Technology has made all aspects of our lives easier, and shopping is no exception. With voice commerce, we can shop online via e-commerce websites and apps without using our hands. Yes, shopping can be done using voice commands. This is what a typical voice commerce experience looks like:
User: Hey, I need a new pair of shoes.
Voice Assistant: Sure! What type of shoes are you looking for today? We have options like sneakers, dress shoes, sandals, and more.
User: I’m looking for a pair of sneakers.
Voice Assistant: Great choice! Do you have a preferred brand or color in mind?
User: I’d like something from Nike, preferably in black.
Voice Assistant: I found several Nike sneakers in black. Here are a few options:
- Nike Air Max – $120
- Nike Revolution 5 – $65
- Nike React Infinity Run – $160
Would you like more details on any of these?
User: I would like to buy the Nike React Infinity Run.
Voice Assistant: The Nike React Infinity Run sneakers have been added to your cart. Would you like to proceed to checkout, or would you like to continue shopping?
User: Proceed to checkout.
Voice Assistant: Your total is $160. How would you like to pay?
User: Use my saved credit card.
Voice Assistant: Payment successful! Your new Nike React Infinity Run sneakers will be delivered in 3-5 business days. Would you like a confirmation sent to your email?
User: Yes, please.
Voice Assistant: Confirmation sent! Is there anything else I can help you with?
User: No, that’s all. Thank you!
Voice Assistant: You’re welcome! Have a great day!
Pretty easy, isn’t it?
Due to convenience, customers prefer to buy from retailers who offer voice commerce. According to reports, approximately 60% of online consumers in the US have purchased products using smart home voice-assisted devices.
In this blog, we have talked about how retailers can use voice commerce to grow their business and how adding artificial intelligence (AI) to voice commerce can enhance the overall customer experience. So, let’s start.
Latest Market Statistics for Voice Commerce
The following are the statistics reflecting the market for voice commerce.
- By 2023, the total amount of transactions of voice-assistant e-commerce was approximately $20 billion.
Source: Statista
- North America dominates the global market for voice commerce.
- According to projections, the AI in Voice Assistants market is likely to develop significantly, reaching $31.9 billion by 2033, with a projected CAGR of 28.5% over the forecast period.
How Does Voice Commerce Work?
Before moving forward, you must understand how voice commerce works.
- The shopper uses smart voice assistant devices like Alexa, Siri, or any other voice assistant to give voice commands.
- The voice assistant then analyzes the voice command using natural language processing (NLP), to understand the intent.
- Based on the intent, it accesses the databases of products of the connected e-commerce platform and uses machine learning capabilities to give results that match the commands. It may also leverage artificial intelligence to provide personalized recommendations based on shopper’s past purchases.
- The shopper chooses products from the results shown and may ask for additional details. The voice assistant provides the requested information to the shopper.
- After the shopper chooses the product and made the mind the buy it, the virtual assistant takes it through the easy checkout process and asks for the payment option.
- The shopper selects the saved payment mode and it is processed, the virtual assistant provides an order confirmation, including estimated delivery time and order tracking information. It also sends a confirmation email or text message to the shopper.
- After this, the virtual assistant asks for additional help, such as modifying the order, tracking the order, and more. If not required, the shopper can confirm that no additional help is needed, and end the conversation.
Role of Artificial Intelligence in Enhancing Voice Commerce
Artificial intelligence (AI) enhances voice commerce in the following ways:
- Natural Language Processing (NLP)
Natural language processing (NLP), a subset of AI, helps voice assistants understand what users want to say.
It analyzes the words, tone, accents, and other characteristics of the speech, and helps e-commerce voice assistants provide results accordingly.
- Personalization
AI in voice commerce evaluates customers’ preferences, behavior, purchase history, etc., and shows relevant products and services.
The more AI-powered voice assistants communicate with customers, the better they understand them and provide products and services that accurately align with their needs.
