Rise of the voice assistant shoppers: Screen + voice power can be the ultimate online shopping experience

Adding a screen will boost the voice assistant ecommerce space, says Juniper.

As all things go contactless, shopping through voice assistants has become popular in the last two years. Customers are embracing omnichannel retail experiences, and ecommerce must keep up. Adding a screen will boost the space, says a Juniper research.

The study has predicted that ecommerce transaction values through voice assistants will reach US$19.4 billion by 2023. This figure was just US$4.6 billion in 2021.

It looks like screens could be the next big thing in voice assistant shopping

According to the report, the availability of voice assistant devices with screens will be essential to growing the monetization of voice assistant commerce services, by enhancing the efficacy of the checkout process.

So, the likes of Alexa and Siri could be coming with attached screens, where the consumer can browse, chat, and shop.

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The study also says that increasing the number of transactions processed by voice assistant services will depend on the growth and accessibility of the content domain libraries. In turn, this will enhance the value proposition of voice commerce to third-party retailers and generate new revenue streams for voice assistant platforms.

Consumers want a voice

A PYMNTS and Visa survey last year said that 23 million consumers used voice assistants to shop, 45% jump from 2018 and an 8% gain since 2019. An Opus Research survey also revealed that retailers have taken to installing voice-enabled kiosks and contact centres. 73% of retail respondents to the survey pointed to search through voice as the top benefit of voice assistants. In fact, voice using online shoppers spent US$136 more on average than those who remain voiceless.

Consumers want a voice assistant search. It is no wonder that many retailers are opting to invest in a voice assistant

According to a Capgemini report, 41% of consumers would go for voice assistant over a website or app while shopping online. A Gartner study says brands opting for websites with voice search support are likely to boost their digital commerce revenue by 30%.

Clearly, consumers want a voice assistant search. It is no wonder that many retailers are opting to invest in a voice assistant.

The current leaders in the voice assistant space are Amazon, Apple, and Google. With Google’s Assistant, Apple’s Siri and Samsung’s Bixby as well as Google Home and Homepod to complement Amazon’s Alexa and the Echo series, it doesn’t take much to guess who is going to take this tech further.

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While these voice assistants are already making shopping lists, they can also help cover the annoying parts of shopping like checking an order or delivery status and trying to find out about products and services.

For instance, in France, Sephora tied up with Google Home to provide customers an option of booking beauty appointments with voice.

Consumers Will Also Want a Screen

The Juniper report has also insisted that if the current leaders in the voice assistant space open up their platform-based commerce services to third-party retailers, in addition to leveraging their own ecosystems to expand their monetization capabilities, the space will benefit.

Though, a major obstacle to attracting third-party retailers is that several smart speakers lack a screen. This can limit the contextual information presented to users.

The likes of Alexa and Siri could be coming with attached screens, where the consumer can browse, chat, and shop

If omnichannel retail strategies are implemented, where retail interactions of users are managed across multiple channels, retailers can display further information on a product.

So, it looks like screens could be the next big thing in voice assistant shopping.

As the report co-author Meike Escherich commented: “Users will generally use voice assistants to initially explore a product, before completing the purchase via a device with a screen. Voice assistant platforms must ensure that the user experience is so seamless that transactions are carried out via these platforms, rather than requiring additional devices.”

The Power of Voice & Screen

The report has also predicted that the global-installed base of smart speakers will spike up by more than 50% between 2021 and 2023, facilitating the adoption of monetization strategies.

Smartphone-based voice assistants will be going up in usage as will standalone smart speakers. There in the screen and voice power can merge to provide the ultimate shopping experience.