As Alexa Skills Marketplace Crowds, Amazon Pushes for Easier Development

We’ve discussed the many perks and potential security concerns of “smart speakers" in the past, but following a spike in sales during the holiday season, Amazon launched a new initiative to get more brands and marketers in the Alexa voice ecosystem.Currently, there are roughly 20 agencies listed on the Amazon portal – including Rain, Mobiquity, and Matchbox – to help brands design, develop, and optimize their Alexa “skills.” In our opinion, this is a genius move to simplify the integration of additional companies into the marketplace.However, Amazon has upwards of 7,000 skills for its devices, and the vast majority are already under-utilized by users. Of the 7,000 skills, just one-third have consumer reviews, according to a VoiceLabs report, which means that when it comes to the full potential of Amazon's smart speakers, consumers are just scratching the surface. The retail giant hopes that by opening the door to developing streamlined Alex skills, they will, in turn, become easier to discover by users.Alexa skills marketplace is the app store of the future, but if it follows similar treads as Apple and Android app stores, it’s important to stand out from the get-go. Seven thousand skills might sound like a lot of competition, but traditional Android and iOS app stores boast more than 2 million options for consumers each.The over-saturation of apps in the marketplace makes it critical to design one around your brand that will keep users coming back again and again.