In 2018, smart assistant ownership in the U.S. grew by 40%. Now 66.4 million — or 26.2 percent of the adult population — own one.
Consumers’ decisions to purchase smart assistants and how they use them in real life can provide valuable insight to the companies who make these products, both for product innovation and marketing purposes.
As more people embrace smart assistants, companies have a big task ahead of them in determining new features and improvements that will meet customer needs.
We explored the impact of smart assistants on consumers by asking:
- What is the smart assistant customer journey?
- What’s motivating consumers to start using them?
- How, when, and why are smart assistants used throughout the day?
- How can companies leverage these learnings to make decisions about features and integration?
We asked these questions via an online board, and here’s what we discovered:
Marketing Motivates; Research Sells
Consumers’ interest in smart assistants comes from marketing campaigns, but initial usage is influenced the most through first- or second-hand experience, such as:
- Demo-ing one in a store or taking advantage of a sale
- Seeing how it makes a friend or family member’s life easier
- Realizing in the case of Apple’s Siri that it’s already installed on the iPhone
But this doesn’t tell the whole story.
Consumers see product research as an essential part of their purchase journey. Consumers are checking out brand-specific websites, comparing features across brands, watching YouTube videos, reading user reviews, and asking friends and family members for advice.
Because of extensive research, the purchase timeline for smart assistants can last up to a couple of months, depending if the consumer already knows what to buy or wants to shop around. We heard comments like:
“I think it took me a week [to decide on purchasing]. I needed a new phone, Siri was fairly new, and I was excited to get my hands on one.”
“My initial purchase was through Amazon’s website. My reason was mostly due to the overwhelming convenience [of purchasing on Amazon], but also the price point.”
Convenience Rules the Day
Making things “simpler” and “more convenient” is the goal of smart assistants, but what does that really look like in day-to-day living?
Consumers use their smart assistants via voice commands because it provides the hands-free flexibility they need to move through their day and multi-task. Smart assistants easily take care of the little things that add up over time and would otherwise require some physical effort to complete.
No matter which smart assistant consumers have, the most-used features are:
- Checking the weather
- Setting reminders
- Playing music
- Getting directions
- Making lists
- Creating household efficiencies
- Checking traffic
But the least-used features turn out to be the ones that consumers can do more easily on their own or with other smart devices.
For example, Amazon Alexa users think that making purchases from their smart assistant and downloading skills aren’t as important because these features don’t improve their lives. Google Assistant users rarely use their smart assistant to communicate with others since it doesn’t seem convenient, and they don’t use the smart home features since they lack compatible devices for them.
The time of day makes a difference in usage, too. In general, the mornings are for gathering and sorting information, such as checking headlines, weather, traffic, and appointments. The evenings are for relaxation and entertainment, such as playing music or movies, controlling home settings, and updating calendars.
Are Smart Assistants for Everyone?
Smart assistants do provide value to consumers, and while some say they don’t absolutely need their smart assistant, they would still miss it if it went away.
Users of all three smart assistant brands recommend the products to others. Overall, they believe that smart assistants have made their lives easier and more convenient while also saving them time. They also maintain that smart assistants are helpful for the whole family and provide entertainment at a good price.
But our research revealed that there are definite pain points that need to be addressed and improvements that need to be made if companies want to expand smart assistant usage to a wider audience.
Since understanding the customer journey is the jumping-off point for product innovation and marketing strategies, smart assistant companies can use this knowledge to grow product awareness and continually evolve their product to meet customer needs and expectations.
Download the full research report to get a more in-depth look at what motivates consumers to start using smart assistants and how they are being used throughout the day.
Methodology:
Two-day online discussion board (answers given independently first. Then once answer is submitted, the participant can discuss with others. Not live chat, participants can come and go throughout the day)
Sample:
– 69 participants (males & females age 18-65)
– United States (nationwide)
– Gender: males, females
– Age: 18-65
– All use smart assistant daily. Users of
– Siri (n=22)
– Google Assistant (n=26)
– Alexa (n=21)
