Guest blog by Jon Stine, Executive Director, The Open Voice Network

As we gaze toward the future of the grocery business, two numbers might be worthy of study.

Both suggest significant changes in consumer behavior – and strategic investment.

The first is 56 percent. That’s the number of US internet users in the past twelve months who purchased groceries online, according to research published recently by the CPG analytics firm TABS Analytics. It compares to the 38 percent of the US internet population who purchased online a year ago, and equates to some 159 million persons.

The second is one in eight. That’s the rough number of worldwide Google searches that were conducted via a voice assistant interface last year. That’s some 250 billion searches.

The first – the shift to online grocery ordering – is apparent to most industry leaders. Though today online ordering accounts for only two percent of total US food and beverage sales (according to eMarketer’s March 2019 study), digital grocery revenues are expected to grow nearly 20 percent per year for at least the next five years.

Let’s be clear: the above number doesn’t suggest that all 56 percent are regularly buying online. But it does say this: an enormous cohort of shoppers – not just techno enthusiasts – are now testing digital grocery. And a lot of them will keep going online. According to experts from the Food Marketing Institute, grocery ecommerce could reach a US revenue total of $100 billion or more by the year 2022. (That’s nearly 10 percent of the market, and three years from now.)

The second is a bit more quiet. Many in the industry can’t hear it yet. But artificial intelligence voice assistance – be it on a home-based smart speaker, smartphone or the dashboard of a car – is on its way to the grocery industry. And as it arrives, it will not only accelerate the move to online grocery, but solidify consumer-to-brand relationships for those retailers that connect with shoppers via voice.

As with every tech-driven re-shaping of consumer behavior, there are those in the industry who scoff at the potential impact of online grocery and voice. “Online’s just a fraction of industry volume,” say some. Others point to the cost of last mile fulfillment. “It doesn’t pay,” they say.

And, when it comes to voice, the skeptics point to the single digit percentage of voice users who actually conduct transactions. “No one buys with it,” they say.

What’s lost in such comments is the reason why the use of online grocery and voice assistance is increasing at double digit rates – and will continue to do so.

Both online grocery and voice assistance are all about ease and convenience.

Scott Galloway, the notable NYU Professor of Marketing, wrote last month that the greatest value creation these days comes from either extending time (more time, saving time) or enhancing time. (You can find his article here: https://www.profgalloway.com/time-machines-species-failure.)

Online shopping provides both. Voice will multiply the impact.

We’re about to enter an era of remarkable ease and convenience of ordering, of receiving, of fitting both top-off and weekly replenishment shopping into either an increasingly busy or increasingly restricted lifestyle.

Because voice will soon be the easiest way to search, shop, and receive post-sale support.

The easiest way for a consumer to say yes.

What will be easier than to say “Alexa, send me my standard weekly order?” Or “Hey Wegman’s, send me my football weekend package of beverages and snacks?” Or, “Hey Kroger, what do I need to host the office Christmas party?”

Yes, there are costs, and no one can claim that the technology-process implementation is easy. But it doesn’t take much to evaluate the situation from the consumer’s point of view. Which is easier, more convenient, more time efficient, and worthy of weekly loyalty?

Option 1: wait in traffic, slosh through slush, walk the aisles, stand in line, unpack carts to the lane to the bags, lug bags from the store to the car and from the car to the kitchen.
Option 2: boot up/type password/open search engine/type URL/ignore pop-ups/close pop-ups/find reading glasses/log in/type password/re-type password/open list/begin clicking.
Option 3: say hello, and speak an order with fresh cup of coffee in hand. From anywhere, at any time, through any digital device, in a world where every device is digital. And, with the order appearing in two hours.

Online grocery. It’s here, and growing rapidly. Voice Assistance. An accelerator to all things online.

All these and more are reasons why we’ve formed the Open Voice Network, an industry-driven non-profit association, dedicated to the pursuit and development of global standards for voice.

We’re all about standards that will help your consumers find your brand directly, and without third-party platforms listening in. Standards that will provide new levels of data protection for both shoppers and your commercial data.

Standards that will allow your IT team to build your voice solution once – and use it across all the many voice platforms that now exist (and will emerge). To the benefit of your consumers, and your budget.

We intend to give every brand its voice.

Your opportunity – now – is to join with us, and help us guide the entire industry, and for the benefit of all.

Find us here: www.openvoicenetwork.org, or on LinkedIn or Facebook.

Data references:

number of Google searches by voice – voicebot.ai