It’s been a month since Alexa moved up to Canada and, boy, has she been busy! While Americans got to know Alexa over the past three years, Canadians waited, and waited, and waited for her northern migration. On December 5, 2017, she finally crossed the border to welcoming wallets… And with that, a whole new market of Alexa users was born! Talk about an opportunity for Alexa skill developers!
Alexa is making new friends!
Well before Alexa made her Canadian debut, pre-orders flooded Amazon.ca. And when Alexa began shipping on December 5th, social media was abuzz with tweets, photos, videos and other media-rich posts featuring the new voice-activated digital assistant moving into Canadian homes from Vancouver to Halifax.
Alexa sales over her first month in Canada were nowhere short of remarkable. In fact, Amazon reported that over the 2017 holiday season, 2 million items shipped with same-day or one-day delivery in Canada (population: 35 million), and the Echo Dot was the top-selling product across all categories on Amazon—in the U.S. and Canada alike.
Canadians had long awaited Alexa’s arrival as they watched their American counterparts transform their daily routines, one voice command at a time. When her day finally arrived, Alexa was greeted warmly, but some Canadians still felt left out in the cold.
It’s not all rosy for Alexa in Canada.
Alexa did not arrive with her full slate of Echos she inhabits in the U.S. While the Echo, Echo Dot, and Echo Plus made their debuts, the video-capable Echo products (Show and Spot), along with the Look and Tap, remain unavailable. This left many Canadians disappointed, particularly those eager to show off one of these latter devices. Their wait continues.
How about Alexa skills? To say the least, I was underwhelmed to find a grand total of 150 skills available to Canadians on shipping day. That was it. Compare that to the more than 25,000 accessible by American users!
I was not impressed, and needless to say, I wasn’t alone. Many of the Canadian early adopters had ventured to the United States months—even years—beforehand to get their hands on an Echo device. By creating a “dummy” U.S. address for an Amazon account, they were able to use the devices in Canada. On one hand, this afforded them access to the expansive collection of skills that developers made available to American users but—and this is BIG but—any location-dependent skills were inoperable. Nonetheless, savvy Canadians made this sacrifice in order to gain early access to Alexa.
So, when Alexa became officially available in Canada, these users assumed that they would enjoy access to a similar selection of skills. Instead, they were faced with a difficult choice: keep using the device tied to a fake American address and retain access to more than 25,000 skills, or use a legitimate Canadian address with access to approximately 150 skills.
More than a month later, many Canadians are still using their “American” accounts. As the founder of Alexa in Canada, I was obliged to configure my device with a real Canadian address from Day 1, thus giving me the perspective of a Canadian user. Therefore, I’m able to see what functionalities exist and what features remain unavailable so I can keep the Canadian community up-to-speed.
The good news.
Despite this dash of disappointment, interest and enthusiasm for Alexa in Canada is off the charts. A new market is rapidly emerging, and accordingly, developers are quickly stocking the Canadian Alexa skill store with their adapted versions of American skills.
At the time of this writing, there are now 10,023 skills available to Canadians. That’s a 67x increase in skills in just a month. This is remarkable, but we need more skills in Canada. So, for the Alexa skills developers out there, here is my plea: Don’t forget about Canada! We want your skills, too! You have a profound opportunity to claim a large share of the young market for Canadian Alexa skills.
Canada awaits your services!
Along with the explosion of the technology comes many questions about how to set up Alexa, use the features, and utilize skills to create a more relaxing, organized, and efficient life.
I was one of those curious new users and I still am! I searched the Internet high and low for reliable resources about Alexa in Canada, and, well… I was left with more questions than answers. There was a void to fill.
Realizing that I was just one of many users seeking these answers, I decided to create the ultimate Alexa resource for Canadians, and this website, Alexa in Canada, was born. This site offers Canadian users tutorials, command lists, Canadian skill reviews, and of course, the Alexa in Canada: The Voice Experience Podcast.
The exponential growth of Alexa in Canada is further evidence that Canadians are eager for the full Alexa experience, and plenty of services to complement it.
So, American friends, we have an opportunity—for us, and for you. There’s a fresh market of Canadians awaiting your skills and services. Bring ’em on, and let me know when you do so I can place them in front of as many eyes (and ears) as possible!
