It's simple to say “If you have any queries, just ask”, but innovative b2b (B2B) ecommerce information mill taking the idea literally.

With voice-enabled technology at home and on cellular devices, you are able to inquire out loud and get an answer in moments. Experts predict that voice shopping will generate $40 billion in sales across the United States and the Uk by 2022. It is also set to maneuver B2B ecommerce on to a new stage of development.

What is voice search?

It includes voice-activated searches on your cellular devices like Microsoft's Cortana and Apple's Siri and digital assistants like Amazon Echo and Google Home. Voice-to-speech technology allows your smartphone to read texts out loud to you when you are driving and to ask Alexa to include items to your grocery list.

Interacting with search engines using spoken words rather than text helps make the process easier and much more intuitive. Even though some have predicted that voice will take into account 50% of all internet searches in 2022, the figure will probably be closer to 25%, but that is still significant.

Is voice search great for B2B?

A quarter of customers in america use voice assistants on their own cellular devices to purchase online, while 8% shop using digital home assistants. We know that the expectations of B2B buyers are influenced by their personal shopping online experiences so, even if they are not yet asking for this method for their B2B purchases, it is likely they'll embrace it whether it's available.

With voice technology on almost every modern mobile phone, providing voice search options for B2B buyers is an opportunity that's too good to miss.

Anything businesses can do to streamline the research process of busy buyers will probably generate a competitive advantage, particularly when the typical B2B decision-making process is more than 50% complete before buyers consider calling or emailing.

Barriers to using voice search for B2B

Once an unreliable process, all the major technology providers have improved the precision of voice technology from 75% to 95% or better in just a decade. This figure will probably improve further to really make it the simplest inquiry tool of all.

However, for voice to genuinely transform the company buying process it should be equipped to handle complex transactions. The solution is to link voice technology with configure, price, quote (CPQ) software. This might change the B2B ecommerce landscape, providing the potential to bring a brand new level of experience for buyers ordering complex products.

Your ambition to integrate voice technology to your business strategy needn't be limited. Powerful application programming interfaces (APIs) can be found which allow developers to introduce changes quickly and efficiently.

The future of voice B2B ecommerce

Voice technology might be implemented for B2B ecommerce earlier than you think. A few important steps could dramatically change how buyers make their purchases later on.

Keywords will still be important, however your buyer's journey will change. Voice search is really a process of discovery, so framing product information as answers to questions will make the process much easier.

The complexity of B2B transactions will require an in-depth understanding of the customer requirements to permit CPQ to create accurate real time price quotes for configured products.

Artificial intelligence and machine learning makes it possible for systems to understand quickly and efficiently, based on the questions asked, to streamline and facilitate the procedure for buyers asking similar questions.

Customer service can be enhanced by using voice technology to assist busy buyers to track orders and also to streamline reordering of previous purchases.