Amazon Echo Dot CREDIT Guillermo Fernandes Flickr

Amazon Alexa can be used with the Amazon Echo Dot 
Photo: Flickr/Guillermo Fernandes

Morrisons has joined Tesco and Ocado in allowing its customers to place orders via digital personal assistant Amazon Alexa.

Shoppers can now order their fresh produce and other groceries from the retailer using voice commands, and the Morrisons ordering app will suggest items based on a customer’s previous shops.

Consumers will also be able to ask Alexa to edit their order; ask if their delivery is on time; or check their basket to see if an item has been requested.

The service will be particularly helpful for top-up shops, when consumers find they’ve run out of a particular item.

It will also be a useful tool for disabled customers or those on the move, Morrisons said. BMW recently announced that Alexa would be installed in its new cars from next year.

To access the service, customers will need to activate the Morrisons app, or ‘skill’, available on devices with Amazon Alexa such as the Amazon Echo, Echo Dot or Amazon Tap.

Morrisons is not the first UK retailer to integrate its online orders with Alexa. In April Tesco teamed up with task-managing service IFTTT to allow customers to automatically add items to their basket in certain scenarios, such as when prices drop or when there is good weather.

In August Ocado followed suit, launching its own app for use with Alexa. It offers the same service that Morrisons now provides.