You have probably heard about Amazon’s latest electronic device – Amazon Echo. The smart speaker is like a mixture between Apple’s personal assistant Siri and the hi-tech Sonos speakers. The gadget offers some amazing features, like answering questions via the web or storing shopping lists that were dictated to it on the cloud. The only problem is that Amazon Echo will be available for a quite exclusive group of consumers.
If you head to Amazon’s website and attempt to order its smart speaker, you will see that it is available on invitation-only basis. Shoppers are currently not able to order or even to pre-order the interactive speaker. Instead, they can only “request an invitation to purchase it.” Those who do ask Amazon for an invite for its new exclusive product, get a message telling them that they will get their request “if selected.”
That leaves many questions open. On what basis will consumers be selected? How many invitations does Amazon plan to send out? Even the release date of Amazon Echo is a mystery. Although the online retailer states that it will send its invites in the coming weeks, there is no information on the device’s official launch.
Most technology companies rely on the invitation-only strategy when they release new software or services. For instance, last year, when Google debuted the improved version of Google Maps, it required consumers to request an invitation in order to try out the updated service. A couple of weeks ago, Google followed the same strategy for its Inbox email service. Therefore, Amazon’s decision to sell its smart speaker through invitations is quite unusual.
Another exclusive characteristic of Amazon Echo is its pricing. The regular price of the gadget is $199. However, Amazon Prime members can get it for half that price – $99.
Nevertheless, if you dig deep enough, you may be able to see the logic here. Amazon Prime is a service designed for consumers who regularly shop from Amazon.com. In other words, Amazon Prime member tend to order more products from the biggest online retailer than anyone else. If they purchase Amazon Echo, they are likely to shop even more, because they will be able to order from Amazon.com through a simply voice command.
It is not clear whether Amazon Echo will continue to be available on an invitation-only basis. But for now it remains one very exclusive product.
