Amazon has added an “Update Me When” feature to Alexa for Shopping that lets people subscribe to alerts about new products and entertainment releases. A user can ask to hear when a favored brand unveils a product line, an artist announces a tour, an author publishes a book or a television season becomes available.
The feature moves Alexa beyond answering shopping questions at the moment a customer asks. For now, people must deliberately configure each alert. Amazon has not said that it will create subscriptions automatically, although the proactive format gives the company another way to prompt a purchase before a shopper begins searching.
Update Me When joins existing Alexa tools that track prices and discounts, assemble carts from previous purchases, compare products and summarize product pages. Price tracking can optionally buy an item automatically when it reaches a chosen threshold. The new alert is broader because the triggering event may be a launch or announcement rather than a price change. Its usefulness will depend on whether users can keep notifications selective; poorly targeted alerts would turn a convenience into another stream of advertising-like interruptions.