Moreover, many retailers also use AI in virtual assistants so that they can offer tailored offers, promotions, and discount coupons, as per customers’ preferences.
- Voice Recognition and User Authentication
Another role of AI in voice commerce is to provide user authentication and security to users during online shopping and transactions.
The AI-driven voice recognition technology analyzes the unique voiceprints of users and distinguishes them from others.
This ensures that the registered or authorized user can make purchases or access sensitive information like payment details on the e-commerce website or app.
- Predictive Analytics
Predictive analytics, another subset of AI, predicts what the users are likely to buy next, based on past purchases.
For instance, if a customer purchases a new smartphone, the predictive analytics in the voice commerce recommends screen guards and protective covers for the same phone.
- Conversational AI
In voice commerce, AI is also used to enhance the quality of conversation the voice assistants have with the customers. The custom AI-powered conversational models allow the voice assistant to converse with users more naturally and fluently. This way, the interaction feels more humanatic, instead of robotic.
Also, conversational AI allows the voice assistant to remember past interactions within the same session and continue from the last dialogue, enhancing the overall user experience.
- Language and Accent Adaptation
AI also helps the voice assistant models to learn from user inputs using machine learning and learn and adapt to new languages and accents, leveraging adaptive AI.
This makes voice commerce accessible to a wider customer base beyond boundaries. Moreover, many voice assistants can also be trained to translate user’s queries into different languages in real-time, expanding voice commerce globally.
- Continuous Learning and Improvement
While creating AI-powered voice assistants for e-commerce platforms, the AI developers ensure that they continuously learn from the user interaction.
Hence, to achieve this goal, developers integrate machine learning capabilities into voice assistants.
It makes them more efficient and accurate in interacting with users better, providing better recommendations, understanding user’s needs, and more.
How to Develop an AI-Enabled Voice Commerce Solution for Retail
Now, let’s talk about how you can make an AI-enabled voice commerce solution for your retail business. Below is the step-by-step development process.
Step#1: Planning
The first step to developing the AI-drive voice commerce solution for retail is to plan the development. Planning gives a clear roadmap and makes the further development journey smooth.
You must plan the particular use case of the solution, its design, target user base, the demographic you will use it in, technologies you will integrate to empower it, and more.
Step#2: Collecting Data
The next step is to collect data from various sources. This data is used to train the voice assistant model.
Therefore, it is necessary to collect relevant and high-quality data to train the model and get the desired results. After collecting the data, you need to refine it to make it consistent and well-structured.
Step#3: Designing
Post data collection, work on designing the user interface of the voice commerce solution for your retail business.
Its design must be user-friendly, with an easily navigable interface and icons, such as the mic, that are easily recognizable.
Step#4: Development
At this step, develop the AI-powered voice commerce model. Integrate AI and its subsets like machine learning, natural language processing, sentiment analysis, adaptive AI, generative AI, and more to empower it to offer an enhanced user experience.
Step#5: Training
Once the development is done, train the AI-powered voice commerce assistant with refined, high-quality data.
Train it to understand all types of user queries in different languages, tones, accents, and more.
Step#6: Testing
After training, test the AI-enabled voice commerce solution to ensure that it is working as expected.
You can give different instructions like find me a particular product, what are different options, price of the black colored option, etc., to check its functionalities.
Step#7: Deployment
Deploy the AI-driven voice commerce solution in the retail business. Start deploying it within a closed environment. Use it for some time and verify its functioning.
If required, make necessary changes and updates. If not, deploy it to other segments of your retail business.
So, this is how you can build a custom voice commerce solution powered by AI for your retail and e-commerce business.
Moreover, if you need expert assistance with development, feel free to reach out to Quytech, and our seasoned developers will develop and deploy the solution as per your requirements.
Benefits of Enabling AI Voice Commerce
The following are the advantages of enabling AI voice commerce for retailers:
- Enhanced Customer Experience
AI voice commerce makes it easy for customers to enquire and shop for products.
