Did you know that Alphabet (Google) stated that 2 out of 10 mobile searches are done by voice and that this number will continue to grow until 2020?
These and other fascinating data send a powerful message to digital businesses: voice search in e-commerce is the future. The use of spoken language to interact with search engines, instead of using physical and tactile keyboards, is growing by the moment.
Amazon Echo, Google Home and other smart speakers are not the only ones responsible. Artificial Intelligences (Microsoft Cortana, Apple Siri, etc.) have also done their bit.
The growing importance of the millennial and postmillennial generation has also influenced. According to SalesForce, 4 out of 10 millennials consumers search online through their voice assistants before buying a product.
But the most determining factor in the boom in voice searches has been Google and the adaptation of its algorithms to this type of search. For this reason, more and more online shops are deciding to benefit from this trend.
Do you want to know how to optimize your e-commerce for voice search? Discover below some of the best practices to achieve it!
5 ways to take advantage of voice search in your e-commerce
The use of natural language, keywords in the form of questions or the adaptation of checkouts to voice purchases will be some of the best practices to optimize e-commerce by voice search.
If you want to go deeper into these and other recommendations to optimize voice searches in e-commerce, you have an appointment with the following lines:
Questions become important in voice search
Understanding new consumer habits are of paramount importance to marketing teams. How else will they design an effective strategy to improve voice sales in commerce?
The use of queries in the form of questions is skyrocketing thanks to this type of search. It has its logic. Users write ‘cheap shoes london’, but if they make this query by voice, they say ‘where to buy cheap shoes in London?
Consequently, an excellent approach to optimizing voice searches is to adapt the contents of our shop to these queries. For example, entries published on the corporate blog could be restructured in the form of questions and answers (without turning it into a FAQ).
Consider that voice searches are in situ
As you probably know, shopping in physical stores continues to drive consumers crazy.
They love it so much that they even shop online at Amazon while checking out MediaMark’s or another competitor’s products! These consumer habits have been reinforced by voice searches, as they make mobile shopping even more convenient.
The main e-commerce stores, aware that their customers buy on the go, are taking steps to benefit. Let’s take a look at some of the most interesting ones.
- Increase the number of pick up points. IKEA, Amazon and other companies are doing it.
- Offer online discount codes that can only be used with physical store collection.
- Install WiFi in your physical stores so your customers can enjoy omnichannel searches. In addition to improving footfalls, this measure should improve both online and physical shopping.
Watch out for local searches!
A clear conclusion can be drawn from the previous point: if consumers buy by voice and do so on the spot, local businesses (or e-commerce stores with physical branches) will benefit, won’t they?
The answer is yes. But we must add a ‘but’: they will benefit as long as they have adapted to local voice searches.
The so-called local SEO is increasing in importance at times. That’s why phrases like ‘near me’ or ‘near Barcelona’ are popular with users’ queries (both written and voice searches). And to benefit from voice searches in your ecommerce, you must first optimize it for local queries – by the way, it’s a separate ‘science’.
Bet on using a natural language
Some of the above examples will have put you on the track: with voice searches, the language and keywords to use will be more flexible, more natural. In a word: more human.
This is a correct assumption, and therefore implies that the ecommerces must adapt the tone, style and words to use. In voice search, long tail keywords, for example.
On the other hand, misspelled is reduced to a minimum, as nobody would dare to ask for ‘cheap zara woman heels’ in a shop. It would take courage! And yet, this long tail is very common in written searches.
Get ready for voice shopping
It’s possible that your online store (with its images, descriptions and product sheets) is ready for voice searches in your ecommerce, but what about your checkout pages?
Attracting potential customers who use this search mode is just the beginning. Its purpose should be to improve conversions, don’t you agree?
At First Direct they understood its importance. Recently this bank in Leeds, UK, upgraded its systems to allow voice payments made through Siri. As if that weren’t enough, Nielsen predicts that 2% of purchases will be made through voice assistants by 2025.
Voice purchase can be defined as the acquisition of a product through voice, without the intervention of touch screens. These purchase orders are already a reality thanks to Siri, Google Assistant, Amazon Echo, Google Home, and other innovations.
But what if your checkout on processes are adapted to voice purchases? Obviously, you will have many abandoned carts.
Your potential customers will find the product they are interested by voice, but when processing their purchase, they will have to manipulate their touch screen, a great friction for these consumers.
In view of the above, optimizing voice searches in your e-commerce is a winning strategy in the medium to long term.
It would be a mistake to look for results in a short period of time because investments in voice search are a bet for the future – but very, very promising.
