Talk of voice shopping’s ascendency may be a little premature.
Despite studies showing double-digit growth in “v-commerce,” a new report by tech journal The Information suggests otherwise. According to two unnamed sources who were reportedly privy to internal Amazon data, only 2 percent of consumers with Alexa-enhanced devices made purchases this year by uttering their orders.
Of those Alexa users who did buy something by voice, only about 10 percent did so again, while 20 percent instead use Amazon’s digital assistant to track their orders or learn about promotions, the sources said.
Amazon wouldn’t comment on the figures beyond noting in a statement to The Information that “Millions of customer use Alexa to shop,” and “We want to enable customers to shop in whatever way is easiest for them.”
The report is at odds with a recent survey by Narvar showing that shopping by voice is up 41 percent since November, and that 22 percent of consumers are using the technology to make purchases.
See: Consumers Embracing Shop-By-Voice
Earlier this year, Matt Furlong, Amazon’s director of smart home, told a TWICE panel that the company is encouraged by customer response to voice shopping, with more and more Prime members taking advantage of unique and early deals.
“We’re still in the early days,” he said, but “We believe voice is the future. … It’s a natural user interface that can make complex things much simpler for customers, and we believe enabling customers to shop with their voices is just part of that equation.”
