The Echo Plus looks premium, and almost identical to the original

Amazon's Alexa voice technology is helping consumer brands sell more, according to a recent study, underscoring its potential as a major marketing platform.



The study, run by Linc Global and Rakuten, shows that Echo owners increased their purchases of consumer products, like diapers, by 13.5% in the third quarter of 2017, up from the 7.5% jump seen in the second quarter of this year. Those companies also saw an unusually high 60% upsell rate, meaning the consumers bought more products from the same brand after their Echo purchase.

"This study indicates that voice search has a positive impact on sales of standardized products," James Lee, an analyst at Mizuho Securities wrote in a note published Wednesday.

The broader takeaway, according to Lee, is that Alexa's voice technology could turn into a major marketing platform for consumer brands. For example, the note says Pamper diapers could build an Alexa app that recommends re-orders of previous purchases or new products based on past shopping history.

Amazon is also testing a new service that would potentially let customers order products from the consumer brand's Alexa app and pick up at local retailers, according the Mizuho note.

"Alexa's voice platform provides a powerful marketing channel for brands to sell direct," Lee wrote in the note.

Related: If Apple is serious about Siri, it needs to compete on Amazon's turf