Now that everyone and their mother has Amazon Alexa or Google Home voice assistants after the holiday season (they sold incredibly well - story coming about that soon), we thought it would be interesting to take a look at what, exactly, people are ordering with the devices.
The data is pretty straight-forward: We are now scraping Amazon’s ($AMZN) Voice Shopping Special Offers, order ranking, and daily inventories as a way of tracking what it is people are verbally asking their assistants for, who makes it, and how much it costs.
And, hopefully, we’ll learn a little something about the ways people are using voice shopping.
So what are people ordering? And why (the “why” part is all conjecture on our part)?
A couple notes: Keep in mind that when you order something for the first time, if you don't specify a brand, Alexa will recommend "Amazon Choice" products that, as you can see below, tend to be Amazon-branded. And for Thinknum subscribers, the data set is here.
What: NUTRO WHOLESOME ESSENTIALS Adult Dry Dog Food, $14.99
Why: People have dogs, people run out of dog food and panic, so they shout, "Alexa, order dog food." This is one of the best-reviewed dog foods (4.5 stars over 1,081 reviews), so it would make sense that this is an easy get for anyone with a hungry pooch.
What: Wickedly Prime Chicken Noodle Soup, $21.54
Why: It's winter, people get colds, people love chicken noodle soup, and this is the default chicken noodle soup when you ask Alexa for a dose of Jewish pennicilin.
What: Amazon Presto! Biobased Hand Soap, Wild Citrus Scent (6 pack), $17.49
Why: $17.49 for 6 12-oz pump bottles of hand soap is a decent deal in any scenario. Add that to a scenario in which you are out of hand soap, and it's no wonder that this is an Alexa best-seller.
What: AmazonFresh Direct Trade Nicaragua Coffee, Medium Roast, Ground, 12 Ounce, Pack of 3
Why: People run out of coffee - it's not a pretty scene - and 3 packs for $23 gets you from no-coffee to coffee in 2 days, which, when you're out of coffee, is the most important thing in the world.
Other things most-ordered via Alexa voice include (in no particular order):
- Amazon Elements Magnesium Oxide 400mg
- Wickedly Prime Organic Black Full-Leaf Tea, Pu'erh
- Amazon Elements Melatonin 3mg
- An Amazon Brand - Presto! Biobased All-Purpose Cleaner (3 pack)
- Amazon Elements Women’s One Daily Multivitamin, 59% Whole Food Cultured, Vegan, 65 Tablets
