The week started on a high note with Patrick Gauthier’s future facing vision of commerce to only 200 of the top CIOs and technology executive influencers from around the country at NRF Tech 2019. During his keynote, he shared his vision on the importance of natural language understanding in the context of the connected consumer. Gauthier took us through an abbreviated history of technological disruption highlighting how voice will play a role in the future of commerce.
We’ve gone from typing and touching to swiping and now to talking, each mode of interaction has gotten progressively easier for the consumer. What could be more simple or intuitive? More personal than a conversation? With the rapid adoption of voice across multiple use cases and devices, commerce may well be the next frontier.
Gauthier also dropped several announcements highlighting how Amazon Pay is driving this vision and fulfilling their mission to help merchants build custom and scalable voice solutions for their customers. See below for more highlights from NRF Tech 2019.
Amazon Pay has enabled Alexa Delivery Notifications for merchants
One of the key announcements from the event highlighted how Amazon Pay merchants can now quickly integrate voice into their e-commerce offerings with Alexa’s delivery notifications capability – further opening up an opportunity for 3rd party merchants to leverage an Amazon channel. This comes at a time when more consumers are interested in using voice for checking delivery status in the next 3 years.1
Now merchants can use Alexa to let their customers know when their order has been delivered, when they want, and in a natural, contextual, trusted way. Some of the benefits Gauthier shared include:
- Enhanced customer experience with proactive shipment delivery notifications.
- Less customer support required with fewer customer service inquiries for checking delivery status.
- Brand differentiation by becoming an early adopter of voice commerce with Alexa.
- A simple and straightforward API, enabling faster integration.
Delivery notifications are now available on Woot.com
Amazon’s original daily deal site Woot.com was able to integrate this feature seamlessly into their fulfillment pipeline with minimal effort. As of today, Woot.com customers will also receive real-time delivery notifications on any order placed using Amazon Pay. It helps Alexa customers reduce the chance of delivery theft, giving them status updates without having to contact customer service.
Universal Buyer Identification enables a more connected experience
Amazon Pay Buyer ID is a new feature to help merchants recognize their Amazon Pay customers on web, mobile and Alexa channels. This feature makes it possible for Amazon Pay merchants to build truly connected and personalized experiences for their customers. The Buyer ID is unique and specific to a merchant and customer, allowing merchants to identify return buyers to customize their shopping experience. Amazon Pay Buyer ID can help your customers in a number of ways, but here are two key scenarios worth considering now:
- Reorder - Customer can reorder Alexa items they have previously bought on web or mobile with Amazon Pay. They will launch the skill for their preferred merchant and simply say, “Reorder my last order”, or they can ask, “What was my last order?”
- Add to cart or wish list - “Customers can add to cart via Voice on Alexa. Simply open the skill and ask, “Alexa, add X to my cart/wishlist” and the items will be placed in your cart for purchasing. Merchants who use Amazon Pay Buyer ID can offer a seamless checkout due to reduced friction and deliver transparency into customer identity and cross channel behaviors that assist in delivering personalized experiences.
Regardless of channel, Amazon Pay Buyer ID allows merchants to provide buyers with a personalized and streamlined experience the moment they start their shopping journey. Customers will have access to their accounts including order history, preferences, wish lists, and loyalty programs across every channel if you use Amazon Pay Buyer ID.
With consumer interest in this new channel, businesses need to consider if they are ready to address evolving needs of delightfully dissatisfied customers. What are you doing to learn, test, and build for a world where thanks to AI consumers are now free from devices and are interacting in a time of their choosing? Are you going to be an actor or spectator? Are you playing catch up or are you letting the customers engage with your brand on their own terms in a natural, contextual and trusted environment.
Talk to us today for more information.
More visual highlights from NRFTech, care of Ink Factory Studio
1 Source: Amazon Pay Connected Commerce Survey conducted in April 2019 among 1898 consumers in the US. Question: “In 3 years, how likely are you to use voice services for the following activities?” where 1= Not at all likely, 2= Somewhat unlikely, 3= Neither likely nor unlikely, 4= Somewhat likely, 5= Very likely. Number represents the proportion of consumers who rated somewhat likely or very likely on ‘Checking delivery status’.