How Voice Search Is Transforming E-commerce Marketing
E-commerce has recently been changing the market’s work as we used to know them, and now they are present on a huge number of our screens. Even more, search via voice is now considered the next big thing in the world of e-commerce.
Now we have more devices than before that have made task handling way more effective, some of which are Cortana, Siri, Bixby, Alexa, and more, as you can now call a friend, search online, hail a cab, and take part in the e-commerce transactions happening online.
Importance of Voice Search in eCommerce
The question is; what does voice search has to do with e-commerce to make experts call it a game-changer? What are the benefits of it and why would it appeal to people using it?
Read the below facts and figures to find out:
- Statista reports 72% and increasing people use voice-activated speakers on a daily basis, which indicates the techno-savvy future for e-commerce.
- In a study made by PwC in 2018, 71% of online consumers preferred voice search over typing in the search query. Consider the number today…!
- Also in 2019, Microsoft made a prediction that in 2020, three-quarters of all American citizens will own a smart speaker in their homes. The numbers today are obscure, but you can look around and find your answer easily. 😉
- The latest figures we have from Emarketer, 2019, predicts that 34.7 million US eCommerce shoppers will shop using voice search in 2020
So if all these numbers were increasing since 2018 and 2019 and affecting eCommerce along the way until the day you’re reading this article. Did you realize how much voice search can do for eCommerce?
How about we read together about the effects of voice search in eCommerce? ⏬
Brand Visuals Cannot Stand Alone Anymore
With voice technology, branding won’t entirely be visual anymore. Your consumers will need to see and hear your brand persona.
People have perceptions of brands set up in their minds, and marketing is based on building the perception of a product for its customers to scale and grow.
Brands are not going to be just visual, but the audible element is also added so that they could be heard and seen too.
So, when you search using a name you will receive the results upon a voice search attempt you will get the list of most popular and relevant products.
It’s crucial to focus on the marketing aspects that will get your product to the top to benefit your business so that you could make the most of the voice search feature.
Though still relatively new, smart voice search is gaining traction rapidly, something that indicates that it’s time to refine your marketing activities & strategies in regard to the voice search functionality.
Voice Search Packed with AI Improves eCommerce
Voice search doesn’t only leverages the aspect of voice, but it goes beyond to also make use of AI and machine learning to learn your habits and provide suggestions based on what you need.
💡 For Example
Your smart home appliances can remind you to shop online for coffee when yours run out.
This will change the dimensions of customer relationship management and will help marketers target the customers based on their impulse and susceptibility.
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This will revolutionize the relationship between marketers and customers where research and work will happen to better improve customer targeting since the collected data will be of immense help for brands to learn more about their consumers, which should further up the game of marketing.
Yet the thing that is still in progress is to increase the interactions with e-commerce through voice, as voice search is most commonly used for reordering and buying products that are relatively inexpensive.
Also, until AI is fully trusted, people are not going to depend completely on voice search for eCommerce shopping, the thing that shall take some more time.
Voice Search Gets Quicker Results
It will remain a fact that voice search is quicker than typing, how?
Usually, the average person will type between 30-35 words per minute, where voice search will enable you to use up to 100 words per minute. Allowing you to instantly grab what you want to buy.
Instead of using both hands to type, you get to use just your voices to look for what you want and get results faster.
That’s in addition to being able to multitask by enabling you to order too!
💡 For Example
Let’s say you’re washing the dishes and your hands are wet to type. Using voice search, you can find what you want and make an order.
Allowing you to fetch what you want in a way that is remarkably efficient and time convenient.
It’s not that ideal of course, at least not yet, as service providers are still working continuously to improve the accuracy of virtual voice assistants, so it feels as if you are talking to a human being, something that will need more time to be completely developed.
Voice Search for eCommerce Marketing
As voice search technology evolves, eCommerce marketing changes at the same rate. Since the inception of voice search, marketing as well as trying to keep the same pace.
Here is what brands need to learn in order to upgrade their marketing efforts accordingly:
- Perception and popularity will dominate the scene in the marketplace
- Optimizing voice content to be SEO friendly, while taking care of keywords and meta-tags.
- Consumers’ need of hearing and interacting rather than watching should be recognized and be dealt with high value 💯
- Realizing the existence of many languages and dialects, the thing that could be challenging for marketers as they work on it.
💡 Read also: Optimizing eCommerce On-Site Search Solutions
How Are Brands Responding to Smart Voice Search?
Amazon’s Alexa has gained a huge market share when it comes to voice search. Google Home is not lagging behind by much and is observing a continuously growing trend in its customer base.
When it comes to voice search, Alexa is dominating the scene, with Google home following in close steps.
Google claims now that its voice search accuracy has increased to 90% as they continue to improve even more.
Top brands have started to apply voice recognition in their product line-ups.
💡 Inspiring Examples
Nestle has initiated a cookbook operated by a voice search where it provides answers and guidance needed during cooking.
Domino’s has started receiving orders using a voice-operated interface, and other brands are working to follow their lead in other unique and creative ways.
The Future of E-commerce
The number of users that utilize voice search is exponentially increasing, where more than 20% of grocery shopping is completed using voice commands.
Besides, voice search-based shopping is expected to reach a whopping $40 Billion by 2022 and is expected to reach 50% of all the online searches by 2020.
In this current market of voice search expansion, no brand wants to get left behind. Marketing is expected to take a turn away from the traditional methods; products will not just be seen, but also heard differently than ever before.
That’s why marketing is expected to change from the traditional form we are used to, and more focus is given to the voice-based search.
E-commerce brands have started optimizing their online stores for such transition, and are working on optimizing voice search and relevant SEO tools, to make the most out of the changing marketing scene.
Final Thoughts
Voice searches are expected to reach 30% of all online searches by 2020, a number that indicates a beginning of a transition that is industry-changing.
Other features will be following such as AI and other smart features that are expected to dominate the scene in the very soon future creating a disruption that will be just the beginning to lay the base for a whole new level of change.
How do you think voice search affects marketing and eCommerce? Tell us your opinion in the comments section below!
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