The holidays are a good time for the sale of devices equipped with the voice assistant Alexa, such as smart speakers, for example. Amazon’s problem is not so much to sell them. But to ensure that their owners continue to use it. Because according to internal documents that Bloomberg has obtained, 15 to 25% of new users would turn away completely from these devices after only … one week of adoption.
Consumers quickly see it
The confidentiality of voice commands remains a thorny problem that may explain some consumer mistrust. The other obstacle is the usefulness of these devices. Their owners confine themselves to extremely restricted uses: listening to music, starting a timer or turning on the lights. New Alexa users would even experience half of the features they’ll use within three hours of activating the device. All that to say that people quickly go around it.
Amazon has tried to expand the range of its Alexa-compatible products with speakers with screens, headphones or in-car applications. Despite its best efforts, user engagement would have stalled.
Another strategy is direct incentives. Suggestions are sent to explain what else Alexa can do. This generally annoys customers who do not want these solicitations.
25% of American households have an Alexa device
In addition, the sales growth of Alexa-enabled devices would not be what it used to be. Certainly, the first of its kind, Echo, was an incredible success when it was launched in 2014 in the United States and when it arrived in France in 2016. Facebook, Apple, Google immediately followed suit with models inspired by it. Last year, Amazon reportedly established that 25% of American households have at least one Alexa device; among Amazon Prime households, the figure would rise to 27%. But internal forecasts would only count on an increase of 1.2% per year over the next few years.
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Solicited by Bloomberg, Amazon however claimed that the market was not slowing down. “The point is, Alexa continues to grow – we’re seeing an increase in customer usage, and Alexa is being used in more homes around the world than ever before.”Amazon spokesman Kinley Pearsall said.
Let us be careful not to bury voice assistants and their devices too quickly. But the enthusiasm of the beginnings for these products is clearly no longer there and they have clearly not revolutionized our daily life as the GAFAM promised.
Source: Bloomberg