MIT Sloan Management Review Article on Can Your Supply Chain Hear Me Now?

One of the most significant innovations in customer engagement since online shopping began has been the recent surge of conversational commerce devices — devices that can interpret and act on voice commands to conduct business. Simply say “add broccoli to the shopping list,” for example, and it appears. With the Garmin Speak, a navigation device linked to Amazon.com Inc.’s digital assistant Alexa, you can do this even while driving. And Amazon’s Echo can notify you when your packages are out for delivery.

Sales through voice-enabled digital assistants such as Amazon’s Alexa and Google Home are projected to skyrocket from $2 billion in 2017 to $40 billion in 2022. One study shows that fully 30% of owners have used their devices to make purchases. This type of commerce has the potential to transform the consumer supply chain.

About the Author

Brian Subirana (@mitmeche) is director of the MIT Auto-ID Laboratory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Sanjay Sarma is vice president of Open Learning at MIT. Jim Rice (@mitsupplychain) is deputy director of the MIT Center for Transportation & Logistics. Ken Cottrill is global communications consultant at the MIT Center for Transportation & Logistics.

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