Recommend Products with Alexa Shopping Kit


With Alexa Shopping Kit, you can create a shopping experience within your Alexa skill by recommending products from the Amazon retail website. Customers can buy the recommended item or add it to their Amazon Shopping Cart or Wish List without leaving the skill. For example, your role-playing skill might offer the customer the opportunity to buy the corresponding board game.

Customers pay for products by using the Cart and payment options associated with their Amazon account. You can recommend your own products or products from other sellers on Amazon. And, with Amazon Associates for Alexa, you can earn commission on product purchases.

To embed a shopping experience within your custom skill, you use Alexa Shopping Actions.

What are Shopping Actions?

You design your skill to place product recommendations at relevant points in the skill session. If a customer expresses interest in the product, you delegate the dialog to Alexa to guide the user through the shopping action. Alexa presents the product details, including product title, price, and delivery estimates, asks for confirmation, and then invokes the requested action.

To start the action, your skill uses skill connections to invoke the shopping flow associated with the action.

Alexa shopping supports the following actions:

  • Add the product to the customer's Cart. The customer can review the item later by visiting the Amazon retail website; they don't make the purchasing decision during the skill session.
  • Add the product to one of the customer's lists, such as the Amazon Wish List. The customer can share their list with friends by visiting the Amazon retail website; they don't make a purchasing decision during the skill session.
  • Buy the recommended product. The purchasing workflow incorporates various checks, including valid payment type, delivery address, and voice PIN authorization associated with the customer's Amazon account.
  • Recommend one or more products. The customer can hear details about the products, and then decide to add the products to their Cart, buy the products, or return to the skill.

What does the voice shopping flow look like?

When a customer buys a physical product during a skill session, the presentation of the product, price, and delivery estimates are like the Cart check-out experience on the Amazon retail website. Alexa Shopping Actions support voice code authorization and voice profile authorization, where applicable.

The following table shows the steps in an example voice shopping flow, where the customer buys a physical product on Amazon. The example shows the handover from the skill to the Alexa Shopping flow, and control returned to the skill after the shopping flow completes. You can alter the dialog for the skill, but Amazon controls the dialog for Alexa Shopping. For more example voice shopping flows, see Design the Product Recommendation.

Step State Actor Speaker Buy the recommended product

1

Product recommendation

Skill

Alexa

"You've strayed far from your bonfire. You can unlock more of the story with the companion comic.
Want to learn how to buy the comic book on Amazon?"

2

Customer response

Skill

Customer

"Yes"

3

Follow-up action

Skill

N/A

<Passes control to Alexa Shopping>

4

Offer presentation

Alexa Shopping

Alexa

"Here are the product details from Amazon. Your purchase includes an interactive narrative comic, the print version. The total, including VAT, is twelve pounds."

5

Confirmation

Alexa Shopping

Alexa

"Would you like to buy it?"

6

Customer response

Alexa Shopping

Customer

"Yes"

7

Acknowledgment

Alexa Shopping

Alexa

"Order placed."

8

Relay control

Alexa Shopping

Alexa

<Passes control to the skill with the action status>

9

Follow-up action

Skill

Alexa

"Now that you placed your order, would you like to continue playing?"

Step State Actor Speaker Buy the recommended product

1

Product recommendation

Skill

Alexa

"You've strayed far from your bonfire. You can unlock more of the story with the companion comic.
Want to learn how to buy the comic book on Amazon?"

2

Customer response

Skill

Customer

"Yes"

3

Follow-up action

Skill

N/A

<Passes control to Alexa Shopping>

4

Offer presentation

Alexa Shopping

Alexa

"Here are the product details from Amazon. Your purchase includes an interactive narrative comic, the print version. The total, including tax and shipping, is twelve dollars and four cents."

5

Confirmation

Alexa Shopping

Alexa

"Would you like to buy it?"

6

Customer response

Alexa Shopping

Customer

"Yes"

7

Acknowledgment

Alexa Shopping

Alexa

"Order placed."

