Alexa or Google?
How your brand can leverage voice experiences on Alexa and Google home and how to pick the right platform.
I often get asked by brands which platform they should build on. In some cases it’s great for the brand to build on both Alexa and Google, but in some instances one platform is better than another. I’ve outlined here the features that both platforms have and why one or both is where your brand should be.
Why Alexa?
- Early market penetration — 100M units sold
- In skill purchasing is available for premium content
- Voice shopping on Alexa estimated to generate more than $5B in revenue by 2020
- Replenishment shopping is most popular, followed by food ordering
- 3500+ Brands are on Alexa
But….If you are a consumer brand that wants to sell physical goods, deep linking is not open to the public yet. In order to purchase an item the user must exit the skill and order the item through Amazon. And being on Alexa means that you live in Amazon’s world so it’s not surprise that brands such as Target, Costco, Ulta and Walmart have signed deals with Google.
Build better voice apps. Get more articles & interviews from voice technology experts at voicetechpodcast.com
Why Google?
- 52M devices sold
- Integration with Google Assistant — 1B devices
- Google Assistant comes pre-installed in Pixel devices
- More features for brands to leverage
- Surface Switching
- Google Payments
Google has more features to leverage than Alexa (for now). It allows the voice experience to move from the Google home to your phone via the Assistant App. For example in the Aveda action, the user is asked if they would like to receive a reminder via Assistant that includes a meditation file.
There are a lot of factors when it comes to considering the correct voice platform for you brand. If you want to learn more, please tweet me @mraudreywu
