Amazon lets US shoppers text Alexa to search and buy
Original title: Amazon will let you text Alexa your shopping list
A limited US group can message “Amazon Alexa” with text or a photo; Amazon says millions more will follow in coming weeks.
Amazon is adding texting to Alexa for Shopping so customers can describe a product or send a photo, get listing recommendations, and have Alexa place the order. The assistant is also described as remembering preferences and alerting users when watched items go on sale. The feature starts with a small group of US customers invited by text and is due to reach millions more in the coming weeks, according to Amazon. It extends the Alexa for Shopping experience that launched in May.
Unconfirmed: The “millions more customers” timeline is Amazon’s own rollout claim.
- Users can order groceries, ask for gifts, or match a photographed item.
- The contact appears on the phone as “Amazon Alexa.”
- Rajiv Mehta, vice president of Conversational Shopping, announced the feature.
- OpenAI’s Dot and Ask DoorDash are cited as other text-chatbot shopping tools.
- Vendors
- Amazon
- Products
- Alexa for Shopping
- Countries
- United States
- AI models
- Alexa
From the original article
2 min read at theverge.com
Amazon is adding a new feature to Alexa for Shopping that allows customers to purchase items by texting the AI shopping assistant. Users can describe the products they're looking to buy and/or provide a photograph of the item, and Alexa for Shopping will search for matching results in Amazon listings, text back with recommendations, and order the item on the users' behalf.
By Jess Weatherbed · theverge.com
A short excerpt; the article and its images belong to the publisher. Summary, key facts and assessment above are AI-written from the article and can be wrong.