Reordering Products Is Now A Voice Command Away With Amazon's Know-It-All Echo Speaker

Amazon is in the business of making us spend money. The online retail giant knows that we humans are an impatient bunch, so it should be no surprise that Amazon Prime gives customers a value-laced solution to receive products quickly all year long (not to mention the added perks like video streaming, music streaming, and cloud storage).

Amazon has even appealed to shoppers with itchy trigger fingers with its new Wi-Fi-enabled “Dash” buttons that allow you to reorder household goods like razors, detergent, diapers, and more with the press of a single button. But this is Amazon we’re talking about; surely there an even easier way for you to part ways with your money.There is, of course, and Amazon is using its new Echo platform to make product reordering even simpler.

Echo users can now speak a command and have products reordered without lifting a single finger. As Amazon explains, “Just say ‘Alexa re-order laundry detergent’ — Echo will search your order history and can order the item for you using your default payment and shipping settings. If Echo can’t find the requested items your order history, it will suggest an item for you approval using Amazon’s Choice, which picks highly-rated, well-priced, Prime products.”

This voice-based reordering system is just the latest weapon in Echo’s growing arsenal. Besides its primary function as a speaker, Echo can stream Pandora music, control your WeMo and Philips Hue home automation devices in addition to providing traffic information, sports scores, and weather information — all commanded via the sound your voice.

As nice as Echo… sounds… the $199 device is hard to come by these days. Amazon allowed select Prime members to purchase the Echo at half price ($99) starting in early November. Some invitees are still waiting to receive their Echo speakers, and there’s no telling Amazon will rollout a full-scale launch for all customers.