Amazon finally enables product orders through Echo

An obvious feature has finally come to the Amazon Echo. Prime members now can talk to the device to order any Prime-eligible product that Amazon sells. Before this weekend, shopping via Echo was limited to reordering items from past Amazon purchases.

Shoppers will need to have a 1-Click payment method already set up in their Amazon account, and they’ll need to have voice purchasing turned on in the Alexa mobile app. Setting up a four-digit confirmation code is optional.

When shoppers use Echo to make a purchase, Amazon will first look for Prime-eligible products in their order history and offer those for purchase. If a matching item isn’t found there, Alexa will look for “Amazon’s Choice” items next and then search through all Prime-eligible products.

In my brief testing, it worked pretty well. Beyond the expected voice recognition issues, Echo found items in my order history even if I didn’t use the full/official product name. In response to a purchase request, Echo will tell you the total price (including any taxes) and offer different sizes if available.

In its weekly email to Echo owners, Amazon says “tens of millions” of products are available for voice purchase. The company’s help page explains that several product categories aren’t eligible, such as Apparel, Jewelry, Shoes and others.

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Matt McGee

Matt McGee is the Editor-In-Chief of Marketing Land and Search Engine Land. His news career includes time spent in TV, radio, and print journalism. After leaving traditional media in the mid-1990s, he began developing and marketing websites and continued to provide consulting services for more than 15 years. His SEO and social media clients ranged from mom-and-pop small businesses to one of the Top 5 online retailers. Matt is a longtime speaker at marketing events around the U.S., including keynote and panelist roles. He can be found on Twitter at @MattMcGee. You can read Matt’s disclosures on his personal blog. You can reach Matt via email using our Contact page.