Latest / The DTC Marketing Podcast with Fexingo: Direct-to-Consumer Brands, Shopify, and E-Commerce Growth / How DTC Brands Use Voice Commerce to Drive Sales
Transcript
- Lucas: So I've been looking at something that feels like it's been quietly building for a couple of years now — voice commerce through smart speakers. Not the futuristic 'Alexa, order me a pizza' novelty stuff, but actual repeat purchasing behavior. And the numbers are starting to look real. Luna: I mean, I've definitely reordered paper towels through Alexa, but I always figured I was an outlier. Are enough people doing this to matter for DTC brands? Lucas: More than you'd think. The 2025 Voice Commerce Report — from Voicebot.ai and Vixen Labs — found that 23 percent of smart speaker owners in the US have made at least one purchase using voice. And among those, 38 percent say they've reordered the same product. So it's not just trial — it's habit-forming. Luna: Thirty-eight percent reorder rate is actually impressive. That's higher than most email campaigns I've seen for repeat purchases. Lucas: Exactly. And the average order value for voice purchases is coming in around $47 — which is lower than desktop or mobile, but the convenience factor means higher frequency. Some brands I've talked to are seeing twice the purchase frequency from voice customers compared to their web shoppers. Luna: Okay, so which DTC brands are actually doing this well? Because I feel like most of the voice commerce I see is still just Amazon's own products. Lucas: Huel is one that stands out. You know, the meal replacement company. They integrated with Amazon's Alexa Skill so customers can reorder their Huel powder or ready to drink bottles just by saying 'Alexa, reorder Huel.' They told me that within six months of launching the skill, voice reorders accounted for about 4 percent of their total Amazon channel revenue. Not huge, but it's additive and growing. Luna: Four percent sounds small, but if it's all incremental and retention is high, that's valuable. Especially because the cost to serve a voice reorder is basically zero — no ad spend, no email send. Lucas: Right. And Sephora's another good example. They've got a Google Assistant action that lets customers reorder their favorite products or even get personalized recommendations based on past purchases. The key thing they found is that voice works best for replenishment — things people buy on a cycle. Not discovery of new categories. Luna: That makes sense. I'm not going to ask Google to recommend a new mascara shade. But reordering my usual foundation? That's frictionless. Lucas: Exactly. So the smart play for DTC brands right now is to start with 'reorder' functionality — make it dead simple for existing customers to replenish via voice. Then layer in upsells later, like 'would you like to add a sample?' That's what Huel does. After you confirm the reorder, Alexa asks if you want to try the new flavor. Luna: And how are they handling the authentication piece? Because my biggest hesitation with voice purchasing is that anyone in my house could order something. Lucas: That's the number one barrier. Most voice platforms now offer voice match — Alexa can recognize individual voices and only allow purchases from authorized profiles. But it's not perfect. A lot of brands are still requiring a PIN confirmation for first-time purchases. For reorders, they relax that because the purchase history builds trust. Luna: Speaking of trust — I want to pivot slightly. You know, the reason we can dive deep into niche topics like voice commerce without worrying about ad pressure is because of a handful of listeners who support the show directly. If these conversations have sparked a tactic you've actually implemented, or even just saved you time thinking through a strategy, consider chipping in at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. It's what keeps this whole thing ad-free and focused on what actually works. Lucas: Yeah, honestly, that monthly support from the community is what lets us spend the time researching these specific case studies rather than chasing ad-friendly topics. So if you've gotten value, we'd be grateful. Luna: Anyway, back to voice — what about the brands that don't sell on Amazon? Can they still do voice commerce through their own site? Lucas: Yes, but it's harder. You'd need a custom Alexa Skill or Google Action that links to your Shopify or custom checkout. Some platforms like Voiceflow let brands build voice apps without coding. But the friction is higher because you're asking the user to enable a skill and authenticate. That's why most DTC success stories are happening inside Amazon's ecosystem — the voice shopping flow is already built into Alexa. Luna: Are there any metrics around how voice customers behave differently from other channels? Like, do they have higher lifetime value? Lucas: Early data suggests yes, but it's still small sample sizes. A study from NPR and Edison Research last year found that voice shoppers have a 22 percent higher repeat purchase rate than non-voice shoppers. The theory is that once you've gone through the hassle of setting up voice purchasing, you're more likely to use it again. It's a commitment device. Luna: That's fascinating. So the initial friction of setup actually filters in more loyal customers. Lucas: Exactly. And the other interesting stat is that voice shoppers tend to spend 14 percent more per month across all channels — not just voice. It's almost like the convenience bleeds into more overall brand engagement. Luna: So for a DTC brand listening right now, what's the one thing they should do this week to start testing voice commerce? Lucas: First, make sure your product catalog is optimized for voice search. That means using natural language keywords in your product titles and descriptions — think 'creamy peanut butter' instead of 'pb crm-12oz'. Voice queries are conversational, so your structured data needs to match. Second, if you sell on Amazon, enable the Alexa reorder skill for your brand. It's a simple toggle in Seller Central. If you're direct to consumer on Shopify, look at apps like Voice Order or Voysis that let you add a voice reorder button to your customer portal. Luna: And test with your most loyal customers first — the ones who already reorder regularly. They're the most likely to adopt. Lucas: Exactly. Don't try to acquire new customers through voice yet. Focus on retention and frequency. That's where the ROI is right now. Luna: I think we're going to see this become a standard retention channel within two years. The infrastructure is almost there. Lucas: Agreed. And with smart speaker penetration in US households now at 42 percent, the addressable market is too big to ignore. Even if voice commerce is only 1 percent of sales today, it's growing at 30 percent year over year. That's a bet worth placing.