The era of conversations: how AI chat, voice & messaging are redefining retail in Australia

*This article is kindly contributed by StudioSpace agency Arktic Fox

Retail used to be simple. A customer walked into a store, browsed, asked a sales assistant a question or two, and made a purchase. Today, the way we shop is a whole other ball game.

The lines between digital and physical have blurred. Shoppers expect brands to be present on every channel, and available whenever they want, whether that’s on a website live chat at 11pm, on social DM’s at the weekend, or even through a smart speaker in the kitchen.

We’ve entered the era of conversational commerce. Not just customer service chats, but two-way, ongoing dialogues across chatbots, voice assistants, and messaging platforms that are actively shaping the future of retail. According to Forrester, 76% of marketers plan to increase their conversational commerce investments by 25–50% in the next two years.

And it’s happening right here in Australia.

From transactional engagement to conversational engagement

For years, digital commerce was treated as transactional: a cart, a checkout, a confirmation email. Functional, but lacking personalisation.

Now, technology is flipping the script. AI, voice, and messaging are turning shopping into an interactive, conversational experience.

Instead of typing “best moisturiser for sensitive skin” into Google and wading through results, a shopper can open Adore Beauty’s chatbot, ask the same question, and get tailored recommendations in seconds. And because the suggestion feels personal and relevant, shoppers are far more likely to follow through with a purchase.

Imagine this: a dog owner notices they’re running low on food. Instead of jumping online to search, they just say, “Alexa, reorder Pedigree dry dog food.” Within seconds, the order is confirmed through Amazon and on its way. Over time, this kind of routine creates real stickiness - once a shopper is locked into reordering the same brand through voice, they’re far less likely to switch.

Instead of sifting through promo emails, a shopper can receive a personalised message in Whatsapp reminding them their favourite fragrance is back in stock, making it faster, easier, and more compelling to purchase or repurchase, and the list goes on.

In the US, Amazon is taking this one step further with the introduction of Rufus, an AI-powered shopping guide trained on Amazon’s product catalogue and information from across the web. It can answer customer questions, products, and comparisons, make recommendations based on this context, and facilitate product discovery within the same Amazon shopping experience customers already use.

Conversations reduce friction, speed up discovery, and bring back some of the human feel that digital commerce lost.

Why this shift matters
It might sound like a tech trend, but conversational commerce cuts to the core of what makes retail work: relationships.

Australian shoppers are more empowered than ever. They can compare prices instantly, switch retailers with a click, and broadcast bad experiences on social media. Loyalty is hard-won.

Conversations give retailers a way to rehumanise digital shopping. They bring back the dialogue that once happened at the counter or in the fitting room, but now scaled across millions of interactions.

And importantly, they’re not just about sales. Conversations build trust, reduce churn, and create the kind of stickiness that keeps customers coming back.

The conversational channel toolkit and how brands are leveraging it

AI chat: beyond customer service
Let’s be honest, chatbots haven’t always had the best reputation. Early versions were clunky, frustrating, and often left customers begging for a human.

But with generative AI now powering chat, the game has changed.

Today’s AI chat can:
→ Answer complex product questions
→ Provide personalised recommendations
→ Help customers complete transactions in-chat
→ Resolve issues in real time without escalation

In Australia, retailers like Adore Beauty are experimenting with AI-driven chat as more than just a help desk. It’s becoming a revenue driver.

Take skincare, for example. A chatbot can guide a customer through questions about skin type, budget, and preferences, then serve up the right products instantly. That’s not just customer service, it’s a personalised sales assistant available 24/7.

The benefit for brands? More relevant customer interactions, higher conversion, and richer customer data.

The challenge? Ensuring the AI feels helpful, not robotic, and balancing automation with the option to connect to a human when needed.

Voice: shopping with your words
While voice commerce hasn’t exploded in Australia at the same pace as the US or China, it’s steadily gaining ground. More than 30% of households here now own a smart speaker, and voice search continues to climb.

Consumers are using voice assistants like Alexa, Siri, and Google Assistant to:
→ Add items to shopping lists
→ Reorder household staples
→ Check store opening hours
→ Ask for recipes and order ingredients in one go

That level of convenience is gold for consumers - and a big opportunity for brands. But it means optimising product data not just for text search, but for voice queries too.

The brands that succeed will be those that anticipate natural language questions and integrate seamlessly with voice-driven ecosystems.

Messaging: the new storefront

Email walked so messaging could run - with speed, intimacy, and real-time relevance.

Platforms like WhatsApp, Messenger, and even good old SMS are transforming into dialogue retail channels in their own right. Globally, brands like Sephora and H&M are already running conversational commerce pilots via messaging. Locally, Australian retailers are starting to dip their toes in too.

Why? Because messaging is where customers already are.

Instead of competing with overflowing inboxes, a message lands in the same app people use to chat with friends and family. It’s immediate, it’s personal, and open rates crush those of traditional email.

Retailers are using messaging for:
→ Loyalty program updates
→ Back-in-stock alerts
→ Checkout reminders
→ Personalised promotions
→ Customer service follow-ups

Done well, it feels less like marketing and more like a genuine relationship.

But there’s a fine line. Overdo it and customers will mute or unsubscribe faster than you can say “special offer.”

Brands need to respect the intimacy of the channel and focus on value-driven messages.

Integration: Chat, voice, and messaging must connect seamlessly with CRM, loyalty, and commerce systems. Without that integration, conversations risk being surface-level interactions that don’t carry through to fulfilment or personalisation - frustrating both the customer and the business.

Consistency: Conversations should feel joined-up across touchpoints. A customer shouldn’t have to repeat themselves if they switch from live chat to WhatsApp, or from an AI bot to a human agent. Achieving this means investing in unified data and workflows that give every interaction context.

Trust & privacy: Consumers will only share data if they feel it’s secure and used responsibly. Retailers need to be transparent about how information is used and strike the right balance between helpful personalisation and being intrusive — otherwise customers will pull back.

Human touch: AI can do a lot, but empathy still matters. Shoppers still expect the option of talking to a real person when the issue is complex or emotional. The challenge for retailers is to blend automation with human intervention so that experiences feel efficient without losing the warmth of genuine service.

Where to from here?

We’re only scratching the surface of conversational commerce in Australia. Over the next 2–3 years, expect to see:

• More retailers deploying AI-powered chat as a first line of engagement
• Voice search optimisation becoming a standard practice
• Messaging apps turning into genuine retail channels with shoppable features
• Deeper integration of loyalty programs into conversational experiences
• Brands investing in training and capability to manage conversational platforms effectively

The retail battleground has always been about connection. From the corner store where the shopkeeper knew your name, to today’s AI-driven interactions, it’s still about building relationships that feel personal, relevant, and convenient.

The era of conversations is here, and this helps retailers finally deliver on personalisation ambitions as they have strived to for years. Retailers who embrace it by blending the efficiency of AI with the warmth of human connection, will be the ones who cut through the noise and win long-term loyalty.

Those who treat it as an afterthought? They’ll be left on read.