Amazon is adding a feature to Alexa for Shopping that allows users to buy products by sending a message to its artificial intelligence-based shopping assistant. Users can describe what they are looking for, attach a photo of the item, or do both.
Alexa for Shopping then searches for matching results in Amazon’s product listings, replies with a message containing recommendations, and then orders the item on the user’s behalf. This new feature builds on the Alexa for Shopping experience launched in May and targets moments when typing is more convenient than using Amazon’s app or website. The contact appears in the phone under the name ‘Amazon Alexa’.
The service can cover a wide range of requests, whether it’s doing the weekly grocery shopping, asking for gift ideas, or finding products similar to a photographed object. Alexa also retains the user’s personal preferences over time: if a person often asks for vegan options, the assistant will take that into account in its recommendations. It can also track deals and prices and send a message when a monitored item goes on sale.
A gradual rollout
The feature is initially being rolled out to a small group of U.S. customers, who receive an SMS inviting them to try the service. Amazon states it will then be expanded to ‘millions more customers’ in the coming weeks.
Rajiv Mehta, Vice President of Conversational Shopping at Amazon, explains this choice: ‘Customers often note what they need at the moment they think of it, in their notes, messages, group chats.’ He adds: ‘With Alexa for Shopping, your personal shopping agent is just a message away. Write to it what you need, and Alexa gets to work for you: searching, comparing, and buying, so you can focus on your day.’
A trend among several players
Amazon is not the only one offering SMS exchanges with chatbots. OpenAI has launched a feature allowing text message exchanges with Dot, its personal AI agent. DoorDash, for its part, introduced text-to-order in September: users can get food recommendations and order food by texting the Ask DoorDash AI chatbot.
