Voice in 2021
Owned Assistants
What We’ll See Next

Although mainstream voice assistants continue to dominate in volume of brand presence, owned assistants are paving the way for experiences that companies can easily customize and control to their liking. In the future, we expect for more owned assistants to continue gaining steam in these areas:

More Devices Wake Up to More Wake Words

Many of the existing owned assistants are embedded in mobile apps, which is a natural extension for voice. However, we expect to see owned assistants constructed into new surfaces, including the web, wearables, kiosks, and bespoke hardware. As owned assistants’ presence transcend mobile channels, holistic brand experiences across a multitude of platforms will be possible. 

Voice Commerce Begins to Cut Out the Middle Man

As voice emerges as a more trusted channel for shopping, we’ll see a shift in control to the brands to oversee purchases in their mobile apps and websites. Flipkart, an Indian retailer owned by Walmart, built voice commands into its mobile app for easier shopping. Owned assistant integration through voice commerce allows brands to easily integrate their own e-commerce systems and preferred payment experiences while retaining their data.

Assistants Will Begin Talking to Each Other

As standards become defined and adopted, multi-assistant experiences will become a challenge to orchestrate (much like skill-to-skill connections are within Alexa), providing ample opportunity for brands to brainstorm how their assistants might work with other owned assistants in similar or complementary spaces (i.e. How might McDonald’s, UberEats, and MasterCard work together to take even more friction out of your next delivery order?).


More Voice Trends to Watch in 2021
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