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Why make a habit of buying things in this method when you're always unsure of the price, and you're often unsure of the authenticity? The only use case that ma
by npunt 8y ago
Why make a habit of buying things in this method when you're always unsure of the price, and you're often unsure of the authenticity?
The only use case that makes sense is I can see it being used for is reorders of brand-name consumables you've already vetted. But even when you trust you're getting a product actually made by Tide (or whomever), its unclear you're getting the exact match as a previous purchase - the brand may have decided to repackage it into something 6 ounces less than before. This happens a lot. Prices also tend to fluctuate quite a bit, enough that occasionally you'll get a price way outside normal range and would benefit from looking at other brands.
Lots of room for error, and voice as a channel is too narrow to deliver an efficient experience that corrects for these issues. These are fixable by Amazon, but judging by what little policing there is on the authenticity of items, I doubt it'll happen anytime soon.
- Pxtl 8y agoNot just that, but every respectably large brand other than Apple will have fragmented their product into a zillion overlapping SKUs that will mean that ordering the correct product will require a list of qualifiers comparable to an elaborate Starbucks order. Alexa, I want the tide high-efficiency unscented cold-water large box of detergent please.
- vm 8y agoI was skeptical about buying through Alexa until I finally tried it. I found out that I value convenience more than detailed selection, at least for reorders and staple products (kitchen and bathroom soaps, etc).
- thomasfedb 8y agoIs it smart enough to know that "buy more soap" means to get the same soap you bought before?
- heavenlyblue 8y agoOr you could just buy 3 soaps every once a year and you wouldn’t need to speak to Alexa at all.
- VLM 8y agoYou have subscribe and save and amazon dash buttons as non-voice alternatives. I've never had the slightest problem with my dash button WRT counterfeit and SKU foolishness... push button next to empty kitchen trash bag box, receive kitchen trash bags tomorrow, it really is that simple.
- bhandziuk 8y agoWhat happen's when your kid presses the button 20 times?
- Symbiote 8y agoFrankly, I'm disgusted. I couldn't be part of the electronic, energy, packaging and transport waste that this approach contributes to. If I run out of trash bags, I buy more next time I'm at the supermarket. If I'm likely to forget to do that, I'll leave the empty box somewhere visible until I do remember, or if it's urgent write a note on a scrap of paper. "Alexa, next time I'm at the supermarket, remind me I need trash bags" would be far more reasonable.
- WorldMaker 8y ago
- leereeves 8y agoIs it possible to turn off third-party sellers? I'd be afraid of getting a counterfeit, and possibly dangerous or poisonous, product blindly ordering from Amazon third-party sellers.
- mikeash 8y agoAvoiding third-party sellers doesn’t mean you’ll avoid counterfeits, alas. Amazon mixes stock, so even if you buy directly from Amazon, you could just as easily end up with an item from a third-party seller claiming to sell the same thing.
- natecavanaugh 8y agoI agree that voice is very narrow, but it's also quite expressible when there's a person to call someone and ask then grab something from the store for you. But even that, at the best experience we know, with actual humans on both sides, is so fraut with error, that it's hard to imagine a computer so self organized and intelligent with perfect clarity listening, then be able navigate sets of known preferences and purchasing hueristic understanding, that it just doesn't seem worth the time to invest. I guess I can imagine it, but error rate would have to be an order of magnitude lower than just calling someone ourselves, I don't see it likely for more than minor purchases.
- TeMPOraL 8y ago> I agree that voice is very narrow, but it's also quite expressible when there's a person to call someone and ask then grab something from the store for you. Don't get me started... For some reason, most normal people can't express their preferences - and they absolutely have them, which they'll be very happy to shout at you about when you come back with the wrong product. I've learned the hard way that when someone asks me to buy e.g. milk, I need to ask about brand, size, fat percentage, UHT or no, and which other brands/sizes/percentages are acceptable if the preferred one is not available - and I need to ask those questions before leaving. Or maybe it's just me who wasn't born with mind-reading capability... (And no, buying the "usual one" is not a good strategy, because there are good chances that they need a different one just this once, and yes, I was supposed to guess that myself.)
- philbarr 8y agoThe trick to this is, just be exceptionally bad at it. My wife doesn't ask me for things anymore after I did the shopping and came back with almost nothing on the list, but with things I thought were probably reasonable replacements. "What do you mean, creme fraiche isn't double cream? It's close isn't it? It's dairy, right?"
- croisillon 8y ago"The trick" to not do any household chores anymore?
- duiker101 8y agoI've never used Alexa, but can you not maybe express your preference beforehand and then just use that shortcut? Or even "buy the last detergent I bought"?
- skywhopper 8y agoYes, this effect has prevented me from even being able to use the product subscription services Amazon has tried to launch. I might get one or two periodic shipments but then I'd hear "Oops, that product is discontinued." Turns out it's still around, just in slightly different packaging, or with a new brand tweak. In the end the uncertainty and reliability and hassle are all far worse than just remembering to buy myself more shave gel and toothpaste at the store when I start to run low. But given how hard it is to even find just standardized products on Amazon at a reasonable price and with Prime shipping from a reliable seller, etc, etc, when I can _see_ what's going on, I personally would never trust Alexa to do the selection for me.
- scrumbledober 8y agoIn another situation, I had a subscription for one product that was $32 when I started subscribing and I just cancelled it after noticing that the price has risen to over $50
- zaidf 8y agoWhy make a habit of buying things in this method when...you're often unsure of the authenticity? That sounds like the argument Internet bears made about online shopping during its early days.
- sbinthree 8y agoYes, my echo is purely a voice activated Spotify speaker. Works great for this though, and worth the price.