Getting The Most From Alexa: How To Do Shopping Lists

Increasing numbers of people have an Alexa device in their houses. Amazon’s Echo Dot devices offer audio and voice command options whilst Echo Show incorporates screens which can be handy when you need a ‘show and tell’.

Asking Alexa to give you a weather forecast, play some music or tell you what’s on at the local cinema when you’re at home are obvious uses, but what about when you are off to buy your groceries? That’s where Alexa’s shopping list feature comes in.

First of all, and this may seem obvious, you’ll need to load the Alexa app for Android or IOS (iPhone) on your mobile phone and remember to take your phone to the shops with you or else all your diligence in preparing a shopping list in advance will be wasted.

The next thing you need to do is log into the app with your usual Amazon account. Now you’re ready!

Creating Shopping Lists

To create your list give Alexa the following voice command:

“Alexa, create a list.”

Alexa will then ask you what you want the list to be called, so you could say:

“Groceries.”

You will get a vocal confirmation that the list has been created and you will be asked if you want to add anything to the list.  

It may be handy to create multiple lists if, say, you intend to go to a supermarket to buy groceries and then go to a DIY store to buy some tools. If you need a new list, simply ask Alexa to create a list again and give it a different name to your first one.

Adding Items To Your Shopping List

Adding to the list is a simple matter of naming what you want and which list to add it to.

“Alexa, add apples to Groceries.”

“Alexa, add nails to DIY store.”

If you want to add multiple items to the same list, leave a pause between each item or use the word ‘and’ to separate items.

“Alexa, add nails…dustpan…wallpaper to DIY store.”

“Alexa, add milk and bread and eggs to groceries.”

Deleting Items From Your Shopping List

In order to remove items from your lists you can give one of several commands.

“Alexa, delete bananas from groceries.”

“Alexa, remove wallpaper from DIY store.”

Retrieving Your Shopping List

Now you’ve created your list it’s time to head for the shops. Remember you must have installed the Alexa app on your phone and logged into your Amazon account first. You will also need to open the app to enable Alexa to listen for your commands.

To retrieve your list using voice commands you will need to ask what’s on the list, giving the name you created for your list earlier.

“Alexa, what’s on groceries?”

Alexa will tell you how many items you have on your list and read out the first five of them.  Should you prefer not to give voice commands and hear audio in a public place you can retrieve your list directly from the app. If you created the list recently then you will likely find it listed directly on the home screen of the Alexa app under ‘Activity’, otherwise you should follow these steps:

1. Click the ‘More’ option on the bottom right of the screen.
2. Select ‘Lists & Notes’.
3. Select the list you need from the ‘My Lists’ section of the screen.

If you want to update your list as you go, repeating the voice command steps to remove items will put a completed tick against each so that, when you ask for the list to be read to you again, the total number of items will be fewer and Alexa will read out the first five items yet to be completed.

For those using the app, simply tapping next to the item will put a check against it and it will move to the ‘Completed’ section of the screen.

If you don’t want to update the list as you shop, but clear it all in one go at the end, the command to use is:

“Alexa, clear Groceries.”

Deleting Shopping Lists

Once you’ve done your shopping you may want to retain the empty list if you plan to use it again but you may want to remove it all together. To delete lists with a voice command ask:

“Alexa, delete Groceries.”

If items remain uncompleted on the list you have asked to be deleted, Alexa will give you the number of items and ask if you are sure that you want the list removed.