Voice-compatible is gaining popularity, but it’s too early to tell if this newest technological trend is here to stay, or will it fall by the way in time. It’s got a good chance of becoming a staple for the new millennium, given the convenience factor that is being promoted by the titanic online platforms, including Google, as they market toward the in-home shopper.
The virtual shopping assistant now has a new cousin. Google Home the newest star player in the verbal shopping competition. Like the Amazon Alexa unit, Home can sit on a shelf, take the users order for groceries or paper towels, or whatever and relay it to the local store. Someday, the stores may have robots or drones that will deliver the order instead of people.
More than 50 national retail stores have their systems set up to receive these virtual assistant orders: these include Costco, Whole Foods Market, Walgreens, Pet Smart, and Bed, Bath,& Beyond. The customer must have a delivery address and means of payment prepared through Google.
To stimulate sign-ups into their new virtual shopping assistant, and to compete with already established v-a shopping platforms, Google has made a no-fees offer which is good until the end of April. Furthermore, more features will be added later.
Amazon is way ahead in the race where Google is just starting out. Amazon has already established itself with millions of customers. On the other hand, Google already has millions of online shoppers that could easily carry over to the voice assisted crowd. The contest is far from decided.
