Research Commissioned By SoundHound AI Reveals Nearly 80% Of U.S. Drivers Would Rather Order Food Via An In-Car Voice Assistant Than Wait At The Drive-Thru

In-car voice ordering is poised to transform restaurant revenue by unlocking a $63B opportunity among on-the-go consumers

SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--SoundHound AI, Inc. (Nasdaq: SOUN), a global leader in voice artificial intelligence, today released findings from a new study revealing that consumers are eager to order food via in-vehicle voice assistants – part of a new shift towards voice commerce. This emerging technology integrates ordering, payments, loyalty, and navigation directly into a car’s voice assistant to provide a seamless, hands-free experience powered entirely by voice.

According to the independent study of U.S. drivers who use voice assistants while driving or have voice assistants available, 94% regularly place food orders while on the go, but 77% of these – almost 4 in 5 – would rather place their orders using an in-car voice assistant as part of a voice commerce transaction than wait in a traditional drive-thru line.

This signals a major opportunity for restaurants to reduce friction, improve customer satisfaction, and boost throughput. SoundHound projects that the potential revenue impact is significant, estimating that in-car voice commerce could unlock up to $63 billion in potential revenue across the industry.

The survey suggests that some consumers are growing frustrated with today’s drive-thru and app experiences, which often fall short of the speed and simplicity that they expect. Voice AI offers a safer, more convenient solution that enables them to place their orders quickly, skip the line, and engage with QSRs in a more natural way.

The appetite for in-vehicle voice ordering climbs even higher for customers that use pre-order via a restaurant app, with 84% saying they’d choose voice commerce over a mobile app interface. Indeed, 63% of all respondents see in-vehicle voice ordering as safer than traditional on-the-go purchasing methods – pointing to a clear desire for more seamless, hands-free ordering.

Additional insights from the survey include:

• 82% of those who make impulsive on-the-go purchases say such purchases are inspired by hunger, creating a strong opportunity for restaurants to attract consumers with proactive suggestions.
• 73% of all respondents indicated they’d be likely to use in-car voice commerce if available. When presented with the use case of in-route food ordering, 76% were interested. Gen Z (86%) and Millennials (84%) lead the pack, highlighting growing generational demand.
• 86% of respondents with children say they’re interested in voice ordering, suggesting both larger average order sizes for QSRs and added convenience for busy families.

“Consumers want faster, easier, and safer ways to order while on the move – and in-car voice ordering delivers just that,” said Ben Bellettini, SVP of Sales, Restaurants, SoundHound AI. “It offers a smooth, voice-driven experience that will reshape behavior. For restaurants, it’s a powerful way to eliminate friction, increase throughput, and turn every moving vehicle into a potential revenue channel. SoundHound has championed the power of voice commerce for years, and we’re excited for what is ahead.”

To reserve access for SoundHound’s upcoming white paper examining the survey results, please visit: https://go.soundhound.com/voice-commerce-whitepaper-firstlook

SoundHound will showcase its in-car food ordering platform at the 2025 National Restaurant Association Show, May 17–20 in Chicago, IL at booth 6466. For more information, please visit: https://www.soundhound.com/nra-2025/. Want to meet with a SoundHound expert at the show? Please contact our PR Manager Gianna Arantes at [e-mail].

About SoundHound AI

SoundHound AI (Nasdaq: SOUN), a global leader in voice and conversational intelligence, delivers AI solutions that allow businesses to offer superior experiences to their customers. Built on proprietary technology, SoundHound’s voice AI delivers best-in-class speed and accuracy in numerous languages to product creators and service providers across retail, financial services, healthcare, automotive, smart devices, and restaurants. The company’s various groundbreaking AI-driven products include Smart Answering, Smart Ordering, Dynamic Drive-Thru, and the Amelia Platform, which powers AI Agents for enterprise. In addition, SoundHound Chat AI, a powerful voice assistant with integrated Generative AI, and Autonomics, a category-leading operations platform that automates IT processes, have allowed SoundHound to power millions of products and services, and processes billions of interactions each year for world class businesses.

About Big Village

This survey was conducted from March 14-25, 2025 among 1210 regular drivers aged 21-65 in the United States, who primarily drive cars model year 2019 and newer who use voice assistant while driving or have voice assistant available.

Big Village Insights is a global research and analytics business uncovering not just the ‘what’ but the ‘why’ behind customer behavior, supporting clients’ insights needs with agile tools, CX research, branding, product innovation, data & analytics, and more. Big Village Insights is part of Bright Mountain Media. Find out more at https://big-village.com/.