Is Voice Commerce Technology the Future of eCommerce Development?

eCommerce retailers are a harsh competition for brick-and-mortar stores. Nowadays, people turn to the online shopping environment for any purchase, from groceries to clothes, because services such as same-day delivery ensure extra comfort for buyers. It is speculated that 95% of purchases will happen online by 2040. 

In order to offer immersive experiences, online businesses should adapt to the way customers shop, to the evolution of technology and the latest trends. One of the fastest-growing trends in eCommerce is voice shopping. Follow along to find more information about voice search technology, the adoption of voice commerce benefits and how to take advantage of digital voice assistants to increase your revenue.       

What Is Voice-Based eCommerce?

Voice commerce consists of technologies and systems that grant online consumers and potential customers to explore and buy products or services using their voice. Through conversational commerce websites or eCommerce apps, the checkout friction and cart abandonment will decrease as businesses provide a more human shopping experience. 

Talking to an inanimate object to buy goods or asking for information is not that odd anymore since Apple’s Siri, Amazon’s Alexa, Microsoft’s Cortana, Samsung’s Bixby and Google assistant have trained people to ask questions to their devices. Since this is a common and established practice, more than likely, these companies will continue working on voice assistant skills development to better monetize their goods by advertising products and services for online buying.

With the adaption of voice technology, your eCommerce business will facilitate the browsing of your online store. More than that, it will allow your customer base to search through your catalogue, ask questions, leave product reviews, check product ratings, available stocks, colours, pricing, and place orders. Voice search optimization will improve user experience as consumers can get any information without wasting time browsing the internet or using undivided attention to their smartphones or tablets. Simply said, voice commerce allows online retailers and businesses to deliver a smooth, hands-free buying journey. 

Benefits of Implementing a Voice Commerce Solution

A study from Juniper Research foresees that digital voice assistants will rise to 8 billion active units by the end of 2023, almost two and a half times more than in 2019. eCommerce trends change fast, and voice commands are getting more popular. As an online business owner, you cannot miss out on this. 20% of Google searches come from a voice query. Therefore, is it worth it to join the trend of the voice shopping market? Let’s explore together the benefits of optimizing your website or app for voice search queries.    

Enhanced Customer Experience Through Personalized Online Experience

Users will have a personalized shopping experience from the start by using the voice search feature. Voice-enabled solutions enhance the shopping experience by using recommendations based on individual preferences. Suppose a person uses AmazonFresh for daily shopping needs and orders them through Alexa. An Alexa skill is to make recommendations of items that match the person’s dietary preferences. Digital assistants have changed the eCommerce world. Innovative solutions come to play every day. For example, Sephora uses a virtual artist to identify customers’ skin tone, facial features and recommend the right products for them. H&M has a virtual stylist and suggests outfits for customers.

Gain Brand Awareness Through Easy Shopping

When consumers decide to buy from a particular brand, they want to connect with the company and their products or services to be part of their daily lives. If your target audience is the young generation, they adopt new technologies fast. Therefore, voice-activated assistants are an excellent asset for your online business. The voice search capability will also help your business identify shopping behaviours and habits. Once the patterns are established, voice assistants can quickly assist consumers in not missing any item they need and making the proper recommendations, so the shopping experience is flawless and enjoyable. 

Improve SEO

As the market trends change rapidly, consumers’ needs and shopping behaviours adapt. You should work on your keywords and search engine optimization to meet the online searches, as they play a critical role. Google has not released any data on keywords for voice SEO. Our advice is to do the keyword research still and use long-tail keywords so users can relate their searches with your online business. More than that, we strongly advise you to have your local SEO in place. No matter which voice search device is used, keyword and local SEO will bring new customers to your online store.

Easy To Collect Customer Reviews

A voice search user can share feedback easily, making the feedback more meaningful and genuine as virtual assistants will ask specific questions and ratings. Because consumers use their voice, it is faster and more convenient to review a product or service because they skip typing and the login process.

Time-Efficient Shopping 

An average person types around 30 to 35 words per minute, but almost 100 words can be processed using voice search. Therefore, voice search encourages users to communicate rapidly and get results more timely. This approach is more appealing to users, and they can shop while doing other activities such as cleaning, cooking, driving, etc.

The Drawbacks of Voice Commerce 

The adoption of voice search technology has its drawbacks. When we talk about small companies, choosing the right technology and building a compatible voice search online store can be difficult. More prominent brands with a substantial product catalogue face the challenge of organizing their products in a clear and voice friendly manner. However, these are not the only bottlenecks of voice searches: 

• Language. Voice commerce has an issue when it comes to different languages and dialects. Global or international brands must invest in advanced natural language processing.    
• Privacy. Voice commerce and natural language processing require people to speak to their devices. Because of these elements, companies must provide extra privacy assurance for end-users. People should trust your app and be 100% sure that you are not listening to everything and not sharing their info with third parties.  
• Trustworthiness. Alongside technology security concerns, US citizens lose their trust in technology companies. Voice commerce technology providers must demonstrate they are trustworthy to collaborate with online shops. 
• Automatic speech recognition and natural language understanding. These two components are keys for voice commerce and voice assistants, and users must understand the purpose of these elements and trust them.

Our Advice: How Do I Prepare My eCommerce Website for Voice Search? 

We believe that the future of voice commerce is bright, and it will change the way people shop online. We live in an era where talking with your mobile devices, or smart speakers is common. People are impatient, and they want fast results to satisfy their needs. So, how do you get your eCommerce website ready for voice search? 

• Site speed optimization. A fast mobile page loading time is crucial for Google rankings and happy customers. If your website is not loading in 3 seconds, the voice search app cannot retrieve all the information requested by consumers. We have multiple articles on optimizing your website speed and why it is essential. Check out our blog for a better understanding of this concept.   
• Schema Markups. Search engines use schema markups (structured data) to read your website. Structured data provides a competitive advantage and a better keyword ranking. Schema markups are designed for search engines and the search bar. They are not visible on your website or for your visitors. 
• Search queries. When people use voice search, their search query will be very similar to how they talk. 70% of Google Assistant queries are expressed in the natural language. When they type, they are more focused on the keyword. For example, a typed question will be “best clothing store in London” when they use voice search to be “what is the best clothing store in London?”. We highly recommend using long-tail keywords for your voice search optimization strategy.    
• Local listing. Your company must have a local business listing. This means creating a Google Business profile and being present in online directories. Voice assistants do not display the results for local businesses. They present the online listings first.   
• Frequently Aske Questions page. A FAQ page is easy to create and allows you to use your content in a natural language. Mimicking in writing the way that users speak will create a link between those who use voice search and the content of your website. Boost your website by using your main keywords in a natural language. 
• Optimize your content for Featured Snippets. Featured snippets are the highlighted content that search engines display to answer a user’s search request. The snippets give people insight into what they can find on your website page. Search engines pick your website and deliver it on top of the search results if it contains answers to specific generic questions. This will increase your organic traffic and give you a broader customer base. 

Having an online presence is easy, but having a quality eCommerce website optimized without compromising the quality, functionality, and design takes time, hard work, and dedication. No matter the status or size of your business, you should pay attention to what is new in the eCommerce field and, if it fits you, find the right partner to implement it. We have over 15 years of experience in custom development and website performance optimization. More than that, we also have a strong understanding of SEO and digital marketing best practices implementation. You can check out our portfolio and reviews and contact us if you are looking for a partner to help you bring your business to the next level. 

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