Shopping with Alexa: Just over a quarter (26%) of US consumers own a voice-enabled device, like an Amazon Echo or Google Home, according to data from TSYS. The most popular uses were asking questions (83%), music and entertainment (80%), and getting news and information (77%). Shopping was a less common activity, though close to half said they did it. Roughly 60% of speaker owners indicated they would use a virtual assistant to purchase or make payments if they could, and 76% of those ages 25 to 44 wanted to do so.
Amazon Lockers: "Microvisits," those between three to five minutes in duration, have gone up 11% in Whole Foods Market stores where Amazon Lockers have been installed, according to inMarket data cited by Reuters. This alternative to home delivery is only available at roughly 16% of all Whole Foods locations. Around 6.5% of visits to Whole Foods can be categorized as micro, which is less than the average (9.0%) for grocery stores overall. These short shopping trips matter, since they are ripe for impulse purchasing.