Experts did not see this happening so soon. In 2020, seeing the growth of smart speaker shopping slow. Instead, high shopping rates were predicted for 2019 and 2020. Why the higher expectations? Due to people’s use of these speakers for a while now.
So, the actual use of smart speaker shopping? As noted below, one of the reasons involves rising consumer worry about privacy issues with these products. In addition, using smart speakers for entertainment does not necessarily equate to shopping via smart speakers.
In our post about about a year ago, we reviewed smart speakers’ appeal. And we looked at the global appeal of these products. As well as the many popular brands. Including Amazon Echo. Google Home. Apple HomePod. Sonos One. JBL Link. Marshall Stanmore Voice. And Polk Command Bar.
Not Ready for Fast Takeoff: Growth of Smart Speaker Shopping Slow
Digital research leader eMarketer states that:
“While some U.S. consumers are warming to the idea of making voice-based purchases via smart speakers, the number of those doing so is smaller than initially estimated. In our latest forecast on smart speaker users, we lowered our outlook for the number of smart speaker buyers (people making a purchase via a smart speaker) as well as the number of smart speaker users (people who use smart speakers for any purpose)”.
“By the end of 2020, we expect that 21.6 million people will have made a purchase using a smart speaker. This is lower than our Q2 2019 forecast, in which we expected the number to reach 23.6 million. Still, the activity is growing and will pass a milestone this year when 10.8% of all digital buyers in the U.S. will make a purchase using a smart speaker.”
“A key factor behind the revised forecast is that device-makers haven’t fully gained users’ trust. Potential buyers are still concerned about it comes to secure payments and privacy. The absence of screens on many smart speaker models is an added aspect of this problem—people often want to see products before a purchase.”