Alexa Learns A New Skill – Ordering Millions Of Items Off Amazon

Alexa, the voice-activated assistant for Amazon’s Echo, got mad skills, yo.

Literally.

Amazon revealed last week that Alexa has now learned more than 1,400 skills, everything from ordering Ubers to helping you organize a new playlist for the gym.

Now you can add another skill to Alexa’s exponentially growing list: the virtual assistant can now be used to orders millions of items from Amazon itself, anything from batteries to deodorant, according to CNET.

All you need to do is ask.

Example: “Alexa, order Energizer batteries.”

And, viola, your batteries are on their way courtesy of Amazon.

Previously, Alexa was limited to reordering items a user had already purchased from Amazon through a service called Amazon Choice, but now those restrictions are off and Alexa can pretty much order you anything on the site, provided the item is Prime eligible for shipping (more items are being added to the list every day).

It’s yet another inducement to spend that $99 every year on a Prime membership. Soon, as Amazon no doubt hopes, all the world will have a Prime membership (insert sinister laugh here).

There are some items not eligible for an Alexa purchase, however, and those include Amazon Fresh, Amazon Prime Pantry, Amazon Prime Now, shoes, apparel, watches and jewelry.

If the item is not Prime eligible, Alexa will suggest similar products that can be shipped through Prime.

The Echo and Alexa have been a big hit for the massive online retailer and have helped Amazon make millions of homes more connected and convenient, but there is competition on the horizon, CNET notes.

Google is set to release its own version, Google Home, later this year, and Apple is also rumored to be working on a similar device.

It should be interesting to watch if Alexa and the Echo can gain enough traction with consumers before those products hit the market to dominate the field.