Will voice activated shopping shape the future of fashion?

Soon we could be ordering the latest fashions by voice activated shopping. Catalogue retailer Argos is trialling the feature, launching a voice shopping service, where customers can reserve products in a local store using a Google Home smart speaker.

According to the BBC Argos is the first retailer in the UK to offer a shopping service via the Google Assistant platform. The company has faced increased competition from online giant Amazon, which produces its own voice-controlled Echo speakers.

"This launch is step one and I don't expect to turn on the app and suddenly double our sales," Argos chief executive John Rogers told the BBC. "But I expect people will use it and experiment with it - and if we can make it a seamless process, you can see why people would want to use it.”

Voice-controlled AI is slowly but surely resonating with brands and consumers, and shaping how we interact with technology. Only a few years ago retailers were redefining the online and offline experience for consumers, the start of omni channel retailing. According to the Harvard Business Review, we are about to enter the era of predictive commerce.

Shopping at the exact time needed

"Predictive commerce will see retailers help consumers find products in their precise moment of need — and perhaps before they even perceive that need — whether or not they’re logged in or ready to click a “buy” button on a screen. This shift will require designing experiences that merge an understanding of human behavior with large-scale automation and data integration.”

The question is how retailers will need to program brick-and-mortar experiences with the same targeting and personalization they offer online. "Think about walking past Nordstrom and receiving a notification for an offer on a new pair of sneakers. Your current pair is worn down from running almost 500 miles — all logged by a chip in the sole that sends data to your fitness app. You swipe the notification to select the styles you want to try on, and an in-store map guides you to an associate waiting with your shoes.”

But not everyone sees fashion companies adopting voice activated shopping. Joey Moore, director of product marketing at Episerver told Glossy: “The idea that we’re going to turn around to Alexa at home and tell it to buy something quite specific at a high price point isn’t going to happen. I can see it augmenting the shopping experience, for example, by asking Alexa to give reviews about hiking jackets or boots.”

Photo credit: GeoMarketing, article sources AdWeek, Harvard Business Review, a