Alexa+ can now track deals and automatically buy products when prices drop to your target

This Alexa+ update can track deals and buy for you when the price drops - here's how

A new Alexa+ shopping feature is rolling out that can not only monitor for lower prices on an item, but also predict and even automatically buy something when the price drops. The new feature is designed to provide Alexa users with a more proactive shopping experience, allowing them to find the best prices on items without having to search for them themselves. As part of the Shopping Essentials dashboard, the new feature will initially roll out to the Echo Show 15 and Echo Show 21 and is expected to be made available to other Echo devices later. To shop for the best price, Alexa uses AI to track prices and then buy designated items. You can always choose which items you want Alexa+ to track, and then the voice assistant can alert you with a notification when an item's price drops to your target. After that, it can also automatically purchase the item for you -- but only when it hits the price that you want. Also: 14+ powerful Alexa commands every user should know at home (no subscriptions required) For example, if you wanted to save on a $900 robot vacuum and tell Alexa+ to buy it when its price drops below $400, then the voice assistant will buy it for you automatically once the price drops below $400. This Alexa+ feature will be presented in the form of a new Shopping Essentials hub. You'll be able to see this in your Echo Show 15 and 21, with other models planned to get an update in the coming weeks. The Shopping Essentials is like a new centralized shopping dashboard with suggestions for household essentials, shopping lists, "save for later" items, recent orders, and even real-time delivery tracking. You can activate this by saying, "Alexa, where's my stuff?" or "Alexa, open shopping." Also: What is Alexa+? Everything you need to know about Amazon's new AI assistant Much like the Amazon app does already, the Alexa+ voice assistant can also nudge you to add items to an upcoming delivery if you have something that ships within the next few days. This feature adds to Amazon's goal of expanding Alexa's usefulness. Alexa+ offers a similar experience of having a shopping concierge, which can now deliver a comparable experience to the Rufus AI chatbot on the Amazon website and app.

Alexa Plus can automatically buy stuff when the price drops

Amazon is launching Alexa Plus shopping features that make it easier to track your orders and avoid missing out on deals. The AI-powered Alexa Plus assistant -- like Amazon's Rufus chatbot -- can proactively track products to tell you when they've dropped to a specific price, and automatically purchase them when they fall below the designated threshold. You can now keep track of your purchases in a new shopping experience launching this week on the Echo Show 15 and 21. These Alexa Plus price-tracking features, which were announced in February and started rolling out to Alexa Plus users in June, can monitor products in your Amazon basket and wish list, or track specific items as instructed. For example, it's possible to ask it to notify you if the Dyson Supersonic hair dryer falls below $300. The smart assistant can also be told to automatically purchase stuff the moment it falls to a desired price, using your default Amazon shipping address and payment option to complete the order. These auto-buy capabilities came to Amazon's Rufus AI chatbot last month, allowing people to use the same features on the Amazon Shopping app. While it's nice to have Alexa alert you to price drops for items in your basket, users should be wary about the feature ruining the gift-giving season for people in the same household. A new shopping command center is available for the Echo Show 15 and Echo Show 21, which sounds like an amalgamation of several existing widgets. The "Shopping Essentials" experience displays your recent orders, real-time delivery tracking, shopping list, and saved items, alongside suggested household essentials to repurchase. The feature can be activated by saying "Alexa, where's my stuff?" or "Open Shopping Essentials." Amazon says that Echo users will also be able to add a new shopping widget to their homescreen "soon." Amazon says that Alexa Plus will now prompt users to add additional goods to incoming deliveries to ensure any last-minute purchases arrive faster, suggesting products that can be added to the shipment "right up until it leaves the warehouse." Another new shopping feature is that users can now use Alexa Plus for personalized gift suggestions. After you provide details about who you're shopping for or the occasion, Alexa Plus will generate personalized product recommendations, visually organized by category.

Amazon is rolling out new shopping features for Alexa+, because of course it is

Congrats to any budding Nostradamus out there who peered into the future to boldly predict that Amazon would bring more shopping features to Alexa+ sooner rather than later. A gold star for you. Yes, it hasn't taken too long for Amazon to weave more features into the generative AI-powered version of Alexa that are designed to get you to buy more stuff. Shopping features were part of the original Alexa from the jump, of course, but Amazon is doing some interesting things with the latest iteration. For instance, the company is rolling out a new price tracking feature. Tell it the product you want and how much you're willing to pay for it. As soon as the item goes on sale for below that price, Alexa+ will automatically order it for you using your default payment method and delivery address. This deal tracking feature also keeps an eye on items in your cart and wishlists. Maybe remember to turn this off when you're going out of town for a while, though. Another feature that Alexa+ users can start trying today is a Shopping Essentials tool on Echo Show 15 and 21. You'll be able to see real-time tracking for your orders, your recent orders, household essentials that it may be time to reorder, saved items and your shopping list. Tap the screen and you can find out more info about products, add them to your cart and complete your purchase. You'll soon be able to add a shopping widget to your Echo Show home screen, but for now you can check this out by saying "Open Shopping Essentials" or "Alexa, where's my stuff?" Elsewhere, Alexa+ can offer personalized product recommendations after you share details about a special occasion or a person you're buying for. That could be handy if you haven't completed your gift shopping yet. There's also an option to add extra items onto a current order until just before it leaves an Amazon warehouse. Alexa+ might make some suggestions here, such as asking if you need batteries for a new gadget or toy. Amazon was always going to be interested in tapping into Alexa+ to prompt you to buy more goods from the company, but some of these features are pretty interesting, especially for deal hawks and those who order items frequently. It makes even more sense now as to why Amazon is trying to prevent third-party AI agents (such as the one in Perplexity's Comet browser) from carrying out purchases on the platform.

The future of Amazon is here - Alexa+ can now cut you out of the loop and order products for you when the price drops

Amazon has announced a range of new shopping features rolling out to its Alexa+ AI assistant - including a new option to automatically buy products that you're after when they hit a lower price, which sounds like it might not be all that good for your bank balance. This was actually announced back in February, but is now rolling out to early testers in the US and Canada, as per The Verge. It's also part of a new Shopping Essentials interface upgrade that is appearing first on the Echo Show 15 and Echo Show 21 displays. Here's how it works: you tell the bot about an item you want to buy, and a price threshold to watch out for. You then have the option to give Alexa+ permission to automatically buy that product once it hits that price, using your default purchase and delivery details. It's reassuring to see some level of control there - but I can imagine queueing up a variety of deals that I want to take advantage of, forgetting about them, and then being met with a flurry of purchase notifications once the next sales season rolls around. Alexa+ is also going to be able to keep an eye on your current shopping cart and your wishlists for potential deal opportunities, and the same auto-buy feature can be found in the Rufus AI assistant that lives on the Amazon website and in the Amazon mobile apps. As for the wider Shopping Essentials upgrade, it brings all of your important Amazon data together in one place for ease and convenience: current orders, items out for delivery, products on your shopping lists that you're planning to buy, and so on. Other additions coming to Alexa+ are personalized gifts suggestions - so you describe who you're buying for to the AI and it picks out some ideas - and the option to add new items to a delivery at the last minute, right up until it leaves the Amazon warehouse. Alexa+ remains in beta testing and is still invite only, with users in the US and Canada able to request access: here's how to go about it. You'll also need one of the newer smart displays too - the Echo Show 8, Echo Show 10, Echo Show 15, or Echo Show 21.