Customers can search for the products they are looking for, get details like their prices, other options, etc., and go through the checkout process, all by using voice commands.
This enhances customer experience and attracts more customers to the retail brand.
- Efficiency and Speed
AI-enabled voice commerce streamlines the shopping experience and transactions.
It saves time and allows retailers to serve more customers at the same time, enhancing their overall productivity and business growth.
- Improved Customer Insights
When the voice commerce assistant interacts with customers, it collects data like what types of products customers demand, options they are looking for, payment options they use the most for shopping, and feedback regarding their shopping experience.
All these data can be used by retailers and e-commerce players for the betterment of their business services and uplifting customer satisfaction.
- Enhanced Security
With convenience shopping, AI-enabled voice assistant for e-commerce also offers enhanced security. The AI algorithms remember the vocal textures of the authorized users.
If any unauthorized person tries to use the voice commerce solution, it detects and alerts the concerned person in real-time. This way, AI-enabled voice commerce enhances security for the customers.
- Competitive Advantage
Last but not least, AI voice commerce gives retailers a competitive edge over those who are not using it.
Voice commerce offers an enhanced and secure shopping experience to customers, and this is the core reason they attract retailers who offer voice commerce.
Moreover, by using voice commerce, retailers can address more customers than those who are not using the technology.
Now, let’s explore top retailers and e-commerce players who are using AI-enabled voice commerce to offer better shopping experiences to their customers.
Top Retailers Using AI-powered Voice Commerce
Here are the top retailers using AI-enabled voice commerce to elevate customer’s shopping experience.
- Amazon
One of the leading e-commerce players, Amazon, has integrated an AI-powered voice shopping assistant through Alexa. Customers use Alexa for searching products, know more about them, place and track orders, and even make payments.
- Walmart
Another retailer giant, Walmart, has partnered with Google to offer voice commerce via Google Assistant. It is used by customers for hands-free shopping.
Moreover, Walmart also supports voice shopping via Apple’s Siri, offering voice commerce experience to iOS users.
- Domino’s Pizza
Domino’s, a popular name in the food and beverage industry, has developed its custom AI-powered voice assistant, known as Dom. The Dom allows customers to place orders, enquire about prices, customize pizzas, track deliveries, apply coupon codes, and more, all by using voice commands.
- Starbucks
Starbucks offers voice commerce through its My Starbucks Barista feature integrated into its dedicated app. Customers use this feature to order coffee, schedule pick-ups, and customize their drinks.
Voice commerce speeds up the ordering process and enhances convenience for Starbucks’s customers.
Future of AI-driven Voice Commerce in the Retail Industry
The future of AI voice commerce in the retail industry is very promising. As technology advances, we will be able to witness more retail brands using voice commerce to elevate customer experiences.
Moreover, the AI algorithms will become more advanced with time and the performance and accuracy of voice commerce solutions will enhance significantly. The data collected by these solutions will be used by retailers for the betterment of different segments like supply chain and inventory management.
At last, we can also witness the integration of emerging technologies like blockchain and AR/VR along with AI in voice commerce.
In addition, the VaaS (Voice as a Service) will gain traction in the coming years. Retailers will offer voice commerce capabilities as a service to third parties, and allow other businesses to add voice commerce into their own platforms.
Conclusion
AI voice commerce is the next frontier for retailers and e-commerce businesses. It offers convenience to shoppers as they can shop for products and services only using voice commands.
In addition, customers do not have to worry about security as the AI algorithms in the voice assistants detect unauthorized voices and alert the concerned person about them.
Talking about retailers and e-commerce businesses, voice commerce offers various benefits to them, ranging from a better shopping experience for customers to gaining a competitive advantage in the market.
Therefore, if you also want to integrate voice commerce into your retail business or develop a custom voice assistant solution, contact team Quytech.
Our experts will provide you with the best AI development services and professionally fulfill all your needs. For more information, please visit www.quytech.com