Alexa for Shopping starts watching the web and pinging shoppers first

Amazon switched on “Update Me When” on Tuesday. Alexa for Shopping sends a notification when a product, show, book, or tour that a shopper follows goes live.

The assistant scans the web as well as Amazon’s catalog

Amazon announced the feature the same day as a batch of other shopping tools.

The assistant mostly waited for the user to ask, but the new alerts changed that. The software watches on its own and speaks first.

Rajiv Mehta, Amazon’s vice president of conversational shopping, wrote the company’s description.

The virtual assistant searches Amazon’s catalog and the web for relevant items and then sends a personalized alert, according to Mehta.

When a brand starts a new line, an author publishes their next book, a musician announces a tour, or a gadget maker sets a ship date, an alert goes off.

Shoppers set the alerts by asking in the Amazon Shopping app or on Amazon.

Examples from the company include “Update me when Reacher Season 5 drops on Prime Video,” “Update me when a new Kindle releases” and a request to be notified when cooperative board games for four or more players arrive at the store.

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