UK retailer Morrisons is opening its online store to Amazon’s voice-command software, Alexa.
Shoppers will now be able to use their voice to order a weekly shop from Morrisons.com by using the service, as well as asking Alexa to add or remove items from their basket, suggest items based on previous shops, and check the total of their order and/or if their delivery is on time.
To access the service, customers have to activate the Alexa 'voice skill', which is available on devices such as Amazon Echo, Echo Dot or Amazon Tap.
Morrison says that this technology will be particularly helpful for people who are disabled or on the move. BMW recently announced that Alexa would be in its new cars from next year.
Matt Kelleher, Morrisons' online director, said, “Customers are increasingly using voice commands in their everyday lives to check the weather, play music, or find out the latest news. It is important we follow this emerging trend and make Morrisons an easier and more accessible place to shop for groceries online. It’s exciting that our customers can now shop without even needing to login to a computer or mobile phone.”
Alexa Looks To The UK
In August, UK online grocer Ocado implemented a similar feature, to let shoppers top up their baskets using Alexa.
Amazon has been encouraging online shoppers to avail of Alexa since it made over 100 exclusive deals available for users during its third-annual Prime Day sales event, on 12 July.
Meanwhile, Wal-Mart and Tesco have moved into voice-ordering technology by partnering with competitor Google.
However, confidence in shopping via voice command is still lacklustre, with more than half of customers showing no interest in such deals, according to a survey by bargain-hunter site DealNews.com.
Morrisons previously worked with Amazon last year, when it rolled out the UK’s largest collection of Amazon lockers in its stores, to enable customers to pick up items bought online.
© 2017 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Kevin Duggan. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
