The Dishwasher Pro Amazon Skill is a must-have in the kitchen, providing easy tips on how to clean and maintain dishwashers, as well as how to ensure sparkling dishes every time. This innovative skill features an additional Add-to-Cart functionality that Vixen Labs was invited to try out by Amazon, enabling users to seamlessly add recommended Finish products straight to their Amazon Shopping cart.
DISHWASHERS 101: MAKING THIS WORK
Finish is a brand on a mission, determined to put an end to water waste and support households with cutting-edge solutions. Due to the pandemic, people are spending more time at home than ever, and with the recent rise in voice technology adoption in households, it’s no surprise that a skill proved the best way to support the brand agenda.
Though dishwashers are commonplace appliances, owners know surprisingly little about how to properly use and clean them. Whether it’s figuring out which dishes go where, or selecting the right product for the job, using dishwashers can get frustrating. But doing it right can save water, money, and time.
The challenge: how can we provide help in a way that’s more accessible to our users than flipping through a manual or ringing up customer support?
Enter Vixen Labs.
GIVING FINISH A VOICE, AND CUSTOMERS A HELPING HAND
As Reckitt’s voice partner, we were excited to tackle the challenge. Taking into consideration their brand purpose, ‘Easing the Burden of Dishwashing’, voice offered an intuitive and exciting way for Finish to directly support consumers while demonstrating their commitment to pushing technological boundaries.
Our research in the Voice Consumer Index 2021 showed that nearly a third of consumers across all age groups used voice assistants daily, with nearly half using them weekly. It also showed that usage was highest in the home, revealing a clear opportunity to connect with Finish users where they needed help the most.
ERASING PAIN POINTS WITH VOICE
Starting with a strategic learning phase focused on audience needs, we set out to create a skill that would cover two primary aims: to reinforce the Finish brand as a modern, technology-savvy brand; and to act as a convenient diagnostic and shopping tool for their target audience.
Working collaboratively with Finish, we settled on a set of features that could bring their dishwasher expertise and brand tone of voice into the home.
With an outline in place, Vixen Labs took the lead and began the Voice User Experience (VUX) design. Rather than building a platform for users to ask questions, we identified the most common dishwasher issues and created a journey that guided users to the right solution.
“WITH THE DISHWASHER PRO SKILL, WE WANTED TO HELP FINISH CUSTOMERS GET THE BEST RESULTS FROM THEIR DISHWASHER EVERY TIME.”
“We were excited to use the latest voice technology to create an experience that could seamlessly diagnose user issues and help them order the products they need for the sparkling dishes they deserve”, said Owen Renault, Global Brand Experience Lead, Reckitt.
By simplifying the diagnostic process, the skill provided the most streamlined route from problem to resolution. We also saw an opportunity to include an additional Add-to-Basket functionality, allowing users to start an order directly in the skill. This would be a significant leap forward in providing a truly seamless experience. Not only was this skill proposing solutions, it was actually helping consumers implement them.
We were able to build this Add-to-Basket feature using Amazon’s First Party Shopping Beta. Though officially a closed Beta, Vixen Labs was invited to be one of the first companies to have access to this functionality, thanks to our strong direct relationship with Amazon. This was a particularly exciting development when considering the learnings from our Voice Consumer Index 2021, in which we found that over 40% of voice users were either already using voice to make purchases, or were likely to do so.
SEAMLESS SERVICE AND INVALUABLE INSIGHTS
The skill provides:
- a seamless diagnostic and shopping experience
- a window into the motivations and needs of consumers
- analytics that will inform Finish’s future brand strategy.
How are people finding it:
- 59% of those who interacted with the product information section used the Add-to-Basket feature
- The experience leaves Finish buyers feeling supported by a technology-driven, boundary-pushing brand.
Dishwasher Pro is the perfect confluence of customer care, convenience, and contextual marketing that voice unites into an intuitive interface that works for everyone.
“ALEXA, OPEN DISHWASHER PRO.”
Whether you’re struggling to get sparkling dishes, or you’re just interested in seeing what voice might look like for your brand, try out the Finish Dishwasher Pro skill for yourself. Available only in the US.
