Why eCommerce Apps Must Have Voice Search Today
Image credit: Pexels.com
Building a successful eCommerce company requires staying on top of the latest innovations. After all, eCommerce had a dramatic impact on the dominance of brick-and-mortar retail businesses specifically because it involved leveraging new technology to offer a more convenient customer experience.
Thus, eCommerce companies must also pay attention to the way new advances are changing how people shop online for the better.
Consider the rise of voice search. Improvements in voice tech have made shopping by speaking easier than ever. Customers are responding accordingly.
Your company needs to as well. For instance, if you already have an eCommerce iOS app, you need to coordinate with iPhone app developers familiar with voice sooner rather than later to stay competitive. This brief overview will help you better understand why.
Voice Search’s Increasing Popularity
Statistics paint a very clear picture: voice search is indeed becoming very popular very fast. For instance, a recent survey from Adobe indicates approximately 48% of adult consumers use voice search in some capacity. Additionally, Pew Research Center found that in 2019, one in four American households had some type of smart speaker device, and the numbers are rising.
Surveys also show that many people who currently don’t own smart speakers or similar voice tech devices plan on buying them in the near future. It’s easy to understand why, too.
Why Consumers Love Voice Search
Voice search is exactly what it sounds like: a feature that allows someone to perform an online or in-app search simply by speaking instead of typing.
Many people find this option to be far more convenient. In various situations, it can also be necessary.
For example, perhaps you’re a busy working parent buying back-to-school supplies for your kids. Because you don’t have much time on your hands, you opt to buy them online, saving you a trip to the store.
However, maybe your schedule is so packed that sitting down and searching for the items you need to buy on an eCommerce site or app is still too time-consuming.
That’s not an issue with voice search. With voice search, you could do your shopping in the car.
That’s just one example. Along with time-efficiency, voice search offers greater personalization, as a voice assistant can suggest recommended items in a friendly tone whenever a user opens a site or app. This potential feature highlights the value of working with developers who also understand how to incorporate machine learning into a voice search feature.
It’s worth noting that voice search capabilities can also help eCommerce brands gather more customer feedback. Many customers are unwilling to fill out surveys letting brands know what they’re doing right and what they’re doing wrong simply because doing so is tedious.
With voice search, responding to customer feedback surveys is much easier. Thus, customers will be more inclined to do so.
These are all reasons eCommerce brands need to prioritize voice search now. This technology is no fad. Your company needs to take advantage of it before the competition gets ahead.
To learn more about how you can take advantage of voice search see this Q&A collection.
By Catherine Metcalf. Catherine is a writer associated with Blue Label Labs, an iphone developers consultancy.
