Voice commerce, or v-commerce: Consumers are re-evaluating how they shop online. The arrival of smart assistants, like Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, and Apple Siri, has made it possible for users to buy things through voice alone.

Today, this is no longer the case as the trend of seamless shopping experience continues to penetrate businesses and consumers alike. But how did we get here? Now, let us dive deeper into what voice commerce is, its development, and the impact it has on digital marketing.
Voice commerce is never just about convenience.

It is about a new consumer habit and, with it, a new way for brands to connect with their customers.

Voice-activated shopping is simply smoothing the journey for shoppers, from product searches to the subsequent placing of the order. With how rapidly this technology is evolving, organizations must revamp their business strategy and remain relevant in this voice-first world.

A Change in Voice Search and Commerce

Before Voice Search

Before the era of online shopping, all we had were the barest bones of the internet: key search terms into search engines and following links to e-commerce sites. Instead, they were multiscreen, Multistep experiences, where users had to browse, add to their shopping carts, and fill out a checkout form.

Users would then often have to sift through hoards of search results before they found what they wanted, a process that was often very time-consuming. Users also needed to type specific keywords rather than pose questions the way one would in conversation. This is, of course, addressed by research that suggests people who lack access (or ease of use) to the devices — especially those with disabilities or those who are multitasking.

What is Voice Search?

With the launch of voice assistants in the early 2010s, it changed the way users interact with technology. Voice-based interactions were ushered in as Apple’s Siri (2011), Google Assistant (2016), and Amazon Alexa (2014) enabled simpler digital task completion, powered by just your voice.

As AI kept advancing, usage of voice search grew beyond questions, and people started using it to make purchases.

By 2020, Voice search had gone mainstream and was used for everyday tasks such as reminders, checking the weather, and booking restaurants. With voice-enabled devices pervading our daily lives, it was only a matter of time before voice search made it into the e-commerce arena.

But, how did they discover products? Before consumers even purchased products, they were utilizing voice search to look up recommendations, compare prices, and read reviews.

Moving from Voice Search to Voice Commerce

Voice commerce soon followed as e-commerce brands began to realize the opportunities of voice search. Amazon pioneered this trend with voice shopping on Alexa, enabling Prime members to reorder products or discover great deals with simple voice commands. Google and Apple have voice-enabled purchasing today as well.

Voice commerce has been accelerated by smart home tech. Voice commerce has also been incorporated into the ever-popular appliances; smart refrigerators and voice-controlled televisions that enable users to add things to a shopping list or purchase them.

Voice-activated transactions across an ever-expanding ecosystem continue to drive demand for smart appliances.

Rise of Voice Commerce

Enabling its growth, voice commerce has witnessed a phenomenal upward curve due to several factors:

Smart speaker market growth – Over 50% of U.S. households with smart speakers create tremendous prospects for voice-shopping

Better AI and NLP (Natural Language Processing) – Voice recognition has been improved by AI to reduce errors when placing shopping commands.

Convenience and Hands-Free Shopping – Shoppers love the fact that they can order things while they are cooking, driving, or multitasking.

Rising Adoption by Brands – Leading e-commerce websites and retailers are enhancing their stores for voice search.

Personalized Recommendations – Voice assistants can offer personalized product recommendations based on past shopping history.

There are also great advancements made in machine learning and big data analytics that allow voice assistants to provide highly personalized shopping experiences.

Actionable insights regarding user preferences, purchase history, and browsing behavior can be used by AI-powered voice assistants to recommend products based on consumer interests. This level of personalization will help firms to hunt customers while enhancing loyalty.

Why Voice Commerce Matters to Brands

Voice commerce is a huge opportunity for digital marketers and e-commerce brands. Here’s why this is important to businesses:

Changing Consumer Behavior
The shift from text-over-input to voice commands This means businesses must fine-tune their online visibility for voice search queries.

Higher Conversion Rates
It makes the buying process easier, which leads to conversions at a much faster and less frictional pace than traditional e-commerce.

Competitive Advantage
Brands that notice voice commerce early, adapt, evolve, invest, and innovate will be ahead of the game, and have a leg up on competitors who have difficulty seeing this path well ahead.

Local Search Optimization
Voice Search for Local SEO Most of the voice search queries have the words “near me” or “best place to buy” which helps local businesses to find.

Improved Customer Experience
By making the shopping experience more seamless, conversational, and personalized, brands can better serve their customers and deepen the bond with their audience.

How To Optimize Businesses For Voice Commerce

Statuette a voice commerce requires targeted optimizations for its processes, for companies to successfully integrate it. Here are the key steps:

Target Conversational Keywords

Concentrate on longtail and more chatty terms that are similar to how people speak rather than what is entered.
For example: Instead of “best running shoes,” optimize for “What are the best running shoes for everyday use?”

Get Implement the Best Practices of Voice SEO

Target snippets, as voice assistants also pull data from these.
Make social content look like Q&As to rank higher for voice.
Check and optimize Google My Business for local searches.
Enable voice shopping on e-commerce sites.
Implement voice search in your website or mobile app.
Integrate with Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, or Apple Siri for voice transactions.

Power Personalized Shopping Experiences

Utilize AI recommendations from previous purchase patterns.
Use dynamic pricing and promotional voice-only discounts.
Since voice queries are mostly done using mobile, you also need to ensure that your website is fast and easy to use.

Develop Branded Voice Apps
Create custom voice apps for establishing brand identity and providing unique shopping experiences.

Voice commerce: 5 challenges you must know!

There are many advantages of voice commerce, but also some challenges:

Security Concerns – These players expose related voice transactions and data handling risks.

Limited Images Representation – One of the notable differences in voice commerce as compared to traditional online shopping is there are no product images or comparisons just a command away.

User Intent Recognition – AI still struggles to understand complex or sometimes vague voice commands.

Adoption Challenges – a segment of consumers is wary of using voice for high-value purchases as the transactional voice experience is not trusted
But with the rise of AI and voice recognition technology, the reliability and security of voice commerce will become better and better.

Conclusion

Voice commerce is more than just a trend — it’s the future of online shopping. More consumers are using voice search than ever before, so businesses need to refresh their digital strategies.

These open up new opportunities for brands with respect to their voice SEO, voice conversational keywords, and seamless shopping opportunities.

Signing off for now! 🚀