Amazon’s redesigned Echo Dots Kids Edition
Amanda Ringstad, Amazon
Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant will soon tell users when items they’ve had an eye on are about to be on sale.
The company announced on Thursday that Alexa will notify Prime customers up to 24 hours in advance of upcoming sales on items in their Amazon wish list and shopping cart, or items that were marked “saved for later” on the platform. The feature will work with fourth-generation Echo smart speakers and newer.
For example, if a customer is looking at a new TV and it’s been sitting in a wish list, Alexa will give the consumer a heads-up that it will be on sale soon. The Amazon Echo ring will turn yellow when an item goes on sale, so a user knows to ask Alexa to read out their notifications. Consumers can then ask Alexa to remind them about deals when they’re live or ask the smart device to order items on their behalf.
The feature is meant to help customers save time and prepare for big sales, like Prime Day. It also benefits Amazon, which uses Echo devices to get people to buy more products on the site.
Deal recommendations need to be enabled to use the feature, which can be turned off or on by visiting the Alexa app and clicking “more,” “notifications,” “Amazon shopping” then “shopping recommendations.”
Subscribe to CNBC on YouTube.