One of the phenomena observed in the digital world in recent years is the rise of audio formats. Podcast platforms, for example, already account for a considerable amount of content consumption.
Taking advantage of this strong trend, Amazon Pay, the payment system of the giant platform, is adding to the audio formats by introducing its order notifications via Alexa, its voice assistant. Considering the current demands of shoppers, voice delivery notifications come at the best time.
The user demands an increasingly flexible online experience, making it easier for them to both pay and spend their time as they see fit. Thus, voice notifications translate into benefits for sellers by:
They offer shoppers more dynamic experiences that respond to their needs.
Customer service costs are reduced, as receiving personalised notifications means there is no need for constant order tracking.
How to do voice order notifications
They consist of two stages, the first of which corresponds to when the product is in delivery, and the second when it has been delivered. The way the interface works is simple: when the order is in delivery and the notification is sent, the colour of the Alexa ring will turn yellow, or a new notification will be displayed on the screen.
The same happens when the product has been delivered to the indicated address, and the customer automatically receives the notification, without the need to create a password. In any case, the reception of the notification will depend on how the customer has programmed his preferences in Alexa.
To communicate the notification of a delivery order, Alexa will say the following: “New Amazon Pay notification. A shipment from <your store> is scheduled for delivery on <date>”. And the delivery of the order will be communicated as follows: “New Amazon Pay notification.” A shipment from <your store> has been delivered”.
The implementation of in-store notifications
Currently access to this notification service is available for Magento1, Magento2 and any custom Amazon Pay integration. Let’s take a look at how:
Magento 1
1. Install or update the Amazon Pay extension for Europe.
2. Change “Yes”, the “Enable Delivery Tracking” field in the “Alexa Delivery Tracker” section. Generate the necessary keys in the appropriate fields.
3. The “contact” option can be used to receive the “Public Key Identifier” from Amazon Pay.
4. Once the plugin is activated, every time the shipping details are entered for an Amazon Pay order, Alexa delivery notifications will be triggered.
Magento 2
1. Download and install the Amazon Pay Alexa plugin available here.
2. Follow the steps in the installation guide to configure the plugin.
3. When the plugin is active, each time shipping details are entered for an Amazon Pay order, Alexa shipping notifications will be triggered.
Custom integration
In order to access these notifications, the Amazon Pay Delivery Tracker API for shipping tracking is required. Although it is a native API of the system, it can be used from any Amazon Pay-enabled device.
To integrate the API into a shop that meets the above requirements, you need to do the following:
1.Open Command Prompt or Terminal and generate in one go a private and public key pair through the following commands:
> openssl genrsa -out <directory path>/<private key file name>.pem 2048
> openssl rsa -in <directory path>/<private key file name>.pem -pubout > <directory path>/<public key file name>.pub
2. Generate the Public Key ID, which is obtained by providing the Merchant ID and the public key created in the previous step to Amazon Pay, via email to amazon-pay-delivery-notifications@amazon.com.
To protect the security of the account, Amazon Pay will send an email with the Public Key ID to the associated address in your Seller Central account. The Public Key ID will be available in the Seller Central account within 1-2 business days.
3. Proceed to sign all requests made to the Delivery Tracking API with the private key.
4. Include the public key ID in the authorisation header of all requests made to the Delivery Tracking API.