Amazon Echo owners are making more voice purchases (AMZN)

pulse

December 11, 2017 4:01 PM

Echo owners have been increasing their voice purchases of consumer products in Q3 2017.

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Echo owners have been increasing their voice purchases of consumer products in Q3 2017, according to a study by Linc Global and Rakutencitedby CNBC.

The study found that Amazon Echo users increased their voice purchases of consumer products, like diapers and paper towels, by nearly 14% in Q3 — much steeper growth than the 7.5% increase in Q2. Moreover, shoppers who bought items through the Echo continued to make additional voice purchases from the same brands, which boosted upsell rates by 60%. However, Amazonoffersvoice-only deals that may be enticing these shoppers to buy more products.

Voice shopping still has a ways to go before consumers start using it regularly for nonconventional purchases. A separate survey by SAP Hybris found that 28% of voice device owners weren’t confident that their devices could provide them with suitable gift recommendations. Twenty percent of respondents stated that smart speakers are limited because they can't determine the visual quality of products, while 19% felt that speakers require too much guidance to make shopping through them worthwhile.

This means that the shopping experience still isn’t robust or frictionless enough for customers to widely adopt it beyond repeat purchases — customers will likely continue to buy the same household items via voice, for example, because they know the brand and quality of the items they'll receive.

Home devices with a screen — such as the Echo Show — may help increase voice shopping. Providing a screen could help customers better evaluate products if they need to. Additionally, voice assistants could use AI to power product recommendations for voice shoppers, which could help boost purchasing beyond consumer products. Amazon is especially well poised to do this, as it has a surfeit of customer data from its online shoppers, and is known for its product recommendations.

However, Google is also known for its AI capabilities, and retailers could take advantage of a partnership with the company by allowing it to access their customer data. With voice-enabled speakers estimated to be in about 55% of US households by 2022, retailers should be developing strong strategies on this channel now to benefit from the growing adoption of these devices.

A revolution in payments and banking is beginning as virtual assistants like Siri and Alexa gain the abilities of cashiers, personal shoppers, and bank tellers.

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