Your Wish is My Command

As a kid my brother used to pretend talk on the portable video game. I used to joke with him about talking and seeing each other on phone. It was one of our biggest fantasies. And, here we are in 2013 talking to each other on Facetime everyday. Technology has changed the meaning of impossible. What you can think of, is possible and will happen in the next few years, like flying cars or trip to Mars.

When eBay asked bloggers on how 'The Future of Shopping' will be in 2030? I did race up my imagination and mixed it with few things I wish online shopping has. For me the most convenient and path breaking feature would be 'Voice Command'. I want online shopping to be Hands-Free. I don't want to sit and search for products. I want to plug in my headphones, listen to the options given by the website and shop while I do my household chores, walk or simultaneously work in another tab. 

Let's say I want to buy a perfume. I will plug in my headphones, click on the website and login to my account. Of course, the login would be voice driven and it'll operate only on my voice. Then I say the word 'Perfume' and it gives me various questions:

• Men/Women
• Price Range
• Name the brand; etc...

And then the website system speaks out the various options and I tell it to either say 'Stop', if I like the option OR 'Next' if I don't like it. It will list out the features and will also suggest the best selling or suggested products based on my purchase history. For those who are wondering about products which we have to see and want to have a look before buying, I guess at least we can save time by narrowing few options and saving it.

Also, this feature will be very time saving for buying items which you are sure of - Like your monthly household supplies or the product you want to buy. All you'll do after logging into your account is speak out - >>  1 Kg Packet of Surf detergent and 1 Sony headphones Model No. 131 ->> Add to Cart  ->> Checkout. How cool would be that! ...And fun too.

Whatever limitations my non-technical mind can't think, will be taken care of by the techies who design amazing features. They will spot the problems and come up with a path-breaking and revolutionary technology. Shoppers will only have to speak out and the system would respond - Your wish is my command!

Another feature which I want is 'Family and Friends Network' even in my online shopping account. It would be of great help on birthdays, anniversaries and festivals. However, it should be on the individual to decide how much information he/she wants to disclose to people in their network. There will be many benefits of the network:

• Suggest products which people in our network buy often based on their purchase history. It will help us to choose gifts for them.
• Having a service of Gift Registry. On special occasions, we can share the list of items with people in our network.
• This can be of more help as our friends and family can share their Reviews directly with us. This way we can get the first hand experiences of people whose opinion matter in our lives. For example, if you narrow down a product, it will give us the option of speaking out the reviews of that product by our friends.

This feature can be implemented very easily and we don't have to wait many years for it. If that happens, I'm sure I will use Gift Registry service pretty often. The only problem would be to find occasions.

With Voice Command, we will move many steps forward in making shopping a never before experience. And coupled with an extension of social networking to our shopping account, it will bring people closer. Shopping online would become an interactive and virtual hangout, voice driven of course.

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