In 2021, the global value of voice-assistant e-commerce transactions amounted to almost five billion U.S. dollars, a figure set to grow more than fourfold in the next two years. With close to a third of households in the United States owning a connected device — such as smart speakers — voice commerce provides another channel for businesses to reach buyers and integrate their shopping experience with everyday life.
The ultimate hands-free shopping experience?
More than 24 million U.S. buyers completed at least one purchase via a smart speaker in 2021. By delivering a hands-free shopping experience, voice commerce has emerged as a prevalent purchase option for consumers. In fact, according to a survey, smart home assistants are the shopping channel with the highest share of frequent buyers in the North American country. Besides purchases, some of the most popular voice-command shopping activities include browsing for new products, creating shopping lists, and setting purchase reminders.While U.S. consumers see several benefits to voice shopping, convenience and time savings are the biggest motivators for using this technology. However, adaptation continues to be a challenge as many consumers have reported finding it hard to browse and purchase items by voice online. Meanwhile, the ability to securely store and process payment information remains a concern regarding voice commerce for more than a quarter of online shoppers in the country.
Alexa, a synonym for voice shopping
Amazon Echo, the smart speaker brand of e-commerce giant Amazon, accounts for more than two-thirds of the smart speaker installer base in the United States. Echo is powered by the personal intelligence assistant Alexa, which responds to users whenever they use the word "Alexa". Dominant in the smart speaker market, it is no wonder that Jeff Bezos' virtual digital assistant ranks as the most popular solution for voice commerce. According to a survey, nearly three-quarters of U.S. voice shoppers use this virtual assistant in their purchases.Still, Alexa faces competition on other devices, notably mobile phones, where Siri, Apple's voice assistant, and Google Assistant lead the voice command market. In 2021, both were also the most used voice assistants among young U.S. adults, a dominance that may threaten Alexa's position as a go-to voice assistant for online shopping.
