Alexa can now place your Panera delivery order for you

Amazon is making it easier to order your favorite mac and cheese through your Echo Show with a simple, “Alexa, order Panera.” Amazon announced that Panera is the first to use the updated Alexa Food Skills API, giving MyPanera members the ability to quickly order takeout or delivery.

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Mark Yoshitake, director of Alexa Skills, explains that the updated Alexa Food Skills API “incorporates state-of-the-art techniques in conversational Al to make the ordering process through Alexa more intuitive.” 

The goal is to give customers a smoother ordering experience in which they don't have to reach for their phone or open an app. Panera worked with Amazon to have Alexa learn its menu to optimize the ordering process.

Though customers can already order some food through Alexa by enabling specific skills that open the application for different restaurants, the use of the Amazon Food Skill API makes the Panera experience unique. 

Now, customers can order through Alexa, from start to finish. When you ask Alexa to order Panera for you, the voice assistant won't open a skill like it would when you try to order Dominos, for example. Alexa itself knows the Panera menu and takes care of your order for you without you having to enable a skill. 

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To order through Alexa, customers need an Echo Show device and a MyPanera membership, a free loyalty program that lets customers redeem rewards and join the Unlimited Sip Club, which is also available through Alexa. The payment method used for orders will be that which is saved to the MyPanera account.