Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) is pushing Alexa’s voice shopping abilities today with the announcement of special deals ahead of Prime Day.
Amazon Prime Day, Amazon’s own version of Black Friday, will take place on July 11th this year. Deals start the night before, but voice shoppers using Alexa will get an even bigger head start. Those who shop from an Alexa enabled-device, such as an Echo or Fire tablet, will gain access to Prime Day deals on July 10th at 7 p.m. Eastern time, two hours before everyone else.
Some deals are already available for Alexa users. Amazon says there are over 100 exclusive deals starting today that will rotate until July 17th. Some of the deals offered today include savings on Alexa-compatible smart home devices, like the Wemo Mini smart plug and Philips Hue Lightstrip Plus, among other offers.
Amazon is also using cash incentives to encourage consumers to try voice-based shopping. First-time shoppers who purchase with Alexa between now and Prime Day will receive a bonus $10 promo code.
Alexa-enabled devices can now sign people up for Amazon Prime for the first time. New members who sign up by voice can also get a $20 discount on their first year with this $99-a-year membership.
Voice shoppers can also ask, “Alexa, what are your deals?” to be entered into a $5,000 sweepstakes.
“This is going to be the most exciting Prime Day yet for voice shoppers,” said Assaf Ronen, Vice President Voice Shopping for Amazon. “Prime members have asked, ‘Alexa, what are your deals?’ more than three million times since we launched Alexa deals last year, and we’re thrilled to deliver even better deals this year.”
While it remains to be seen if these deals will encourage more of Amazon’s 80 million Prime subscribers to try voice shopping, Amazon continues to try new strategies to expand its customer reach.
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