Prime Day is here, and if you're anything like me, you've probably spent previous sales frantically refreshing product pages, checking price trackers and wondering whether that "limited-time deal" is actually worth buying.
This year, I'm letting Alexa+ do some of the work. As a mom of three, I'm using Prime Day to shop for deals and even find back-to-school items at lower prices. It's never too early to start shopping for the fall.
And while most people may think of Alexa as just a smart speaker for assisting with your smart home, it has a surprisingly useful shopping feature that can alert you when products you're already interested in go on sale. If you're planning to shop Prime Day, setting it up now could help you catch discounts before they disappear.
Here's how it works
One of Alexa's most useful shopping features is the ability to monitor products you've viewed, saved to a wish list or added to your Amazon cart.
When an item receives a price drop, becomes part of a Prime Day promotion or qualifies for a limited-time deal, Alexa can send a notification to compatible Echo devices and the Alexa app.
Instead of manually checking prices throughout the day, you can let Amazon's assistant keep watch for you.
Start by setting up Alexa deal alerts
Setting up deal notifications only takes a minute.
Open the Alexa app. Tap More. Select Settings. Tap Notifications. Choose Amazon Shopping.
Enable shopping recommendations and deal notifications. Once activated, Alexa can notify you when products in your shopping lists, saved items or cart receive discounts.
Build your Prime Day watch list now
The trick is to prepare before Prime Day begins. Don't worry, you still have a few hours. Start browsing Amazon and add products you're genuinely considering to:
- Your Wish List
- Save for Later
- Your Shopping Cart
This creates a personalized watch list that Alexa can monitor automatically. For instance, if you're eyeing a robot vacuum, air fryer or pair of noise-canceling headphones finally gets a meaningful discount, you'll know about it without ever checking Amazon.
You can also actively check for promotions using voice commands.
Try asking:
- "Alexa, what are my deals?"
- "Alexa, what are today's deals?"
- "Alexa, what Prime Day deals do you recommend?"
- "Alexa, find deals on smart home devices."
- "Alexa, what electronics are on sale?"
I can't promise that everything on your list will be part of Prime Day deals, but it is a great way to surface current promotions. Which reminds me, although Alexa is excellent at finding Amazon deals, it's not as good as at finding the lowest price across the entire internet.
A product that appears to be heavily discounted on Prime Day may still be cheaper elsewhere. That's why I still recommend checking price history tools and comparing prices with other retailers before buying. Consider Alexa a personal shopping assistant, but not the ultimate bargain hunter.
This is the only way I do Prime Day now
I have missed way too many Prime Day deals to not rely on Alexa this time. These deals move fast, especially on popular products. I don't have time to spend the next day glued to my phone watching deals. I'd rather have Alexa notify me when something I've already researched drops to a price worth paying.
It takes less than a minute to enable, costs nothing extra and could save you from missing the deal you've been waiting for all year. If you're planning to shop Prime Day, this is one Alexa feature worth turning on today.
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