Alexa is getting its first celebrity voice. To go along with the Oprah’s Favorite Things storefront on Amazon, users of Alexa-enabled devices can have Oprah herself guide them through this year’s 102 favorite things. To do so, you’ll just have to say, “Alexa, let’s shop Oprah’s Favorite Things.” Oprah will then describe one of the products on her list and tell you why she recommends it. If you want to buy it, say “yes,” if you don’t, say “no,” and Oprah will move on to another item.
To be clear, Oprah’s voice is not a permanent Alexa fixture — it’s limited to just guiding you through the Favorite Things storefront, which this year includes earphones, various food products, clothing items and, naturally, Amazon’s Echo Show. And while it may seem like a fun companion to Oprah’s iconic holiday list, it’s also another way for Amazon to encourage you to shop.
The company has developed a few different ways to attract customers and add convenience to shopping recently including the introduction of Spark — Amazon’s Instagram-like shopping feed — the addition of Alexa assistance in the Android Amazon app and the launch of its AR View feature that lets customers get a preview of how a range of products will look in their homes. Just having to say “yes” in order to buy one of Oprah’s Favorite Things certainly makes for an easy shopping experience.
If you don’t have an Alexa-enabled device or if you’d rather just scroll through Oprah’s Favorite Things yourself, you can take a look at this year’s list here.
Source: Engadget