8

Relay control

Alexa Shopping

Alexa

<Passes control to the skill with the action status>

9

Follow-up action

Skill

Alexa

"Now that you placed your order, would you like to continue playing?"

Step State Actor Speaker Buy the recommended product

1

Product recommendation

Skill

Alexa

ところでダーク・ソウルの小説では更なるストーリーを体験できます。こちらの商品に興味ありますか?

2

Customer response

Skill

Customer

はい

3

Follow-up action

Skill

N/A

<Passes control to Alexa Shopping>

4

Offer presentation

Alexa Shopping

Alexa

はい、こちらの商品は「ダーク・ソウル 小説」が含まれます。税込みの合計金額は1,200円です。

5

Confirmation

Alexa Shopping

Alexa

購入しますか?

6

Customer response

Alexa Shopping

Customer

はい

7

Acknowledgement

Alexa Shopping

Alexa

注文が送信されました。合計金額は1,200円です。これは税込みの金額です。6月22日お届けの予定です。

8

Relay control

Alexa Shopping

Alexa

<Passes control to the skill with the action status>

9

Follow-up action

Skill

Alexa

それでは商品が届くまで、新しいストーリーを選んで遊びますか?

Availability

Alexa Shopping Actions are available in multiple locales and Alexa-enabled devices.

Locales

You can use Shopping Actions in custom skills in the following locales and languages.

Locale code Language

de-DE

German (DE)

en-AU

English (AU)

en-CA

English (CA)

en-GB

English (UK)

en-IN

English (IN)

en-US

English (US)

es-ES

Spanish (ES)

es-MX

Spanish (MX)

es-US

Spanish (US)

fr-CA

French (CA)

fr-FR

French (FR)

hi-IN

Hindi (IN)

it-IT

Italian (IT)

ja-JP

Japanese (JP)

pt-BR

Portuguese (BR)

To embed Alexa shopping in your skill, Amazon requires that you certify and publish your skill in each of your chosen locales. For details, see Develop Skills in Multiple Languages and Define Skill Store Details and Availability.

Alexa-enabled device support

The following Alexa-enabled devices support Alexa shopping:

  • Echo (all models)
  • Echo Dot (all models)
  • Echo Show (all models)
  • Echo Spot
  • Fire TV

Restrictions

The following restrictions apply to skills that use Alexa Shopping Kit:

  • To use Alexa shopping in your skill, customers must enable voice purchasing in the Alexa app.
  • You can't use Alexa Shopping Actions in child-directed skills.
  • You can't use Alexa Shopping Actions in Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) skills.

The following products on the Amazon retail website aren't eligible for Alexa Shopping Actions:

  • Prime Pantry.
  • Subscriptions.
  • Products with customization features, such as t-shirt sizes or a subscription option.
  • Grocery and consumable products from subsidiaries, such as Whole Foods and Prime Now.
  • Video and e-gift cards.
  • In-skill purchasing products.
  • Products with age restrictions, alcohol, or explicit content might not be available in all locales.
  • Digital products, such as ebooks.

Prerequisites

To use Alexa Shopping Actions, your skill must comply with the following prerequisites:

How to add Alexa Shopping Actions to your skill

Use the following workflow to help guide you through the process to implement and publish a skill that includes Alexa Shopping Actions.

For answers to frequently asked questions about shopping, see Alexa Shopping Actions FAQ.

Earn money with Amazon Associates on Alexa

With Amazon Associates on Alexa, Amazon's affiliate marketing program, you can recommend products to your customers and earn commission from qualifying purchases. When you include your Associated ID in the shopping action, Alexa attributes the purchase to your account. Live custom skills that include Alexa Shopping Actions can join the Amazon Associates on Alexa program. For more details about the benefits of the program, see Amazon Associates Resource Center.

To join the Amazon Associates on Alexa program, register for Amazon Associates on Alexa. Before you join, you must certify and publish your skill at least one time.


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Last updated: Nov 23, 2023