Is anybody there? Giving Conversational Commerce a voice

In a world digitising at great speed, voice activation and voice command are becoming increasingly commonplace. Ever smarter, connected devices comprising the Internet of Things are changing the ways we engage with technology, and voice activated personal assistants, speakers and services are increasingly our gateway to the digital world. Gartner predicts that by 2020, the virtual personal assistant-enabled wireless speaker market will be a $2 billion business[1].

[1] https://www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/3464317 Starting the conversation

In 2015, Uber launched the ability that go beyond simple purchase to request a ride through Facebook options to create bespoke experiences Messenger, creating the concept and keep customers updated in a way of Conversational Commerce and that feels much more personal. introducing consumers to the idea that messaging platforms could be Our own Masterpass-enabled bots used to interact with businesses to drive more seamless shopping get customer support, ask questions experiences on , and click to purchase - without using technology leaving the app. to enable customers to interact with retailers, build their order and With Conversational Commerce, checkout securely. Similarly, specialist consumers engage with human bots for banking help our customers representatives, or a mix of have more natural conversations both to receive a personalised service. with consumers, provide personalised Companies then use these chatbots service, seamless user experience and to send order confirmations, shipping contextual offers and awards. and delivery notifications, and resolve customer service issues. With voice now becoming the dominant means of interaction As overtook social within this brave new digital frontier, networks, with hundreds of millions of Conversational Commerce is primed monthly active users[2], Conversational for evolution. Consumers expect ever Commerce took off and companies faster, easier and more convenient and consumers benefited from highly experiences and voice offers a unique personalised interactions. More and opportunity for brands to deliver more brands and retailers developed on this. smart chat interfaces and chatbots Is voice ready?

If Conversational Commerce A proliferation of voice enabled is already established and voice devices does not necessarily equate assistants and smart speakers are to widespread use. already on the market, why isn’t voice already dominating? Clearly voice has the potential to be a very natural and convenient Everyone knows someone whose way to interact with technology and children have managed to order a powerful tool for companies to something through a smart speaker engage with their customers, but at or has read a story about rogue the moment it’s still largely relegated assistants causing trouble and to searching for restaurants, checking embarrassment for their users. the weather and dimming the lights.

[2] http://www.businessinsider.com/the-messaging-app-report-2015-11?IR=T Having better conversations

We know that consumers value speed, Partnership is also essential. The first ease and convenience and that voice wave of virtual personal assistant- can provide those things. We also enabled smart speakers have shown know from experience delivering us that the ecosystem makes or convenience through services, such breaks the platform. Working with as contactless cards and device others to integrate new products and payment, like Apple or Google Pay, services and keeping the door open for that adoption relies on trust and ease. partners and allies brings new ways to delight customers and create more It’s a delicate balance between bespoke experiences - all powered making sure that services are quick by voice. and seamless, but also provide a high degree of security, driving trust. Consumers want to know that their Consumers value convenience above bank account won’t be drained at all else and meeting their expectations the whim of their children, or an is key to driving mass adoption. advert triggering their smart speaker. Technology is making life easier – Companies need to consider how they our role is to make it simpler and verify that the user has the right to more secure. make payments, decide on thresholds for identification and decide what the In the case of voice, many consumers payment process looks like. They need are nervous and we need to ensure to create an environment that fosters that the payment is not invisible. trust in voice as a channel. Consumers need to understand the way their money is moved and Trust and ease work in tandem; companies must ensure transparent a delicate balance which is made and clear processes that keep them easier by the application of passive in control and informed. biometrics and carefully considered user interfaces. Getting this right has the potential to really enhance the consumer experience in Conversational Commerce by making interactions more intelligent, trustworthy and more personable. Voice has the potential to make the chatbots of today smarter and more helpful and to create assistants that genuinely make your life easier.

