Talk and buy: 'Voice shopping'

23/10/2017

Angela de la Vieja

The arrival of Siri, the voice assistant of Apple, caused a big surprise as it usually happens with almost any innovation proposed by Apple. And it was also a reason for many jokes. We have seen humorous gags in which a person talks to Siri as if it were somebody real, situations in which a rebellious Siri refuses to talk to the owner of a smartphone, and even to Siri giving incorrect instructions just to annoy.

But voice assistants are already a serious thing, and voice is beginning to replace online writing as the 2017 Internet Trends Report by Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers reported.

In this scenario of writing less and talking more, voice shopping begins to be a phenomenon that can revolutionize online shopping.

Buy with a voice assistant

Voice shopping is the way to shop using a voice assistant, with programs designed to interact with digital devices that respond to voice commands and can execute tasks.

The idea is not new, but technology has come a long way and voice-activated devices are already present in markets such as the United States. Currently, there are 8.2 million American buyers who have voice-activated devices that they use for home automation, to search for information on the internet, and, of course, to buy.

Although Amazon can be considered as the leader of voice shopping, great digital players are being very active in this new way of buying.

Currently the Apple HomePod, managed with Siri, the Amazon Echo, powered by Alexa; Google Home and Ali Baba's Tmall Genie promise to spark disruptive change in e-commerce.

Talk, just by talking to a device you can receive the purchase the next day at home.

The challenges of voice ecommerce

The attendees based on artificial intelligence, chatbots and natural language recognition can create a totally new way of interacting in the coming years. And the idea of voice ecommerce begins to take shape and pose new challenges for online marketers, who must offer a new experience to their buyers.

But the voice commerce that experts anticipate is not just a technology issue to streamline the transaction. To prepare for this scenario, where e-commerce giants take the lead, future ecommerce voice should not be just a way of doing dictated business. Three key aspects of the user experience should be considered: search, shopping, and customer service.

ComScore research indicates that by 2020, 50% of searches will be done by voice. Ecommerce should consider as soon as possible that users tend to be more expressive when doing voice searches, therefore, they will have to take advantage of NLP (Natural Language Processing) and include natural language in textual content. The content should also be voice friendly to fit the way you look, which will probably generate new longtail keywords, which will be the new voice-oriented keywords.

A very revealing report, Sales Force Connected Shoppers Report, this year indicates that 40% of US millennial have used voice assistants to make a purchase. Physical voice assistants are becoming popular in the US market and, as we know, will sooner or later become a global phenomenon.

One-to-one communication for customer service is another big challenge for ecommerce. More and more businesses are using WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger to send transactional information, personal offers or content. In this sense, the announcement of WhatsApp Business for companies have made many online marketers analyse how to take advantage and boost their customer service channels. Not just text, voice and one by one.

The challenges that the next-generation of ecommerce will face will require a lot of effort. But the data indicates that this effort will be worth it, at least It has been for Amazon. According to the RetailDive report, Amazon users who have the Echo device spend 10% more on purchases than those who do not.

11/11/2022

Consumer behavior: How can behavior tracking be effective for setting the right pricing strategies?

Behavior tracking is becoming massively popular today. As a result, pricing strategies born from studying consumer behavior are a merchant's dream come true. If done right, it can conquer every market for the business quickly. With abundant data available, the strategic makeover of the pricing models is becoming easy for companies.

What is behavioral tracking, and how is the data beneficial in pricing?

For a quick understanding, behavioral tracking refers to gaining in-depth knowledge and insights into consumers through their web data. Their browsing habits, spontaneous decisions, shopping interests, and preferences come under behavioral tracking.

How can enterprises use customer behavior data?

Companies can use customer behavior data as a tool to strengthen their hold on the market. A customer’s preferences, values, and tendencies allow businesses to work in sync with them through the collected data. Apart from this, customer behavior can also aid in:

Tailoring customer needs for customer retention

Personalization is becoming the heart of a company’s growth. No matter in which area an enterprise is functioning, tailoring the services, products, and solutions is becoming increasingly crucial. Uniqueness and personalization attract the crowd like no other.

Increasing the overall value

One of the best ways customer behavior data affects a business is by upgrading the value of customers for the business. The customer’s characteristics allow the company to target the people that match the business prospects well.

Optimizing every type of content

Everything that is up for digital display requires content. You must have seen companies unveiling their products or services through advertisements and making the initial public appearance. Two essential sales strategies – upselling and cross-selling comes through content optimization.

Pricing Strategy

Last but certainly not least is the influence of customer behavior data on the pricing strategy. The pricing strategy essentially constitutes content derived from data analysis. Companies need to have a dynamic approach to the pricing system to attract the right customers.

17/02/2015

Saint Valentine’s Day, always a good opportunity

V-Day is looming, a long-awaited date for all and also a good occasion for the eCommerce. According the study conducted by Prosper Insights and Analytics, it is forecasted the average consumer expense that day will be the highest in last years. Furthermore, 25% of them will buy online, which means an increase of 4% regarding 2014 (The US department of Commerce). This is, therefore, a key date where market competitiveness increase and which could be assumed as a big opportunity for our business or, a big fail if we do not adopt the correct strategies.

How to turn this event into an opportunity? To achieve this goal, we need to adapt our prices to this hostile environment, i.e. we need to develop an appropriate Dynamic Pricing strategy that allows us to adapt our prices to the variations produced in supply and demand and to position us ahead of our competitors. In V-Day, the frequency in changes will be higher, carrying it out each hour or even each minute. It is estimated that 65% of leader retailers have the ability to respond quickly at these variations, such Amazon. For this reason, it acquires great importance the correct use of a software specialised in price motorisation of competitors. Do not miss the time and adapt your business to new adversities.

28/12/2022

Which are the best footwear marketplaces to sell on?

Footwear marketplaces are booming. The last decade has seen the launch of new specialized marketplaces with millions of different users. Among them are Spartoo, Sarenza and Farfetch, portals with international reach. Their main value is that they unite hundreds of footwear brands, as well as offering clothes and accessories. Although each has its own characteristics, they are all vertical marketplaces, i.e., they focus on a specific area, and their sales categories are interrelated. For sellers, these portals provide an opportunity to expand sales channels and drive the globalization of their e-commerce business. We explain how to sell on these footwear marketplaces so that you can assess whether they align with your plans for the future and then start defining a possible pricing strategy.