Smart speaker shopping is currently in its infancy stage. However, it is expected that gradually, the users will adopt the new technology and make it a mainstream medium.
According to a survey by the GfK, nearly a quarter of the participants said that they would like to use smart speakers to assist in their shopping in the coming year. A separate study by Voicebot.ai and Voicify indicates that around 26% of U.S. adults or 66.4 million people currently own a smart speaker.
eMarketer also recently forecasted that the number of U.S. based consumers who shop via smart speakers would increase to around 31.6% this year and another 11.8% by the year 2020.
Nevertheless, the adoption rate of the technology is low and indicates that it still has room for improvement. The GfK’s study also suggests that retailer should create better voice-powered apps that would help users search for the products they need with more ease.
GfK’s study also highlights that perhaps the smart speaker systems are more suitable for digital media products rather than physical goods. In fact, the research by Juniper states that while voice commerce is expected to grow to over $80 billion a year by 2023 – the majority of the purchases consists of money transfers and digital media such as on-demand movies, music, and TV shows.
Another study by payment providing service Paysafe claims that 57% of consumers are willing to use voice technology but only to pay for low-priced goods and services.
On the other hand, AR is readily available on countless smartphones. The ease-of-access has helped increase its adoption rate amongst consumers and retailers alike. For example, Ikea is integrating AR with its retail app to enhance direct purchases. The company also integrated the AR technology to allow consumers to virtually decorate their spaces with Ikea items before making a purchase.
Cosmetic brands like L’Oréal and luxury brand Gucci has also added AR technology to their apps. Researchers at Gartner also estimate that the adoption rate of AR will increase with the rollout of 5G mobile service.
Read next: Why more than half of the retailers have not adopted advanced technologies like AI and VR/AR?
According to a survey by the GfK, nearly a quarter of the participants said that they would like to use smart speakers to assist in their shopping in the coming year. A separate study by Voicebot.ai and Voicify indicates that around 26% of U.S. adults or 66.4 million people currently own a smart speaker.
eMarketer also recently forecasted that the number of U.S. based consumers who shop via smart speakers would increase to around 31.6% this year and another 11.8% by the year 2020.
Nevertheless, the adoption rate of the technology is low and indicates that it still has room for improvement. The GfK’s study also suggests that retailer should create better voice-powered apps that would help users search for the products they need with more ease.
GfK’s study also highlights that perhaps the smart speaker systems are more suitable for digital media products rather than physical goods. In fact, the research by Juniper states that while voice commerce is expected to grow to over $80 billion a year by 2023 – the majority of the purchases consists of money transfers and digital media such as on-demand movies, music, and TV shows.
Another study by payment providing service Paysafe claims that 57% of consumers are willing to use voice technology but only to pay for low-priced goods and services.
On the other hand, AR is readily available on countless smartphones. The ease-of-access has helped increase its adoption rate amongst consumers and retailers alike. For example, Ikea is integrating AR with its retail app to enhance direct purchases. The company also integrated the AR technology to allow consumers to virtually decorate their spaces with Ikea items before making a purchase.
Cosmetic brands like L’Oréal and luxury brand Gucci has also added AR technology to their apps. Researchers at Gartner also estimate that the adoption rate of AR will increase with the rollout of 5G mobile service.
Read next: Why more than half of the retailers have not adopted advanced technologies like AI and VR/AR?
