Voice assistants, including Amazon’s Alexa, Google’s Assistant, Apple’s Siri, and Microsoft’s Cortana, are pegged to trigger widespread transformation across the retail industry in the years to come.

Voice assistants offer an additional level of convenience and speed over other shopping channels, and these advantages are driving consumers to embrace the technology for their shopping needs. Today, 6% of US adults have engaged in some sort of voice shopping, according to Business Insider Intelligence estimates. By 2023, voice commerce adoption is expected to reach 49% of US adults.

As consumer interest for voice technology in retail mounts, brands that embrace voice throughout the entire customer journey stand to pull ahead of competition. Shoppers are interested in using voice assistants for everything from the original product search and discovery, to the purchasing phase, to the post-purchase stage, which includes customer service and checking delivery status. Retailers that take advantage of consumers’ desire to leverage voice will be in a stronger position to heighten customer engagement, increase conversion times, drive sales, and boost operational efficiency.

In this report, Business Insider Intelligence examines the trends driving the adoption of voice commerce, details the role of voice throughout the customer shopping journey, outlines how brands can benefit from implementing voice in their strategies, and explores what’s ahead for the tech in retail.

Here are some of the key takeaways from the report:

• The prompt, expedient nature of voice assistants is what makes them the prominent channel for product discovery. Seventy-one percent of consumers would rather use their voice assistant to search for something than physically type when searching online. And among consumers who’ve used their voice assistant, nearly half are leveraging their voice to search for products every day, with 17% of them using voice search multiple times a day.

• Voice technology is helping drive product purchases by making spending faster and easier when consumers are unable to use their hands. The emergence of voice apps, the ability to make a purchase on any channel, and the addition of personalized, intelligent elements to the shopping experience are playing a crucial role in simplifying the transition from product discovery to the purchasing phase of the sales funnel.

• Customer loyalty can be heightened when brands leverage voice assistants in the post-purchase phase of the shopping funnel. Voice can be leaned on to track the delivery status of packages, automate part of the return process, interact with a customer service representative, offer feedback, and collect consumer behavioral and transactional data.

In full, the report:

• Explores what’s driving adoption of voice commerce.
• Discusses the various ways voice is being implemented throughout the customer shopping journey.
• Highlights the value voice brings to the shopping funnel.
• Discusses the new mediums consumers will eventually flock to for voice commerce.