Ocado launches app for Amazon Alexa

The world’s largest online-only grocery retailer has announced it will be the first supermarket in the UK to launch an app for the voice-controlled Amazon Alexa.

The Ocado app for Amazon Alexa, the voice controlled personal assistant powering the Amazon Echo smart home speaker, will feature a variety of functions enabling customers to:
•    Add a product to an existing order or basket
•    Find out which products are currently in season and receive inspiration for the best ways to include them in recipes
•    Check an existing order or basket to see if a certain product has already been added
•    Keep track of an order by asking “where’s my order?”
•    Confirm the time until which an existing order can be amended

The launch gives consumers the ultimate convenience and flexibility to shop however they prefer – whether that’s online via the Ocado.com webshop, the iOS, watchOS or Android mobile apps or by simply using their voice.

In order to understand customers’ product preferences, the Ocado Technology e-commerce team built an AI-based Ocado Conversational Service which is able to suggest both appropriate and previously bought items, helping customers to add items to their basket effortlessly.

Customers will be able to download the app from Tuesday, August 29th via their Amazon accounts.

Lawrence Hene, marketing and commercial director at Ocado, comments: “Grocery shopping should be quick, easy and convenient. Using voice technology, we’ve made it even easier by developing our new app that will enable our customers to add to their Ocado baskets without lifting a finger.

“Consumer demand for increasingly convenient ways to shop is growing rapidly and we’re excited to be the first supermarket in the UK to offer this technology, making customers’ lives ever easier. Alexa will add any item to your Ocado basket simply by asking her to do so. It’s as easy as that.”