Bengaluru: Amazon’s Alexa, the digital voice assistant turned three in India on Monday and to celebrate the occasion, Amazon India revealed that customer interactions with the assistant increased 67 per cent in 2020. The company also added that customers interacted with Alexa for different things like playing music, setting alarms, controlling smart lights and appliances, real-time updates on cricket scores, and other real-time info.
Sharing other insights from the Indian market, Amazon added that customers in India expressed their love around 19,000 times a day by saying “Alexa, I love you”. There were also 6000 requests per day asking Alexa ‘Will you marry me’. Requests for a ‘joke’ was made around 9000 times per day and there were also 19,000 requests per day asking Alexa to ‘kahani sunao‘ or tell a story.
More customers in non-metro cities brought home an Echo device, accounting for over 50 per cent of India’s Alexa users.
“Alexa users spanned the corners of the country and came in equal numbers from metros like Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore as well as smaller cities like Spiti, Bundi, and Gadchiroli. Customers from over 85% pin codes purchased Echo smart speakers in 2020,” the company said in a statement.
“Be it the Echo device in the living room, 100+ Alexa built-in devices or your favourite smartphone, it is heart-warming to see users across the length and breadth of the country across age groups find value and adopt Alexa in their daily lives. For us, it is always Day 1 as we learn from our customers and continue to add new features, improving Alexa’s understanding on topics that matter to users locally,” Puneesh Kumar, Country Leader for Alexa, Amazon India.
Customers from over 85 per cent pin codes purchased Echo smart speakers in 2020. On Alexa’s third anniversary, Amazon said it will make the digital assistant affordable, more accessible for customers looking to welcome the voice service in their homes.
“Starting 12 midnight on February 15, for 24 hours, sellers on Amazon.in will have blockbuster offers on best-selling Echo Devices, attractive smart home bundles and more. Customers can also shop from a curation of smart-home accessories from some of India’s biggest consumer electronic brands,” the company announced.
Leading smartphone brands in India now offer Alexa built-in phones. Currently, there are six smartphones including Redmi Note 9 Pro and OnePlus Nord that offer built-in Alexa. In 2020, Alexa debuted on the Amazon Shopping App (Android only) and responded to over 5.8 Lakh requests every day to search for products, best deals, and music.
(With IANS inputs)