Amazon is rolling out a new way to shop by texting its Alexa for Shopping AI assistant.
Shoppers can use the service to find products, reorder household essentials, build grocery carts, and track price drops.
The feature is initially available by invitation, with plans to expand access to more U.S. customers in the coming weeks.
Amazon is giving shoppers another way to use artificial intelligence when making purchases. The company recently introduced a text messaging option for Alexa for Shopping, allowing customers to communicate with its AI shopping assistant without opening the Amazon app or visiting its website.
The idea is pretty straightforward: Instead of searching for products yourself, you can send Alexa a text explaining what you need and let it handle much of the legwork. The assistant can search for products, compare options, make recommendations, add items to your shopping cart, and even complete purchases on your behalf.
For example, shoppers can ask Alexa to reorder something they've purchased previously, find a birthday gift, or put together a grocery order. They can also send photos of products they're interested in and ask Alexa to find similar items.
“Customers often jot down what they need the moment they think of it in their notes, in their messages, in their group chats,” Rajiv Mehta, vice president of Conversational Shopping at Amazon, said in a news release.
“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.”
How does the new texting feature work?
The texting feature is initially being offered to a small group of U.S. customers through invitations. Those who receive an invitation can get started by accepting the terms and linking their phone number. Amazon plans to expand access to millions more customers over the coming weeks.
Customers who haven't received an invitation can sign up through Amazon's website to receive updates about future invitations.
Once connected, shoppers can send requests through their regular text messaging app. Alexa responds with product suggestions and can handle additional shopping tasks, including monitoring prices and sending notifications when products go on sale.
What does this mean for consumers?
The biggest takeaway is that Amazon wants to make shopping feel less like a separate task and more like an everyday conversation.
The assistant can remember customers' preferences and shopping habits over time, potentially making future recommendations more relevant. Shoppers can also move between text messages, the Amazon Shopping app, Amazon.com, and Alexa-enabled devices without losing track of what they were doing.
Shoppers should remember that giving an AI assistant permission to make purchases means paying attention to what they're authorizing. It's worth reviewing product suggestions, prices, and shopping carts before completing orders.