Amazon invented the "smart speaker" telegram database market in 2015 with the Echo, coupled with their new personal assistant technology, Alexa. Today, they still possess an overwhelming lead in market share, capturing more than 2.5x that of Google Nest and nearly 10x that of Apple's HomePod.
Amazon's smart speakers changed the competitive landscape, giving Amazon direct access to customers in a way similar to mobile devices.
Today, consumers can easily ask Alexa to purchase any number of products, from toilet paper to headphones. Additionally, it acts as another channel for a number of Amazon owned services, including Audible and Amazon Music.
The key lesson is establishing a direct touchpoint with customers. The good news is you don't have to create a whole new product category to do so.
What new channels and touchpoints can you create with customers? Is it a direct, ongoing relationship? Can you continually educate, and motivate new and past customers.
One fantastic example is Lego. Their Youtube channel has gained 6M+ subscribers, with videos regularly receiving 500,000 - 1M views. Each video promotes the lego universe, or celebrates a new product coming out. It's one of the best examples of retention marketing I've seen.
3. Leveraging channel dominance to build an ecosystem of products
Once you establish a channel, what should you do next? Your omnichannel strategy needs to extend beyond first contact. In Amazon's case, the Echo was a beachhead. It opened the door for Amazon to not only sell through voice, but create a whole new category of products to lead in.
The Echo speaker line was really an introduction to Alexa, a new way to engage with Amazon.
Amazon began expanding Alexa's capabilities in two ways. First, they allowed other hardware manufactures to use Alexa in their own products via skills. Second, Amazon invested itself in other form factors.