Amazon
Up until now, Alexa has only offered web tips or other general advice regarding various products. Now, Alexa wants to take it a step further by answering questions that are directly related to specific products.
"Brands registered with Amazon Brand Registry will see the new Customers Ask Alexa feature (...) where they can easily discover and answer frequently asked customer questions using self-service tools," Amazon wrote in a blog post. "Customers Ask Alexa will be available to shoppers via the Amazon search bar in late 2022 and via Echo devices in mid-2023."
Before brands get answers about their products approved and officially launched in the Customers Ask Alexa system, they would first need to go through a process of content moderation and quality checks. This feature will be accessible to only select brands on Seller Central starting in October 2022 but through invitation only. An example of a question that customers might want an answer to if they are shopping for cleaning products from Customers Ask Alexa is, "How can I remove pet hair from my carpet?"
"Amazon recognizes brands as experts on their products. With this new capability, we have made it easier for brands to connect with customers to help answer common questions and better inform their purchase decisions," said Rajiv Mehta, general manager of Alexa Shopping at Amazon.
Although many question as to whether or not this feature is actually more geared toward sellers or customers, it is convenient that this feature will be offered so that customer questions can be more directly answered regarding specific products.
General interest in Alexa has been dying down in terms of sales, but Amazon is still attempting to find new and improved ways to advertise Alexa, and one of them is through Customers Ask Alexa. Arguably, Customers Ask Alexa works more like an advertisement than a question-answer service, but customers may choose to use the feature at their own discretion.
