Key takeaways
- Amazon began an invite-only test of texting Alexa for Shopping on November 6 for a small group of U.S. customers.
- Amazon says the agent can search, compare, add items to a cart and complete purchases, and it asks approval before reorders.
- A wider rollout to millions of customers is planned over the coming weeks, and Amazon's post names no fee.
Amazon began letting a small group of U.S. customers text its Alexa for Shopping agent on November 6. Access is by invitation for now, and Amazon says it will reach millions more people over the coming weeks.
Once you accept the terms and link your phone number, a contact called "Alexa Shopping" shows up in your messages. You text it what you want. It searches, compares products and sends suggestions, and when you're ready it can add items to your cart and complete the purchase. Amazon says it asks for approval before it buys a reorder.
Conversations sync with the Amazon Shopping app, Amazon.com and Alexa devices, so you can start a request by text and finish it somewhere else. It also remembers preferences such as dietary needs.
What you can ask it
Amazon lists several tasks that work by text: handling a list of chores in one message, setting up weekly grocery orders, adding ingredients from a photo of a recipe, requesting same-day delivery, setting price alerts and checking order status. It can also show price history going back up to a year and find products from other stores through Shop Direct. Amazon says order updates, delivery notices and deals will join the same thread over time.
Rajiv Mehta, Amazon's vice president of Conversational Shopping, said that "your personal shopping agent is just a text away."
Why it matters
Amazon already added more than 100 actions to Alexa for Shopping on October 29. Texting moves the same agent out of the Amazon app and into the place where people already message. The Verge and TechCrunch both covered the launch.
Amazon's post does not mention a fee for texting. People without an invite can sign up for text notifications at amazon.com/text-alexa-shopping to hear when more invitations go out.