Voice will not deliver on this alone, rather it is the driver that, in conjunction with other channels, will elevate Conversational Commerce to new heights. Customer interfaces need to be reworked for voice and speed needs to be at the heart of every service; conversations happen in real time and consumers will no longer accept anything less. Make it easy to use and quick to respond and your customers will come. The wider conversation

A smooth handover between channels CapGemini[v] estimates that spend of communication, an “opti-channel” via voice assistants will grow from 3% experience, is vital. Today’s digital today to 18% of total expenditure in Conversational Commerce revolves three years’ time. According to OC&C, around the emerging use of chatbots in the US $40bn will be spent through and voice assistants, which combined voice commerce by 2022 ($5bn in the with other technologies, does offer UK), representing 6% and 3% of all that experience. online spend.

Research shows that voice assistant These figures are exciting as they technologies are indeed increasingly reflect a clear consumer appetite for being adopted and assimilated by more personalised digital interactions large numbers of consumers, which – what we now need to do when implies that this seamless integration looking to the future is to find a way can be achieved quite soon. to keep that growth momentum and trend going. Mastercard research[i] has found that 87% of US consumers are aware of voice and text agents and 66% have used them in the past, while in the EU, it is one in five consumers (21% shop, 16% make payments and 7% have banked). And, research from CapGemini[ii] has found there is significant interest in using voice assistance for purchases across most product and services categories with interest levels high for ordering Opti-Channel meals (56%) electronics (52%), groceries or personal care items (45% each) and banking (44%). Without the capability to offer Opti- Channel interaction, the real opportunity of Other studies have also Conversational Commerce cannot be realised. confirmed this direction that is already seen by Mastercard, Optimising the channel of communication to with Walker Sands[iii] research fit the context of the interaction, and ensuring into voice-led commerce a smooth handover, is crucial. showing that one in five consumers (19%) have already It can be as simple as an AI-powered made a voice purchase through automatically connecting a consumer to a Amazon Echo or another digital human representative for final confirmation home assistant, and another of the purchase of a big-ticket item. It can third (33%) plan to do so in also be complex, like when starting a shopping the next year. query on a voice assistant, browsing options on a screen, engaging with a chatbot for more While the US market is clearly details, and finishing off with an email to ahead - 36% of smart speaker confirm payment. owners regularly use them to make purchases – the UK market is indeed slightly less mature with just 16%[iv], but still a promising one. In particular, Giving customers what they need, where they need it, dramatically improves their experience.

Customer-centric conversations

As with any new technology Consumers have been moulding their developments, there are always channel preferences for years, and great opportunities, but also they now know how to quickly adapt a number of barriers that need to new ones. This is why allowing to be understood and overcome. better and smoother interaction between various channels and devices, Enabling seamless transitions means that they will choose the between channels, building means of communication that will relationships that complement or be the smoothest and easiest to even mirror those of the physical use for them. Conversational world, and ensuring the individual Commerce aims to replicate the experience remains at the centre of familiar physical world experience the interaction (all whilst wrapped in where relevance, meaning, timing an impermeable layer of trust (e.g. of replies) are all suited to the and security) is an ambitious and context of the experience and which tough assignment. All parties need add up to ‘conversational momentum’. to work together to make success happen. But it is this opportunity Giving customers what they of a seamless integration between need and where they need it, conversation and interaction that is irrespective of which device they equally increasingly attractive. The use, dramatically improves their challenge is to accelerate the shift experience. Conversational Commerce and successfully move from cold improves this experience and provides transaction to relationships (and a robust, multi-layered, safe and retention) – especially as the pace secure approach as improvements and scale of change is too great. gained in fraud detection allow for more focus on authentication and choice management across all various channels. Conversational Commerce is all user trust especially as there about enabling a more natural is currently an increased outsource conversation. Even though we know of decisions to autonomous machines. it’s a robot, conversation will have This further feeds the debate on a natural flow, cadence, inflection, the accountability and efficacy of timing, etc., so it will feel right and machines using our data and seamless. Imagine, in just a few years their regulation. with advances in Natural Language Processing (NLP) and integration of As usage of Artificial Intelligence different systems and services, being (AI) based advisors for commerce able to ask “Siri, I’m in NY Times (and more) increases, the data pool Square next week. Can you book me and contextual learning capability an interesting hotel and I’d like to go is also enriched. Traditional models out for a nice dinner?” and know it will of ownership and the right to give you a trustworthy response. process and use digital data are at best debatable. At worst, they are In this more consumer focused now illegal under Europe’s GDPR transaction world visualisation rules. Reforming data collection is key. As experience comes first, and use may be a short term hit for visualisation needs to be highly some companies, but a longer term, optimised for consumer comfort sustainable and ethically secure data and engagement and smart ways practices are the only foundation of reminding the customer who (or for success. what) they are speaking with need to be employed. It’s the ability to access customers’ relevant data across many different channels that allows organisations to provide the right assistance in the most appropriate way with the right mix of man and machine. More complex and higher risk transactions may justify higher levels of scrutiny by customers and brands, but what is certain is that in such an intimate level of interaction full trust in the conversational partner is demanded.

