Some of the key announcements at the event include new Alexa features like event-based triggers, proactive suggestions, and a Send to Phone feature. Other announced features include an improved shopping filter and the expansion of Alexa Smart Reorders.
The Send to Phone Feature
One of the main concerns with voice shopping is the inability to preview the products you want to buy before paying for them. It’s one thing to see what a product looks like and a different thing to listen to Alexa read out its features.
This means Alexa users will soon be able to explore products by voice, and, when needed, instantly preview the product on the phone before committing to a purchase.
The whole process is going to be seamless and automated, with little-to-no manual input from the customers.
The Expansion of Alexa Smart Reorders
Alexa Smart Reorders—a feature that allows customers to reorder certain household items when they’re running low—will now expand to include replacement parts of more household and smart home devices.
Already, thermostat makers Carrier and Resideo have announced Alexa customers will soon be able to replenish air filters for their smart thermostats. Bissell will also make it possible to tie Smart Reorders to its vacuum cleaners.
With the announcement of the expansion, Alexa users who love Smart Reorders can expect a wider reach for the replenishment service. It’s no more just petty items like laundry detergent and batteries; smart reorders will now be available for hundreds of smart home devices.
Improved Shopping Filters
When shopping on your smartphone, it’s easy to tune your search filter to find the kind of products you need.
Need a black shoe without heels? Simply tuning your search filter can do the job.
It remains to be seen exactly how Alexa skill developers will choose to use this tool. However, if they can immediately adapt it for product filtering, Alexa customers users can expect improved voice shopping in the near future.
Event-based triggers and Proactive suggestions
This isn’t necessarily a shopping-specific update. However, the announcement of proactive suggestions and event-based triggers represents a real estate of possibilities.
Developers could leverage this tool to build things like an Alexa skill that reminds users to purchase something during a certain season or time of the day. The possibilities are endless.
Perhaps the retail giant became a little gun-shy from the voice shopping fails publicized in the past, as there have been several cases of mistaken purchases.
In 2017, Quartz reported that Alexa mistakenly ordered a ton of dollhouses after a child triggered the home assistant. According to CBS News, as the news went viral, a local news anchor reporting on the incident also accidentally triggered orders for dollhouses by Echo units in the home of their viewers.
To be fair, although shopping actions can be easily triggered on Alexa, it requires voice confirmations before orders are made. The incident where a child ordered a ton of dollhouses occurred because a voice confirmation had been made.
