What languages do customers order in? A third of the voice notes we measured weren't English
About a third of the voice notes customers sent to shops on EasyOzy were not in English. When we replayed all 61 we had stored, in August 2026, about 20 were in Urdu, Punjabi, Hindi or Gujarati.[1] If you take orders by message, plan for more than one language, and don't assume your customers will switch to English for you.
Where the number comes from
In August 2026 we replayed every customer voice note stored on EasyOzy at the time, 61 of them, through our transcription to measure how accurate it was.[1] The shops on EasyOzy are mostly takeaways in and around Glasgow, and so are their customers.
| Language of the voice note | Share |
|---|---|
| Urdu, Punjabi, Hindi or Gujarati | About 1 in 3 (about 20 of 61) |
| English or another language | About 2 in 3 |
It is a small sample, of voice notes rather than every message, from shops in one part of Scotland. We'll publish a fuller count when we have one. It was still enough to change how we build.
The assistant answers in the language the customer used
On EasyOzy the assistant replies in the customer's own language. In the conversations we checked, customers who wrote in Urdu got replies in Urdu script or Roman Urdu, and their orders went through to the end.[1] We didn't plan this. We noticed it working in real chats and kept it.
The kitchen ticket uses your menu's own item names, whatever language the order came in.
Accents weren't the problem. Your own dish names were
We expected broad Glaswegian to cause mistakes. It didn't: the transcription handled it well. What it got wrong were words only your shop uses, such as house dish names, brand names and local spellings. "Warburtons" came back as "four buttons".
So we tried helping it with a list of Scots words like "aye", "wee" and "gonnae". It made things worse: the voice notes we flagged as doubtful went from 3 to 9.[2] A word list changes how the transcription spells what it hears, not what it hears, so it started writing Scots words into sentences that had none, including into a voice note that was in Urdu.
What helps is the opposite: telling it the names on your menu.
What to do in your shop
- Name dishes the way customers say them. If everyone calls it "the big one", put that in the description.
- Keep item names short and distinct. Two items that sound alike can be confused in a voice note, in any language.
- Let staff who speak your customers' languages take over when needed. On EasyOzy, opening the chat on your dashboard keeps the assistant quiet while you reply.
- Check your menu's spelling of brand names. They are the words most often misheard.
How EasyOzy handles voice notes
Every voice note is written out before the assistant reads it. When the transcription of an English voice note isn't confident, a second transcription checks it, and if the two genuinely disagree about the order, the assistant asks the customer instead of guessing. Each shop can also give the transcription its own list of menu words, and we suggest one from your menu.
- EasyOzy internal measurement: every customer voice note stored on the platform at the time (61), replayed through our transcription in August 2026. About 20 were in Urdu, Punjabi, Hindi or Gujarati. Aggregated; no shop's or customer's figures. Checked 24 October 2026.
- EasyOzy internal measurement, August 2026: the same 61 voice notes transcribed with and without Scots words in the transcription hint. Voice notes we flagged as doubtful went from 3 to 9. Checked 24 October 2026.
Usman Javed builds EasyOzy, the ordering assistant takeaways use on WhatsApp, Instagram and their own websites.