Conversational Commerce is, essentially, a product of data being put through the correct analytical engines and expressed through the right channels at the right time and it is data that powers it all. However, storing some kinds of data could be seen as a liability as the mere act of storing – and with it, protecting - erodes “We’re now at a point where this stuff is ready for prime time. The interesting question is whether consumers are ready?”

Andy Hobsbawm co-Founder, Evrythng

From a whisper to a roar

We are a social species and the spoken We also need to work on defining word is the most natural and basic the playing field for our partner way we interact with each other. It’s ecosystems and establishing the rules the clear evolutionary next step for of engagement and regulations that Conversational Commerce, but it’s a support our services. These are big step that’s proving slow and difficult conversations and no one has all the to take. Artificial Intelligence and answers today. It’s about asking the Natural Language Processing are difficult questions, experimenting and making our tools more powerful, seeking answers from outside your but it is the implementation that own organisation. will make or break voice as a channel. Voice holds a great deal of potential if While it may be a few years before we can bring consumers on the journey voice activated assistants can talk to with us. The technology is here and the us like real humans, there is valuable payments networks that enable it are groundwork to lay today to ensure already in place. As Andy Hobsbawm, adoption doesn’t stagnate and that co-Founder, Evrythng notes: “We’re consumers adopt voice services. Only now at a point where this stuff is by establishing trust today can we ready for prime time. The interesting unlock the future promise of voice- question is whether consumers are driven Conversational Commerce and ready?” The evidence so far suggests create better conversations between that they are. brands and their customers. About this report

As a leading technology company The work was conducted in April and in the global payments industry, May 2018 and was derived from five Mastercard plays a unique role key inputs: in supporting the digital lifestyles of today’s connected consumers. 1 Existing Mastercard analysis Whether one wants to go all in and embrace a cashless future now, or 2 Future Agenda Desk Research feels more comfortable keeping digital interactions to a minimum 3 Internal interviews with selected – the trust and ease the payments Mastercard employees and transaction infrastructure that Mastercard and its network of 4 External interviews with sector partners has put in place, ensures that experts and participants whatever choices customers make, they receive all support they need. 5 Future Agenda’s open foresight resource Through research and analysis of Conversational Commerce, Mastercard and Future Agenda have sought to illuminate this concept – providing insights and guidance on the future of not only online commerce, but real-world commercial interactions as well.

Sources [i] Source: Source: Mastercard / Mercator study, 2H 2017 [ii] Source: The Power of Talk - CapGemini, February 2018 [iii] Source: Walker Sands, Future of Retail 2017 (US) [iv] Source: Talking Shop – the rise of voice commerce. OC&C, Feb. 2018 [v] Source: The Power of Talk - CapGemini, February 2018 [vi] Source: Talking Shop – the rise of voice commerce. OC&C, Feb. 2018