ChannelAdvisor, a provider of ecommerce related services for customers large and small around the world, has been a disruptor of online shopping since its launch more than a decade ago. Now, the Triangle firm is embracing a disruptor itself: Amazon’s Alexa.
Can your business learn from ChannelAdvisor’s experiment?
“The Alexa technology is disrupting everything from banking to how we consume news — so naturally, we wanted in on it,” writes ChannelAdvisor’s Anna Torres in a blog posted on Wednesday – a day before one of the biggest weekends of the year for the company and its customers.
“Alexa is Amazon’s voice-controlled virtual assistant housed within a growing collection of smart devices that are gaining ground in the consumer market at an exponential rate,” she notes. “Most people know her via Amazon’s Echo devices, which have flown off the digital shelves since debuting two years ago.”
So how is ChannelAdvisor (NYSE: ECOM) embracing Alexa and why should its customers be interested?
Torres notes that by tying in with Alexa ChannelAdvisor customers can quickly access ChannelAdvisor blogs about what’s happening in the online sales world.
“Here at ChannelAdvisor, we strive to be on the cutting edge of the newest technology, which is why we’re excited to present our blog content in a completely new way,” she writes.
The ChannelAdvisor “skill” for Alexa allows customers to “ask ChannelAdvisor for summaries of our latest blogs.”
she writes.
Here’s how the process works, according to Torres:
Step 1: Download the Alexa app on your smartphone or tablet
Step 2: Login with your Amazon account. Note: You must have an Amazon.com account to use your Echo device
Step 3: Search for “ChannelAdvisor E-Commerce Blog” in the skills
Step 4: Select the skill and click Enable Skill
Step 5: You’re ready to go! Just say the phrase “Alexa, launch ChannelAdvisor,” sit back, relax and get caught up on the latest from industry experts.
ChannelAdvisor wants feedback on this experiment. Is it worthwhile?
“The Alexa technology, while exciting, is still unchartered territory for us,” Torres says. “We’re constantly looking for ways to improve, and we can’t do it without your feedback. Please send any comments, questions and ideas to marketing@channeladvisor.com”
[Note: If your business is trying out Alexa, let WRAL TechWire know. Send a note to: rsmith@wral.com]
