alt Hacker NewsRemember when Amazon thought that people would say "buy me more paper towels" to their Echo? And of course they didn't because that's insane.
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Worse than that. Some product manager thought that if they shipped a bunch of buttons that said "Tide" users would keep pressing them and Tide sales would skyrocket. Bet he got promoted for the idea too.
Agreed. I can't imagine trusting it enough to make a purchase automatically, and that's before getting to the reality of how awkward it is. Which brand? Which quantity? Which style (extra strong, extra soft, etc)? Did the price go up since last time? All stuff that you can visually spot in a half second, but would be a huge PITA verbally.
Is that true? Amazon reports massive growth in AI and voice commerce. While Echo users appear uncomfortable making big purchases, the segment who routinely use it for stuff like paper towels has been taking off.
I don't know many Echo owners, but the few that I know (n=2) used it to reorder stuff like paper towels.
They are currently showing buy links on Amazon prime in ads they show during their shows after being ad free for years. I can't see anyone being interrupted during their favourite show and then suddenly be interested in buying washing up liquid. Amazon also did those buttons that you clicked to reorder stuff as well.
? I reorder stuff via my echos all the time. Especially things like toilet paper and paper towels.
That stopped when Jeff said "Alexa, buy me a newspaper."and Alexa replied "buying the Washington Post."