Are You Ready for Voice-Controlled Ecommerce?

With millions of Echo and Echo Dot devices sold last holiday season, and a projected 10 million units in homes by the end of 2017, it's clear that Amazon's voice-activated personal assistant, Alexa, is rapidly gaining widespread consumer adoption. Alexa is an illustration of Amazon's ability to meet consumer demand for speed, convenience and ease, while pioneering a new way to shop. Alexa can play music, make appointments, change TV channels and more, but the most valuable feature for Amazon is that the software enables consumers to shop directly by voice. This is great news for Amazon, but it will also inevitably change the way retailers market and sell their products. Most retailers and brands will have to act fast to prepare for ecommerce via digital assistant, and their biggest hurdle will be providing a voice-controlled shopping experience that is both intuitive and valuable for consumers.