| February 16, 2017
As of today, Google Home allows you to shop via voice. The execution is really similar to Amazon Alexa, though you’ll be shopping directly through retailers instead of buying goods from Amazon. It also only supports household basic food items and household goods for now, like soaps, paper towels and other necessities.
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It’s super easy to get started, so here’s how.
- Open Google Home on your iPhone or Android smartphone.
- Tap the “hamburger” icon on the top-left of the screen, then tap “more settings.”
- Toggle “personal results” to on. It might already be on!
- Tap “Payments” and accept the terms of service.
- Follow the steps to enter a credit card and address (You should be able to pick from pre-saved options.)
- On the next screen, you’ll see that “Shared devices” has your Google Home unit as an option. Make sure that’s toggled to “on.”
You’re all set at that point. Now you just need to speak a command. Here’s how that process works:
- Say something like “Ok Google order bath soap.”
- Google will scan through its Google Express partners (Costco, Target Petsmart, etc.)
- Google will present you with available items. In the case of soaps, I had the choice between Irish Spring Bars or Kirkland soap bars from Costco. Google provides the price with each item, and you can say yes to buy or no to skip.
- That’s all there is it to it!
Keep in mind there are a few caveats. Google only allows you to buy goods between $4 and $100 right now. Also, once you order something and it’s “prepared for delivery,” Google says you can’t cancel it. Management of your orders can be done within the Google Home app. Enjoy!
