Voice technology including the Amazon Alexa Echo and Google Home has been recently hailed as a next big shake-up facing the retail industry. Despite this, most consumers around the world are not in a hurry to equip themselves with one of these devices, and most of those that do own one aren’t using them to browse or make a purchase, finds a new study by Episerver.
Less than a half (40%) of worldwide shoppers who own voice-activated tools 60% report never browsing on them for consumer goods and two thirds (66%) have never made a purchase on them, according to the same study, which surveyed more than 4,000 global consumers in markets including the UK and the US to reveal that while more established devices like smartphones have gained a footfall, digital devices such as smartwatches and voice-assisted devices have yet to catch up on for shoppers.
When it comes to shoppers’ preferences towards emerging and established technology in their purchasing experiences, the picture is demonstrating a phenomenon of technological innovations that stir interest in customers but don’t necessarily help to improve their shopping experience.
Some 35% of global consumers are happy owners of a smartwatch, however, 66% of those never browsed on the device and 70% never purchased. Whereas, nearly a third (29%) of shoppers worldwide report to browse on their smartphones, with only 27% of those consumers go on to make a purchase on their devices at the same frequency.
More than a half (51%) of shoppers globally who never want to try new technology functions report it’s because these devices didn’t improve their experience.
Nevertheless, it doesn’t indicate that the majority of respondents aren’t willing to try out emerging technologies and see for themselves their features and functionalities, with 30% of worldwide consumers are curious about trying drone delivery, while 59% have tried chat windows for assistance and 57% are willing to use them.
Photo credit: Paolese (Fotolia)
