Alexa, Amazon's voice-controlled assistant, will be offering exclusive deals to its Prime members on Cyber Monday. Just by asking "Alexa, what are your deals?", the U.S. e-commerce giant announced that the voice assistant would respond with secret tips and deals.
What is Alexa Voice Shopping?
Alexa Voice Shopping is an Amazon service that allows customers to place orders through the online webpage with just a voice command.
Customers who purchased an Alexa-enabled product, such as an Amazon Echo or the Amazon app for Android and iOS, all they have to do is tell Alexa what they want to buy. Alexa immediately searches Amazon to find the product and confirms it has picked the item before placing the order. Customers can even ask for specific brands, as it can understand sophisticated queries.
Echo devices stream voice to the cloud only when Alexa is asked to do something. The default wake word is “Alexa,” but it can be changed that to “Echo,” “Amazon,” or simply “Computer.”
Once activated, the microphone takes everything and sends it up to Amazon’s cloud computers for quick analysis. If it’s a question it can answer, the answer comes forth from the speaker in a female, slightly computery voice.
Why Use Alexa Voice Orders?
During Cyber Monday, there will be some advantages when ordering through Alexa. Apart from the convenience of just asking devices to get specific goods, Amazon will be offering exclusive deals, which customers can find by asking Alexa what the current deals on offer are.
Like in previous years and for Prime Day, during the 2018 holiday season, customers will gain access to early deals and better discounts by voice shopping using Alexa on Echo devices.
Moreover, there’s the bonus that unlike regular Amazon products, Alexa-ordered items are automatically eligible for free return shipping, which makes it a useful option if looking to purchase something that you’re not sure you want to keep.
Alexa-Enabled Devices
Echo has a growing list of products it can be integrated with directly, which includes the most popular smart-home devices available. This list is also supplemented by something called “skills,” plus third-party integration applications such as IFTTT, Yonomi, and Muzzley. Amazon actively welcomes more integration partners, and its API is available to any company.
