Dutch retailers see opportunity in voice-assisted shopping

By

Shomara Roosblad

Published
Apr 13, 2018

Technology has largely contributed to the new demands of consumers in today’s fast-changing retail landscape. Retailers are constantly looking for ways to respond to the changes and voice-assisted shopping might be the newest trend in the Netherlands.

According to a survey, conducted by Dutch bank ABN Amro, voice-assisted shopping is on the rise both internationally and nationally. In a report, the bank states that especially in countries where Amazon is active, such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany and France, the trend is fast-moving. Dutch retailers and consumers also see opportunities in the service, says ABN Amro.

61 percent of Dutch retailers see the rise of voice-assisted shopping in the sales process as an opportunity. About two third expects that they will be able to offer voice-assisted shopping within three years, considering shopping comfort for the consumer as the main incentive to begin offering the service. About half of them, 46 percent, also indicate that they would want to launch such a service together with a technology partner. Retailers expect that in 2021, 29 percent of consumers will use voice in the shopping process.

At the moment, 18 percent of Dutch consumers regularly use a voice assistant on their device, for example on their Smartphone using Siri, WhatsApp or Messenger, or for car navigation. When asked to estimate their behavior in a three-year time frame, 32 percent said that they would rather ‘say’ a message than ‘type’ the same message on a device. Especially young people and men see voice-controlled apps or devices as an opportunity, as stated in the ABN Amro report.

According to the survey, it seems that voice will be a useful tool in the shopping process in regard to searching for product information. Consumers are most open to this usage and 30 percent of them expect to regularly use an app in 2021 that uses voice control, while 18 percent believes that they will in fact order products using a voice assistant by 2021.

The ABN Amro survey was conducted in partnership with retail consultancy, Q&A, among 87 retailers and 1,241 consumers.