Congrats to any budding Nostradamus out there who peered into the future to boldly predict that Amazon would bring more shopping features to Alexa+ sooner rather than later. A gold star for you. Yes, it hasn’t taken too long for Amazon to weave more features into the generative AI-powered version of Alexa that are designed to get you to buy more stuff.
Shopping features were part of the original Alexa from the jump, of course, but Amazon is doing some interesting things with the latest iteration. For instance, the company is rolling out a new price tracking feature. Tell it the product you want and how much you’re willing to pay for it. As soon as the item goes on sale for below that price, Alexa+ will automatically order it for you using your default payment method and delivery address. This deal tracking feature also keeps an eye on items in your cart and wishlists. Maybe remember to turn this off when you’re going out of town for a while, though.
Another feature that Alexa+ users can start trying today is a Shopping Essentials tool on Echo Show 15 and 21. You’ll be able to see real-time tracking for your orders, your recent orders, household essentials that it may be time to reorder, saved items and your shopping list. Tap the screen and you can find out more info about products, add them to your cart and complete your purchase. You’ll soon be able to add a shopping widget to your Echo Show home screen, but for now you can check this out by saying “Open Shopping Essentials” or “Alexa, where’s my stuff?”
Elsewhere, Alexa+ can offer personalized product recommendations after you share details about a special occasion or a person you’re buying for. That could be handy if you haven’t completed your gift shopping yet. There’s also an option to add extra items onto a current order until just before it leaves an Amazon warehouse. Alexa+ might make some suggestions here, such as asking if you need batteries for a new gadget or toy.
Amazon was always going to be interested in tapping into Alexa+ to prompt you to buy more goods from the company, but some of these features are pretty interesting, especially for deal hawks and those who order items frequently. It makes even more sense now as to why Amazon is trying to prevent third-party AI agents (such as the one in Perplexity’s Comet browser) from carrying out purchases on the platform.
