[{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BlogPosting","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2018\/03\/22\/virtual-assistant-e-commerce-impact\/#BlogPosting","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2018\/03\/22\/virtual-assistant-e-commerce-impact\/","headline":"“Alexa, what will be your impact on e-commerce?”","name":"“Alexa, what will be your impact on e-commerce?”","description":"Voice is now a consumer channel, with conversational commerce expected to reach $34 billion by 2034. Does your organizational strategy include voice? It should.","datePublished":"2018-03-22","dateModified":"2024-12-02","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/contributor\/evan-klein\/#Person","name":"Evan Klein","url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/contributor\/evan-klein\/","identifier":221,"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c584fcd4cada332944aace48e66b4c2e9a3ed57f2743c1e52751d9c66acaa7fe?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c584fcd4cada332944aace48e66b4c2e9a3ed57f2743c1e52751d9c66acaa7fe?s=96&d=mm&r=g","height":96,"width":96}},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"The Future of Commerce","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/logo-foc-schema-app-1.png","url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/logo-foc-schema-app-1.png","width":172,"height":60}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/thumbnail-b8137fbd28ca3e743a6be4227f3ec895.jpeg","url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/thumbnail-b8137fbd28ca3e743a6be4227f3ec895.jpeg","height":375,"width":1200},"url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2018\/03\/22\/virtual-assistant-e-commerce-impact\/","about":[{"@type":"Thing","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/commerce\/","name":"Commerce","sameAs":["https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Commerce","http:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/entity\/Q26643"]},{"@type":"Thing","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/marketing\/customer-engagement-marketing\/","name":"Customer Engagement","sameAs":["https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Customer_engagement","http:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/entity\/Q5196451"]},{"@type":"Thing","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/customer-experience\/customer-experience-general\/","name":"Customer Experience","sameAs":["https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Customer_experience","http:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/entity\/Q984142"]},{"@type":"Thing","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/commerce\/e-commerce\/","name":"E-Commerce","sameAs":["https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/E-commerce","http:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/entity\/Q484847"]},"Future of Grocery Retail",{"@type":"Thing","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/commerce\/intelligent-enterprise\/","name":"Intelligent Enterprise","sameAs":["https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Intelligent_enterprise","http:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/entity\/Q6044119"]},{"@type":"Thing","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/e-commerce-solution\/m-commerce-mobile-commerce\/","name":"M-commerce: Mobile commerce","sameAs":["https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Mobile_commerce"]},{"@type":"Thing","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/retail\/","name":"Retail","sameAs":["https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Retail","http:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/entity\/Q126793"]},{"@type":"Thing","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/sales\/","name":"Sales","sameAs":["https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Sales","http:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/entity\/Q194189"]}],"wordCount":801,"keywords":["Alexa","Conversational Commerce","E-commerce","Siri","Voice Commerce"],"articleBody":"Technology: First we held it, then we wore it. And now? We don\u2019t even have to touch it. Voice-activated technology is here, and it\u2019s influencing every facet of our lives. What will the impact of the virtual assistant on e-commerce be?Gone are the days of wishing that life came with a virtual assistant. Siri, Google Home, and Cortana are here. And, outshining its voice-activated competitors, Amazon\u2019s Echo, powered by Alexa-technology, has made that dream a reality for many North American homes.Whether you\u2019re setting an alarm, dimming the lights, or playing the appropriate music for Saturday morning, Alexa converts your voice into action. Life is getting more convenient, while reducing the time we need to spend on screens.That said, Alexa represents more than simplicity. It\u2019s a new consumer channel. Once again, commerce faces disruption – this time from voice assistants. Already marking $2 billion in sales today, voice shopping is expected to increase to $40 billion by 2022.This channel, and its growing traction, poses threats and opportunities for brands. Specifically, when we look at the Amazon conglomerate, Alexa is a tool that businesses must simultaneously utilize and compete against.  Smarter sales, service, e-commerce.Start HERE.“Alexa, what will be the impact of the virtual assistant on e-commerce? Can you order this week\u2019s groceries?”Recent research revealed that voice commerce consumers are younger, more affluent, and likely to have children.These consumers are purchasing stand-alone, lower value, and commoditized items (think groceries, entertainment and electronics).If your product or service aligns with this current voice commerce use case, can you be found by Alexa? Do you have a voice commerce strategy for this channel?What about if your products and services aren\u2019t commoditized, or come with a higher price tag? Is there a place for your business to penetrate the market using voice assistants?Truth be told, a lot of organizations are already playing catch-up when it comes to a voice technology channel strategy. However, large market opportunity is still present.Not only will consumer demographics broaden, but as voice technology also gains more trust, the volume of purchases and their average price will increase.This means that nearly all businesses should be utilizing the channel to generate more sales.      Click, click, buy: e-commerce trends driven by DTC, mobile, social                E-commerce trends reflect a society that's forever changed. Brands must focus on DTC, mobile, social as a search tool, and data.      \u201cAlexa, are your skills my new advertising strategy?\u201dAn app to your smartphone is a skill to Alexa. With over 15,000 skills to choose from – skills that have been created by Amazon, businesses, and the public – Alexa has an answer for just about any question.With the rise of voice commerce and social commerce and collaboration, your brand needs to be where consumers are searching for solutions. Great content marketing strategies will be leveraging this channel and developing Alexa skills in order to engage target markets.Take a look at Tide. \u201cAlexa, how do I get red wine out of the carpet?\u201d The brand implemented a \u201cstain remover\u201d skill, which includes voice instructions on how to remove over 200 types of stains. According to reviews, the skill itself is quite helpful. Backlash comes from Tide commercials that play with the skill.It\u2019s about striking the balance between being available to consumers without aggressively pushing the brand.\u201cAlexa, how do you know my preferred brands?\u201dAnd here is the conflict between hopping on the Amazon bandwagon, using their technology – while also competing against the empire.Remember Amazon\u2019s $13.7 billion Whole Foods Market acquisition? Not seen as obvious partners at first, the news came with speculation that Amazon saw value in the grocery chain\u2019s physical presence.While perhaps partially true, think about how voice commerce today is predominantly grocery transactions. We\u2019re watching history repeat itself as Amazon has uncovered a market need, and developed a more convenient channel for consumers to get what they want – the impact of the virtual assistant on e-commerce is here to stay.Amazon has a firm hold over consumers’ buying decisions, with 85% of consumers selecting the products Amazon suggests. As Amazon grows, of course, their priority will be to push their own brands, products, and services.Should Amazon\u2019s own agenda deter you from using their products and technology? No. Like always, Amazon is onto something, and there is business to be won.But, as your organization evolves its strategy to incorporate voice, remember that Alexa isn\u2019t the only option. As other voice assistants compete for market share, consider that there may be just as much – or more – opportunity to use other voice assistants in the future.  Tariffs. Supply chains.Customer expectations. C-suite expectations. Everything you need for retail success, none of the fluff.Download the market analysis\u00a0HERE."},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"2018","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2018\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"03","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2018\/\/03\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"22","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2018\/\/03\/\/22\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"“Alexa, what will be your impact on e-commerce?”","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2018\/03\/22\/virtual-assistant-e-commerce-impact\/#breadcrumbitem"}]}]