Voice To Cart: How Voice Assistance Is Democratising The Future Of Retail

20India is witnessing a phase where 21st-century digital technologies co-exist with 19th-century challenges. In an effort to revolutionise this, the government has already taken several measures. In fact, a Nielsen study points out that rural India’s internet presence is 20% higher than urban India. 

The Indian Techade story can become a reality by 2030 only when the ecommerce and banking/payment technologies become democratised and reach every digital citizen. Today, an English-centric internet has become a major barrier for nearly half a billion digital citizens in India to leverage the full vista of choices and empowerment offered by the digital world, such as ecommerce and online financial services availability.

The wave of newcomers to the smartphone era, who are less educated and online for the first time, can be better navigated using voice assistance technology. Multilingual voice assistance is the bridge to making the Indian Techade story a reality. The new-to-internet digital citizen should have an easy way to interact with the mobile/web apps in their own vernacular language, using their own voice. 

With ultra-intelligent multilingual capabilities, in-app voice assistance technology has the potential to provide a seamless experience for customers. Gone are the days of scrolling through endless pages of products, trying to find that perfect item. With voice assistance technology, one can simply tell the virtual assistant what is required and let the technological magic unfold! 

The Sound Barrier: Challenges And Limitations Of Voice Technology 

India is the second-largest digital consumer market in the world, with a population of 1.4 Bn and more than 560 Mn internet users. Despite the wave of technologies such as 5G and smartphone dispersion, only 200-250 Mn people in India are using ecommerce. The major reason why the rest of the population refrains from using the apps is that all the apps/websites are in English. Even though some apps provide translation, it’s challenging to use them. 

Also, using vernacular keyboards is tough because they are harder to use than English keyboards. This is where voice assistance comes into play because literacy itself is a major issue when it comes to the ‘new-to-internet’ Indian users.

Another major concern is privacy and security. With voice technology recording personal information, there’s always the risk of potential data breaches. Another hurdle that we face is integration with existing systems. Compatibility issues with legacy systems can be a nightmare, and the high cost of implementation can be a barrier for some retailers.

However, as more and more businesses adopt voice technology, we can expect to see these challenges diminish. Perhaps the most significant limitation of voice technology in retail is the accuracy of voice recognition. Accurately interpreting voice commands can be tricky, especially when dealing with regional accents and dialects. However, voice technology is constantly improving, and as more data is collected and analysed, we can expect to see improvements in accuracy.

Calling The Attention Of Voice Assistants: Addressing The Hiccups And Hurdles

According to a Deloitte report, voice will account for approximately 30% of all sales by 2030. Today, India is witnessing a voice-led revolution that will alter how we interact and do business. Brands can easily grow their current market by three to four times by expanding not only into non-English tier-2 and tie-3 India but also by penetrating the urban market deeper by onboarding segments such as cab drivers, auto drivers, senior citizens, house helps and similar sections of society. By doing so, they will get deeper insights into user behaviour. 

The voice assistant in ecommerce apps can actually prevent 30-50% of the drop-offs that happen today. This drop-off prevention is a huge advantage for brands, as it gives them more revenues without the additional cost of customer acquisition or additional marketing costs. For all these reasons and more, it makes sense for brands to mandatorily implement voice assistance inside mobile and web apps in all vernacular languages of Bharat.

If the same personal shopping experience in the physical world can be adapted to online shopping using voice and conversations in local lingo, it will be the easiest way for them to start using the advanced applications on their smartphone. Multilingual voice assistance inside mobile and web applications eliminates most of the barriers facing new-to-the-internet Indians and enables them to have the same kind of choices, opportunities and empowerment that a minority set of Indians are enjoying today. Access to knowledge and transactions in their own languages will help them to stay independent and informed.

With ultra-intelligent multilingual capabilities, in-app voice assistance technology has the potential to provide a seamless and personalised shopping experience for customers, while also streamlining operations for retailers and ecommerce companies. 

Additionally, organisations enabling in-app voice assistants can offer an option for users to customise their voice commands, ensuring a more accurate and personalised experience. Overall, a holistic in-app voice assistant can offer a robust and reliable voice assistance solution that addresses the privacy and security concerns of users while also providing a flexible and scalable platform that can integrate with existing systems and accurately interpret user commands.

Scaling Globally

The future of retail is about to get a whole lot louder, thanks to the ear-popping potential of in-app voice assistants! Imagine a world where you can simply shout out your shopping list while jogging and have it all delivered to your doorstep in a flash.

As we move towards a more digital and connected world, the integration of voice technology in retail is inevitable. With a focus on robust security protocols and accurate voice recognition, the future of retail will be all about making our lives easier and more convenient than ever before.

For a multilingual market like India, awareness and trust in voice AI are the key drivers of adoption. The benefits of voice assistants in apps are not limited to India alone. There are several ecommerce, banking and fintech apps in India that are operating in multiple countries. 

India itself is taking the IndiaStack to other countries as a gesture of goodwill, and it is being embraced across the world. These initiatives provide the Indian startup/tech industry and India with the kind of soft power that was generated by oil in the last century and minerals in the centuries before that.

Note: We at Inc42 take our ethics very seriously. More information about it can be found here.