Retailers should invest in digital voice assistants as they are becoming essential for consumer interaction, with 65% of owners unable to imagine life without them. Voice shopping is on the rise, with significant transaction values and increased spending habits, particularly among Amazon Alexa and Google Home users. The technology offers a frictionless experience for tasks and shopping, making it a strategic opportunity for retailers to enhance customer engagement and satisfaction.

1. Why Should Retailers
Invest in Digital
Voice Assistants?
Issue: January 2018
65% OF OWNERS SAY THEY CAN’T GO BACK TO LIFE
WITHOUT A SMART SPEAKER

2. Pretty soon, swiping, pinching and zooming will be a thing of the past! Tired eyes,
poor ergonomics and chronic neck pain have all been associated to our attachment
to our smartphones.
As we move into an era of frictionless, voice activated digital assistants, such as
Amazon Alexa, Google Home, Apple HomePod, Microsoft Cortana and Alibaba’s
AliGenie, voice will be a dominate retail disruptor and a preferred user interface
for all consumers.
Right now, it’s a battle between commerce and search players (Amazon versus Google).
These devices are battling for your home – the super computers that Star Trek had
foreshadowed is now in 20% of households in the U.S.
Juniper Research forecasts by 2022, 55% of U.S. households will have a digital voice
assistant installed in their homes.

3. Outside of adoption rate, smart home speakers are very
sticky. They’ve become an extension of your family –
someone who you interact with daily.
Owners of smart speakers use it between 6 to 10 times a day
for entertainment, playing music, audio books, news and
even shopping!
Instead of visual interactions, it’s all auditory. For instance,
with the Baby Boomer generation, they’ve had an easier
time adopting to a voice assistant then to smartphones.
WHY IS VOICE SUCH A STRONG
PLATFORM?
It’s easy to use and it literally has no learning curve!
When it comes to voice shopping, the volume of transactions
and average cart value are nothing to laugh at!

4. Based on a report conducted by NPR & Edison Research
in September 2017:

5. • 30% of shoppers spent between $50 - $99
• 24% spent between $25 - $49
• 24% spent between $100 - $199
• 11% spent over $200+
• Only 9% spent less than $24
• 2% were unsure of how much they spent
AVERAGE ORDER VALUE
VOICE SHOPPING

6. It’s not really about the hardware. The hardware
is the enabler to get us to change our behaviours.
Previously, the only way we could communicate with
devices was through a keyboard.
But when the keyboard-less smartphone
came to fruition, there were a whole
demographic of users that had difficulty
navigating with just a screen.
HARDWARE IS THE ENABLER
FOR CHANGE
Fast forward and voice is changing the
entire technological landscape again –
providing a more humanized interaction
with our computers.
For those that wereuse to typing on a computer,
the Blackberry phones were a natural transition.

7. 50%
OF SEARCH WILL BE
DONE THROUGH VOICE
Based on The Wall Street Journal Tech Talk - Best of
CES 2018 the voice operating systems (os), is a platform
for service providers to build their apps on. There will be
huge growth in voice shopping. Voice search is all based
on intent. Converting a customer will become easier for
companies that offer on demand services. Comscore
predicts that by 2020, 50% of all searches will be done
through voice.

8. Smart home speakers take away the need to bookmark
or email ourselves reminders. Simply ask and your tasks
are automated. The way we shop for groceries,
entertainment, restaurants and overall retail is becoming
frictionless and seamless.
Just ask and you will receive – order tickets to the shows
you want to see, update your shopping list, book dinner
reservations or get your favourite meals delivered to your
home just as you’re pulling into your driveway.

9. VOICE IS A STRATEGIC
SELLING CHANNEL
FOR RETAILERS
Owners of Amazon Alexa or Google Home
spend 31% more then they did, prior to using
a digital voice device.
Still unsure that voice makes sense for retail?
Walmart has partnered with Google Home and
Best Buy with Amazon Alexa for Deal of the Day
products.
It’s a platform that is undeniable – with huge user
adoption across several age groups, high satisfaction
ratings amongst users (65% said they can’t go back
to a life without a smart speaker) and real stickiness
(using it multiple times a day).
Gartner believes that worldwide spending on these
devices will top $3.5 billion by 2021. What's you're
voice shopping strategy? Are you ready to tap into
the retail voice market?
TheAppLabb is a product innovation and development firm. Our goal to improve human
experiences through the use of innovative technologies and drive business results for our clients.
Email: info@theapplabb.com
PH: (464) 688 - 2786
Version: January 2018 - TheAppLabb ©
URL: http://wwwtheapplabb.com
PH: (416) 745 - 3164
Over 11 years of experience with 360+ global clients and over 500+ apps built, we offer strategic
consulting, UX and UI design, custom software development and out-of-the-box industry solutions
for several vertical markets.
Let us turn your ideas into reality.

10. PH: (416) 745 - 3164
References:
CES 2018 Trends to Watch - 20% of the Households in the U.S.
http://live.ces.tech/detail/videos/best-of/video/5705728743001/ces-2018-trends-to-watch?autoStart=true
Inc. - 55% of U.S. Households
https://www.inc.com/bill-carmody/the-3-barriers-to-voice-commerce-this-holiday-season.html
Jupiter Research - By 2022...
https://www.juniperresearch.com/researchstore/innovation-disruption/digital-voice-assistants/platforms-revenues-opportunities
Media Post - Baby Boomer Generation...
https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/297907/boomers-embrace-the-amazon-echo-and-the-internet.html
AdvertisingWeek - 6 to 10 times
http://newyork.advertisingweek.com/replay/-npr-workshop-2017-09-28-1130
Search Engine Land - Average Order Value Voice Shopping
https://searchengineland.com/report-57-smart-speaker-owners-bought-something-voice-283279
The Wall Street Journal Tech Talk - Best of of CES 2018: The Official WSJ Recap
http://www.wsj.com/podcasts/best-of-ces-2018-the-official-wsj-recap/D2EB5251-B5C4-4C7B-A284-1E13F96B89FD.html
Kissmetrics - Comscore Predicts by 2020, 50%...
https://blog.kissmetrics.com/voice-apps-will-change-ecommerce/
AdvertisingWeek - Owners of Amazon Alexa or Google Home spend 31% more
http://newyork.advertisingweek.com/replay/-npr-workshop-2017-09-28-1130
Channel Advisor - Walmart has Partnered with Google Home...
https://www.channeladvisor.com/blog/industry-trends/cyber-5-voice-shopping/
WWD - 65% Say They Can’t Go Back...
http://wwd.com/business-news/business-features/luke-starbuck-think-tank-11040030/
Gartner - ...Top $3.5 Billion by 2021
https://www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/3790964