Retail relies on in-person collaboration – DeepL Voice makes that possible in a multilingual world
Today’s retailers sell to a wide variety of people, who use a wide variety of different languages. They cater to tourists and business travellers, people shopping across borders, and members of immigrant communities who are not fully confident in the official language of the country where they live.
At the same time, patterns of migration and labor shortages mean that retailers’ own employees often converse in a range of different languages as well. In tight labor markets, the people they’re able to hire may well not be fluent in the official language of the country, or the preferred language of the company. This makes it challenging to onboard new employees, share critical safety information and explain what each person needs to do. It’s a challenge that keeps recurring as employees leave and new ones come onboard.
What happens when in-person retail experiences lack a common language
We tend to think of a shopper walking into a store to buy something as the most straightforward of all transactions. However, it’s easy to forget that this simple shopping experience relies on clear, accurate communication, not just in the store itself but a wide range of other touchpoints as well. In retail, it’s not just the shopper and the store assistant that need to understand one another perfectly. It’s also the person stacking shelves, the staff in a warehouse organizing stock, the logistics managers and delivery drivers shipping product to stores.
When shoppers and in-store assistants lack a common language to converse in, they end up relying on fragmentary words and hand gestures to try to get their message across. It’s far from the ideal customer service experience, takes away the potential for helpful advice or guidance, soaks up employees’ time, and increases their stress levels. Frustrated shoppers walk away without completing purchases and choose not to visit again. Language barriers threaten many of the interactions that are crucial to the right products making it into shoppers’ hands. Competitiveness in retail depends on finding an accessible and intuitive way to overcome them.
At DeepL, we believe that this is one of the most valuable applications of Language AI. It’s why we’ve developed DeepL Voice for Conversations, which delivers accurate speech translations through real-time captioning, all through employees’ mobile devices and designed to enable in-person conversations.
The hidden costs and risks of miscommunication
The in-store experience is where language barriers have their most obvious impact. However, their effect on retail business models is often far wider. Miscommunication in warehouses leads to inefficiencies and delays processes When it comes to logistics, those same language barriers can result in deliveries going to the wrong stores, and products not making it onto shelves where they’re needed. All the time, employee frustrations keep morale low, staff turnover high, and hiring costs constantly elevated.
There can be other serious consequences too. Among warehouse staff, drivers and loaders, miscommunication increases the risk of accidents and the difficulty of complying with health and safety standards.
Designing a Language AI solution for in-person interactions
We designed DeepL Voice for Conversations specifically to address these types of in-person language barriers, wherever they occur.
We did so by adapting DeepL’s Language AI to meet the particular challenges of real-time speech translation, including the differences in how people express themselves when speaking. We then developed this DeepL Voice technology to deliver the best possible experience for two people speaking to each other in different languages, in-person.
Our solution enables both participants to easily follow their conversation on the same mobile device. They select the two languages they want to use, and Voice for Conversations then displays what each person says in their native language and instantly translates it into the language of the other participant. We’ve made Voice for Conversations available as an app for both Apple iOS and Android, so providing employees with standard smartphones makes it easy for them to communicate with customers or colleagues. There’s no requirement for specialist equipment.
Why accuracy, security and ease of use matter
It matters how retailers choose to overcome the language barriers that increasingly complicate their businesses. A translation that is poor quality, getting some phrases right and others wrong, can easily cause more miscommunication than it solves. If employees resort to unsecured solutions to translate what people are saying, it can quickly compromise security and compliance. And if any system is difficult to use, it simply adds to the burden for workers and is likely to be abandoned.
DeepL Voice for Conversations delivers the accuracy that retailers need through the unmatched quality of DeepL’s Language AI. Like all DeepL solutions it complies fully with GDPR, is certified under the leading SOC 2 Type II security standards, and uses end-to-end encryption and Single Sign On (SSO) with regular penetration testing. It’s as easy for employees to start using as any other app on a mobile device.
In making communication accessible to all, DeepL for Conversations enhances customer experience and loyalty among non-native speakers, transforms operational efficiency, and helps retailers compete in a tight labor market by hiring more widely and removing language as a barrier. In-person communication should be the great strength of the retail customer experience. We’re proud to have built a solution that makes sure employees and customers can access that experience in the language they choose.