Customer behaviors are known to change gradually and thus leave ample time for brands to play catchup. But the coronavirus induced a fear of the infection spreading through touch-based interactions and brought about a sense of urgency for contactless interactions. This sudden shift in customer behavior has motivated many companies to embrace voice assistants as a new way of interacting and transacting.
Sensing an opportunity, proactive companies across industries throughout APAC and the Middle East are making firm moves to voice-enable their business. We surveyed 1,400 marketing and IT executives to better understand what is motivating their organizations to take the voice-plunge and to see where they are advancing and falling short. Key takeaways include:
- Companies view voice as a vital force to reckon with and expect its adoption to pay off with top- and bottom-line growth accorded to early movers.
- Many brands are gearing up to make necessary investments in voice-enabling their businesses.
- Customer service was called out as a fruitful starting point by a majority of respondents.
- Various challenges were revealed, with data privacy topping the list.
From our research, we developed a three-phased maturity model to help companies achieve their voice ambitions. The infographic below reveals key voice trends and the essence of our model.
