Text Alexa to add items to your Amazon shopping list
▼ Summary
– Amazon is introducing a new texting feature for Alexa for Shopping, enabling users to purchase items via text messages.
– The service allows customers to describe products or send photos, with the AI searching listings and placing orders on their behalf.
– Alexa for Shopping remembers user preferences over time and tracks prices to notify customers when watched items go on sale.
– The rollout begins with a small group of US customers before expanding to millions more in the coming weeks.
– This move aligns Amazon with competitors like OpenAI and DoorDash, who have also launched text-based AI shopping assistants.
Amazon is expanding its Alexa for Shopping service to allow customers to purchase items directly through text messages. This new capability enables users to describe the products they wish to buy or upload a photograph of an item. The AI assistant then searches Amazon’s listings for matching results, sends back recommendations via text, and completes the order on the user’s behalf.
This development enhances the existing Alexa for Shopping experience, which debuted in May. The integration aims to provide a more convenient ordering method for situations where typing in the Amazon app or website is impractical. Interactions with the service appear in the user’s phone as a message from “Amazon Alexa.” The feature supports various shopping tasks, such as ordering weekly groceries, requesting gift ideas, and finding similar products based on photos. Additionally, Alexa retains knowledge of individual preferences over time; for instance, if a user frequently requests vegan options, the assistant will prioritize those choices in future recommendations. It also monitors prices and alerts users when items on their watchlist go on sale.
The texting functionality is initially rolling out to a limited group of customers in the United States starting today. These early adopters will receive an invitation to test the service. Following this initial phase, Amazon plans to extend access to “millions more customers” over the next few weeks. A representative screenshot from the company demonstrates that the service displays an image of the product before confirming whether the user wishes to proceed with the purchase.
“Customers often jot down what they need the moment they think of it in their notes, in their messages, in their group chats,” said Rajiv Mehta, vice president of Conversational Shopping at Amazon. “Now with Alexa for Shopping, your personal shopping agent is just a text away. Message it what you need and Alexa goes to work on your behalf , searching, comparing, and buying so you can get on with your day.”
Amazon joins a growing list of companies integrating chatbots into messaging platforms. Last month, OpenAI launched a feature allowing users to text its personal AI agent, Dot. Similarly, DoorDash introduced a text-based ordering option in September, enabling customers to receive dish recommendations and place food orders by communicating with the Ask DoorDash AI chatbot.
(Source: The Verge)
