Digital Assistants Becoming Viable Sales Channel, Says CTA Report

Two studies released Wednesday indicate the growing power of voice in driving e-commerce sales. CTA reported that one in four U.S. online adults is likely to make a purchase using voice technology in the next year, and most will shop from their living rooms. CTA’s 2018 voice shopping report said consumers who use digital assistants daily are much more likely to voice shop via a smart speaker -- such as Amazon Echo and Google Home -- or a digital assistant such as Apple's Siri. "Digital assistants are enabling a fourth 'voice' sales channel to emerge, joining brick-and-mortar, online, and mobile as an avenue for buying goods and services," said Ben Arnold, CTA senior director-trends and innovation. Though still nascent, voice shopping will increase as brands add more commerce-related skills and capabilities to digital assistants, leading more consumers to experiment with it, Arnold said, and the trend is expected to play out in the upcoming holiday season. Smart speaker ownership nearly tripled to 22 percent this year, making the category one of the fastest-adopted technologies since tablets, said CTA. The living room (53 percent) is the most common place consumers are locating smart speakers, followed by the bedroom (40 percent), kitchen (32 percent), a vehicle (30 percent) and home office (20 percent), it said. Top purchases via smart speaker are for food and groceries, and then household supplies and CE products, it said. CTA findings were based on a national sample of 2,000 U.S adult respondents surveyed May 18-25. A Wednesday Parks Associates report said smart speakers are driving online sales of CE purchases, and a quarter of CE purchases by broadband households are made online vs. 9-10 percent for other categories. With intent to buy on the rise for smart speakers, “online retailers stand to take a larger part of CE purchases going forward," said Parks analyst Kristen Hanich.