eMarketer principal analyst Jeremy Goldman, forecasting analyst Peter Vahle, and vice president of content studio at Insider Intelligence Paul Verna discuss Spotify's strategic positioning as a complete podcasting ecosystem. They then talk about how much time Americans spend on their phones during their lifetime, why Alexa's asking follow-up questions, and what we can expect from the new "Apple One" bundle.

Banks that get their data-handling operations right have significant consumer-product opportunities, including personalized insights, AI-powered biometrics and virtual assistants, and targeted offerings.

Others offer the Amazon Dash Cart that allows shoppers to view their Alexa Shopping List on a screen while also tracking the items that shoppers place in their carts. Both options enable Amazon to gather data about shoppers who are not members of the Amazon Prime loyalty program. Amazon’s grocery portfolio: Amazon Fresh is the fastest-growing piece of Amazon’s physical store portfolio.

Voice assistants, too, are more popular with younger people. In the wider sample, 21.6% had used voice commands in the week before. Among internet users ages 16 to 34, that share was nearly 27%. A similar proportion of higher-income respondents had used a voice-activated app or device, as well. Affluent internet users are leading the adoption of smartwatches, smart wristbands, and smart home devices.

Though several of the largest smart speaker developers—including Amazon, Google, and Apple—and other retailers hope to entice more shopping and buying via voice, consumers are not nearly as enthusiastic. As a result, we have downgraded our forecasts for smart speaker shoppers and buyers from previous years.

Hey Alexa, do people like voice shopping?

Boomers aren't entirely nondigital⁠—they were, after all, the pioneers of adopting home computers—but at this point in their lives, they're a bit more reluctant about adopting newer technologies. That's true even for tech with real-life utility, such as voice assistants and smart-home devices, which could help boomers age in place and deal with the physical challenges that accompany increasing age. Along with concerns about things like privacy, it’s partly a matter of the inertia about adopting new things that tends to set in as one gets older.

Meanwhile, voice assistants have become a feature of everyday life for many of those surveyed. In this year’s poll, researchers asked internet users specifically whether they had used voice search at least once in the prior week to find information (31.5% said they did) or to carry out an action, such as playing a song (32.0%).

Mobile customer service is trending toward a seamless handoff between channels—from virtual assistant to live chat, to authenticated phone call—but implementation can be rocky. Virtual assistants have proliferated in recent years, but low consumer demand reflects their immaturity.

Deploying virtual assistants. Going after payments fraud with prevention and detection.

Upon seeing these ads, viewers can take actions like “add to cart” and “buy now,” using either Alexa voice commands or the Fire TV remote. Introducing direct calls to action into a traditional brand advertising environment could be a game-changer for TV advertising.

Amazon has made significant investments in branded electronics with its Echo smart speakers, Kindle readers, and Fire TV devices. But computer and consumer electronics is also the largest category in terms of overall ecommerce sales, and Amazon is a major player. More than one-quarter of Amazon’s US ecommerce sales will come from computer and consumer electronics this year. Amazon’s Category Growth.

eMarketer was pleased to moderate a Tech-Talk Webinar featuring Steelhouse's Alexa Tierney, director of customer success, for this Tech-Talk Webinar. She explored why advertisers are shifting budgets and reprioritizing CTV’s strategic role.

Amazon’s Alexa. Amazon is integrating its voice assistant into its constantly evolving healthcare play—and has begun building voice programs targeting seniors users who are receiving care from the home. In November 2020, Amazon introduced Care Hub, which links Alexa voice assistant users' accounts with those of aging relatives to better keep tabs on seniors from afar via Alexa's mobile app.

Investing additional funds into the chatbots and digital assistants that help facilitate these bespoke experiences could not only deliver useful financial insights in app, it could also help steer consumers toward more profitable product offerings.

And Amazon’s HIPAA-compliant Alexa could be used to make appointments or to monitor health. 4. In June, Amazon launched a new functionality for its Halo wearable that measures movement and flexibility via a smartphone camera and cloud-based AI—but privacy concerns are still limiting consumer adoption.