower businesses to make informed decisions, optimize their marketing strategies, and tailor their product offerings to meet the evolving needs of their target audience, ultimately driving business growth and profitability.

Challenges in Voice Commerce

The opportunity that voice commerce provides is simply huge but businesses also face a few challenges in extracting the full benefit from this voice commerce opportunity. Let us discuss the challenges that businesses need to delve deeper into the realm of voice commerce:

• Technological Complexity:

Integration of the voice commerce technology requires high-end systems and technologies involving natural language processing (NLP) and speech recognition with AI-driven algorithms. For businesses that have no or little knowledge about such technicalities, the voice technology may seem to be very scary. From the choice of a proper voice recognition software to the adjustment of NLP algorithms businesses may find it challenging to seamless operate voice-enabled systems. Moreover, maintaining and updating such technologies requires continual investment in technical expertise and resources.

• User Trust and Security Concerns:

Since voice commerce requires the collection and processing of customer-sensitive data, building trust is of the essence, and security precautions must be guaranteed to safeguard user privacy. This may bring skepticism to some consumers about the safety of their private information, such as financial details and the history of purchases made. The concerns above would be mitigated if applied in the organization’s software, enforcing encryption protocols, adopting multi-factor authentication, and providing transparent data practices guarding user data from either inappropriate access or breach. Failure to address these concerns erodes the confidence of the consumers in the voice commerce platform and therefore averts adoption while undermining business credibility.

• Integration with Existing Systems:

Integrating the voice commerce platforms into your existing infrastructure of e-commerce and backend systems could therefore be complicated and time-consuming. All sorts of compatibility problems will arise the moment voice technology is added to the legacy systems, mandating customization and integration efforts to operate them seamlessly. It is also to be remembered that synchronization with existing databases, inventory management systems, and customer relationship management (CRM) software of the voice commerce platforms will also be very important.

• Limited Adoption and Consumer Awareness:

Even with the wide penetration of voice assistants, and mass adoption of voice commerce, there are still many hindrances due to the lack of awareness or understanding of the value and features of voice-enabled shopping. Many consumers may not be clear about the workings of voice commerce or may be hesitant to embrace new technologies in making purchases. Instilling in the consumer the convenience, security, and accessibility of voice commerce is key to driving adoption and boosting consumer confidence in voice-enabled shopping experiences. Businesses will also have to invest in marketing and outreach activities to create awareness about voice commerce and bring out their value proposition for consumers.

Why Should Retailers Adopt Voice Commerce

A growing technology use

The number of voice assistant users is growing yearly, which will continue in 2024. According to Statista, in 2022, there were nearly 142 million users of voice assistants in the US alone, equal to almost half of the country’s entire population. By 2026, the number of voice assistant users should grow to 157.1 million.

Many of these users are potential customers and voice commerce technology can help businesses reach them. In 2022, 26.8 million US smart speaker users made at least one purchase via their devices, according to Insider Intelligence. By 2024, this number is expected to grow to 29 million, more than 10% of the US population.

Increased customer satisfaction

According to the recent Omnichannel Experience Index from Incisive and Blue Yonder, in 2023, convenience has become one of the main factors why people shop online. By equipping their websites and apps with voice commerce, companies can make online shopping even more convenient and seamless for customers, increasing their satisfaction.

Improved digital presence

E-commerce is one of the most competitive industries, and in 2024, the competition will get tougher. Local businesses and small to mid-sized companies will find it increasingly difficult to compete with giants like Kroger, Walmart, and Amazon and their nearly limitless digital presence and advertising investments.

So, instead of wasting resources trying to compete with the big companies in the digital advertising area, smaller businesses can stand out by implementing voice commerce.

With voice commerce, businesses can gain additional organic traffic from mobile users and those shopping via smart speakers. Voice commerce can be especially valuable for local businesses’ digital presence because customers often use voice while on the go to look up services and stores nearby.

Final Words

Voice commerce technology simplifies traditional interactions between businesses and customers, allowing them to browse products and make transactions more easily. While the technology benefits e-commerce enterprises, the requisite artificial intelligence expertise makes implementation difficult.

An ecommerce company can hire third-party AI experts to provide ML and NLP skills for its ecommerce software, as well as voice biometrics features.