Although voice tech isn’t new, using it for ecommerce is a relatively recent development. The hands-free approach is novel, but consumers remain skeptical. When voice tech was first introduced, there were obvious capacity limits. Now, there have been significant improvements to enable voice commerce thanks to machine learning and AI.
Two months after dropping out of the Google Shopping Actions platform and the Google Express same-day delivery service after a year-long test, Walmart is adding Google’s voice ordering capability for online groceries as it continues to wage war with Amazon.
Grocery giant Kroger is adding voice ordering to its online arsenal, interestingly hitching its wagon to the Google Assistant voice app and not to Amazon’s Echo, at six of its associated brands, the company announced. See what else Kroger is up to as well as other tech skirmishes in the escalating online grocery wars.
Instacart announced that it has joined forces with Toronto-based Unata, a digital solution platform that will provide Instacart the ecommerce tools it needs to evolve in online grocery shopping. See how Instacart plans to go up against Amazon with this acquisition.