Using your voice to search for something online rather than typing has become quite convenient and often times, these search results take users to an eCommerce website. Now it looks like Flipkart wants to bring the convenience of using voice search for products on Flipkart. Flipkart has launched “Voice Search”, the ability for a user to search for a product on the e-commerce website using his/her voice. It understands Hindi and English as of now. The ability to use your voice to search on Flipkart has been gradually rolling out since January and Flipkart says that “this year is witnessing impressive adoption across the country with initial trends showing over 5 million queries a day”.
According to Flipkart, more than 75% of internet users in India come from non-English speaking backgrounds and a majority of them reside in non-urban, rural areas. Also, tier-2 cities make up nearly half of all shoppers and contribute to three out of every five orders.
Flipkart introduced Voice Search to make it easier for customers to search for what they are looking for. Studies conducted by Flipkart reveals that “searching through voice is both natural and quicker as it is 3x faster than typing in English and 5x faster in Hindi, as per independent studies”.
Commenting on the introduction of the new capability, Jeyandran Venugopal, Chief Product and Technology Officer, Flipkart, said, “As a home-grown e-commerce company, Flipkart understands the heterogeneity of the Indian market and is committed to solving for the next 200 million users online while catering to the needs of all users to make e-commerce more inclusive. Voice search, along with some other initiatives by Flipkart, will make the digital commerce experience more convenient, accessible and seamless for the new wave of online shoppers.”
Simply tap on the search bar and press the microphone icon and start talking. It is as easy as searching on Google using your voice. If you don't see the microphone icon on your smartphone app, then worry not, you aren’t alone. As of writing this we also cannot see the microphone when trying to search using the Flipkart iOS app or the mobile website. Looks like the voice search ability isn't available to all.