Amazon and Best Buy are often thought of as competitors, but the two companies seem to have found some benefits to working together.
Today Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos tweeted about a new Alexa skill that lets users locate and shop Best Buy deals through the voice assistant.
Congrats to the @BestBuy team on their new Alexa skill. Customers can now find and shop Best Buy deals on Alexa. Nice! pic.twitter.com/wWuvIkvgD1
— Jeff Bezos (@JeffBezos) November 3, 2017
Best Buy said in a press release that the Alexa skill, which features a tailored list of recommendations taken from Best Buy’s catalog of laptops and TVs, is just the beginning of its plans for voice-based shopping.
This isn’t the first tie-in between Amazon and Best Buy. This summer, Best Buy began dedicating parts of more than 700 stores to showcase the abilities of smart speakers like the Amazon Echo and Google Home. Best Buy also has a relationship with Google and the Home speaker, with the ability to let users hear sales, learn more about various products, and find their nearby store via the Google Assistant.
Best Buy, which has an office in Seattle, has thrived as the transition to e-commerce has hamstrung other retailers, forcing them to close big chunks of stores. In its last quarterly report, Best Buy reported record online shopping revenue, fueled by its move to make the in-store and online shopping experiences complementary.
The company says it is focused on giving consumer more choices for how to shop its merchandise, whether it is in-store, online and now through voice commands. Best Buy is beefing up its logistics as well, recently announcing plans for free shipping on all items for the holiday season and expanding the number of cities eligible for same-day delivery.
