Online shopping, mobile commerce, and ecommerce. Trends of the future that are here now and changing everything. One of those trends that online retailers should notice, and prepare for, is voice search. This trend is rising in popularity because of the changes and the early adaptors. Smart speakers and voice recognition software are making voice search easier to use, and shoppers can complete their transactions much faster, and more conveniently.

Voice assistants were once a novelty, but Amazon and Google platforms use them regularly now. Customers shop from their mobile devices and expect everything to be available to them when they need it. A strategy for making use of voice assistants can’t be ignored by retailers. Voice search will continue to grow and change the face of online shopping. Now is the best time to prepare your site and be sure that it is ready and optimized for use.

What Will be the Impact?

Customers who use voice to search for information on mobile devices expect to find information quickly and they use sites that they trust. They know how to make the most of the results they get, and they reach for their mobiles most of the time. They also tend to be younger, making it easier for them to order and use it is the objective. There is great potential for growth in this area, so optimizing now for voice search will be an advantage to retailers.

What Changes Will Occur?

Using voice search means optimizing for Voice SEO and adapting keywords to speech patterns. Voice search is changing keyword usage in two ways. It uses more common speech patterns, and users tend to use first person English when speaking to their device. More people are searching using the phrasing “How do I…” instead of “How do you…” and searching in more complete sentences when using voice searches. This will impact keywords on websites and in the product listings pages on Amazon.

Amazon Sellers Can Benefit

Amazon already allows purchasers to make purchases directly with voice, without looking at the site or the product. To succeed here, the Amazon seller will need to rank higher because fewer options are given to the searcher asking with Alexa. In fact, Alexa will only come back with 1 or 2 results and does not provide options. It also gives opportunity to build loyalty because customers who have purchased certain brands before will be offered that brand again. In short, win sales by focusing on becoming the top of your category and by targeting repeat customers.

Keep Focusing on Rank

Voice search will change the way customers search and how they shop. Retailers already focus their marketing efforts to meet customer needs, but when the retailer sells on Amazon it is important to focus on rank. As an Amazon seller, you already use marketing tactics to rank and are familiar with the needed metrics, but these quality and customer service metrics, like customer service, fulfillment speed and reviews, will become more important. If your business is smaller, consider using third-party providers to help improve your business category ranking.

Category ranking can be improved by using keywords and product descriptions to be as specific as possible. Work as well to ensure good reviews and customer loyalty. Get started as soon as possible and be ahead of the game.

Help is Available

With all the frequent changes that are happening in ecommerce, it can all seem overwhelming. Classes, support groups and training programs can help.

Learn more here about what Wizards of Ecom can do for you.