Introduction
Communicating with our devices fluently using smart voice assistants is the future, and talking – the primary form of human communication – is making its way into our everyday gadgets already.
Growing up in the age of technology, Generation Z young adults today are utterly comfortable calling out into the open air, “Hey Siri”, “OK Google”, and wait for an inanimate object to hear and respond to their commands. They could be scrolling on Instagram or looking to buy something while they tap their earphones, ask questions to their voice assistants, and wait for their responses.
As this generation enters adulthood and gains more and more purchasing power, it is clear that finding ways to win and hold the attention of this new generation is important to businesses belonging to any industry.
Changing Search Behaviour
In the past, older generations searched the internet with single-word keywords, and the information available online was limited as well. However, the new Gen Z young adults search the internet with long-tailed keywords to find the exact content that they are looking for from an ocean of information on the internet.
A recent research by Fractl shows that a search by Gen Z includes 5 words and more while an average person searches with 4 words.
With voice AI, users can speak these queries into their devices equipped with voice AI as they would speak to a human being instead of using a keyboard to physically type their queries.
One of the most appealing aspects of voice AI for Gen Z is not only the ability to do a task speedily and hands-free but also the human experience of communicating with their devices.
With voice AI, young adults are increasingly finding it convenient to talk about their queries through conversations and give full commands to voice assistants. For instance, when a user is looking to buy shoes on an E-commerce platform, an average user would search with the keywords “white sneakers”. With an intuitive voice AI, Gen Z can effortlessly have a conversational experience with their voice assistants, like, “I’m thinking of buying white sneakers. Can you show me my cheapest option?”. This way, brands can understand customer behaviors, and provide a more individualized buying experience for their consumers, especially Gen Z who make up 27% of the buying population.
Voice AI for Shopping
Being the children of the digital age, Gen Z is prone to do most of their shopping through their mobile phones and research shows that, unlike their previous generations, Gen Z is more frugal than their predecessors and they look for experience and value more than anything else. Their attention spans are short and they need a conversational AI that responds to their queries quickly and positively.
Having grown up as an internet-dependent generation, this generation of adults is expecting to access the internet and make purchases online by using voice alone through virtual assistants, a survey says.
As a consequence, businesses are gradually implementing voice technology and looking to find novel ways to employ it and retail was one of the first industries to implement voice assistants for their customers.
With voice-navigated smart displays, brands can direct customers to specific products and brands based on their previous purchases. With an intuitive voice AI, brands can navigate this generation of customers from product research to purchase while also enabling up-selling and cross-selling and immediately moving them down the sales funnel – all through a voice-enabled conversational AI.
Replacing Chatboxes
Gen Z is growing up in an age of technology, and voice is one but one of many technologies they’ve figured out how to use to make aspects of life easier and smarter. They show little discomfort talking to a thing alone, or in public. They yell at Alexa to snooze their alarm so they can sleep a little longer. They use voice to change the music when they’re in the shower or pool so their phone doesn’t get wet. Gen Z is using voice tech in the car, for what they consider routine, like finding a music playlist, making phone calls, or sending a text message.
With the rise of voice AI, this generation is more inclined towards navigating their every day with voice and without textboxes and keyboards. As a consequence, they expect the brands they shop from to offer voice assistants to resolve their queries and meet them whenever and wherever they want.
With a smart voice-enabled conversational AI, businesses can automate resolving queries instantaneously and provide exceptional shopping experiences with less human interventions like this generation demands. They can also automate other sales activities like upselling with IVR with the help of voice assistants while also cutting costs and letting their human agents focus on more complicated tasks.
Conclusion
Research shows that only 37% of Gen Z fall into the brand loyalist category, a stark contrast to Gen X with 56% brand loyalists and this indicates that when a business does not cater to these needs, they are quick to leave the business for another.
Many members of this digital-native generation have arrived at the once-only-dreamt-of future where they are getting machines to do tasks only by talking to them, having them understand and answer back. For businesses, this shift is bringing both challenges and equally attractive opportunities and the first step in capturing any opportunity is being open to it.
Get in touch with our experts at purpleSlate to grab these opportunities and stay ahead of the curve.
