What is Voice Commerce and how do we use it in 2022?

Voice commerce is a technology based on artificial intelligence which helps you do shopping just with your voice and a smart device like a mobile phone or smart speaker. Voice activated shopping has become very popular and well liked even before 2022. 

As digital customers, we already know mobile commerce where any product can be bought in minutes, just with our fingertips. But online shopping has never been so easy and convenient as when voice commerce arrived. 

Let’s dig into the topic of voice commerce, part of its history, the use of it in 2022 and some benefits of this method of shopping. You’ll also get to know why it’s worth getting interested in voice recognition technology when having an e-commerce site/app. 

Voice commerce in 2022 — a new version of e-commerce

With various different trends in e-commerce coming up this and previous year, there came the time for voice commerce. We’ve already got used to mobile commerce (buying via mobile devices, also in the app), there’s also live commerce in the spotlight all the time, but voice commerce is about something else. 

This trend has become so popular mainly because conversational commerce is the most convenient, fast and easy-to-use among all ways of shopping. It doesn't require any skills, knowledge of modern technologies or even using your hands! Because when you want to buy something with the use of voice commerce, all you have to do is tell a command and it’s done. 

Shopping experience getting better

According to Global Market Insights, by 2024, global smart speaker sales will surpass $30 billion. Customers choose to use this method more and more often, but let’s not forget that it’s not essential to own smart speakers to use voice technology in online shopping. That’s why voice commerce is expected to become a top one trend in e-commerce in the coming years. 

Voice Search

Voice search, also called voice-enabled, allows the user to use a voice command to search the Internet, a website or an app. Although Voice Commerce is still rather new to us, voice search has been around for quite some time. Various search engines and applications have used it but mostly only for searching using voice. 

Quite a simple thing: at the beginning you needed to tap a microphone button, speak and look at search results. It was a good idea for those who had trouble writing something, but it still required your action to launch the voice recognition. Then things have moved to voice activated actions like searching, putting on shopping lists, reminding about events etc. 

Using voice technology to purchase products

Now we’ve gotten even further with the possibility to buy online via voice technology. If you need to search through products or buy several things, you’ll still need to look at the screen and scroll manually… But if you know the product and the store you want to buy in, or just want to re-order, voice commerce is perfect. You can do it in a few seconds without even touching the device. 

The in-between option is also a way to go. It’s still faster to use your voice to search things, then you can just manually pick a product and use voice again to order it conveniently. 

Voice assistants 

At this point, in addition to reading the voice, systems are also able to recognise and execute commands. 

No matter if it’s Apple’s Siri, Google Assistant or Amazon’s Alexa, just pick a command to recall the assistant and start buying. 

You can choose different languages in settings so that your natural language is well understood. Smart speakers, a phone or other device will recognise your voice and command, search the product and order it for you. Just answer the given questions and everything will be easy.

That’s why if you’re an owner of an e-commerce mobile app, you should definitely let voice assistants in. It will enable more customers to buy in your store and attract new customers to start shopping there. It’s always a good idea to make use of new trends.

Activating the voice assistant

Using different platforms requires using different voice commands. Here’s how you activate virtual assistants: 

• Apple: “Hey, Siri”
• Google: “OK, Google”
• Amazon: “Hey, Alexa”
• Microsoft: “Hey, Cortana”
• Samsung: “Hi, Bixby”

When it comes to further actions, the voice commands used for e-commerce and other activities are very similar or the same on different platforms. For example: 

• “search for [product] on [website]/in [app]” 
• “re-order [product] from [website]/[app]”
• “show me the new [product] from [brand]”
• “what’s the price of [product]”
• “show me the price of [product] in different stores”

Benefits of Voice Commerce

Fast

Telling voice commands is way faster than typing. In fact, buying via voice can take less than a minute. This is currently the fastest way to do your shopping. 

It applies in case of e-commerce apps and websites that offer customers the opportunity to buy through voice commerce, of course. 

Convenient 

The voice assistant will help you get through the shopping process. It’s still impossible to browse different products in stores without looking at the screen, but buying with voice commands is still way more convenient than using the classic methods. You can use it while cooking, doing laundry, assembling furniture, laying in bed and much more. You can simply make use of voice commerce almost everywhere, without moving your hands.

Personalized

The voice assistant is often able to guess the product the customer wants to purchase. Companies use the data from previous purchases and improve the overall shopping experience by offering products that interest their customers. That makes buying using voice even faster and more convenient for customers.

Secure

Payment systems are external solutions. This means that payment security in voice commerce works on the same principle as for other e-commerce and m-commerce shops. These systems are integrated on each platform in such a way that the provider is responsible for their security. So we don't have to worry about whether a shop has taken care of a secure payment, we already have it ensured.

Find the whole article about the benefits of voice commerce here.

Improving customer experience with voice commerce

Customer experience helps you gain happy customers who will gladly recommend your services to others. Voice recognition technology is one of the ways to improve it. Implementing new trends and innovations is a simple way to achieve a great customer experience level. 

Voice assistants may help you with your brand-building, because it is something you can definitely show off everywhere. Make customers aware that you offer voice commerce shopping and they will be happy to try this method in your store. If they like it, they will come back and also recommend your app or online shop to others.

If you want to know the basics of m-commerce, check out an article about it here. 

Good luck in implementing voice commerce in your ecommerce store!

Last update: 23.02.2022