7-Eleven Inc., Irving, Texas, continues to redefine convenience retailing with the launch of 7Voice, which allows customers to place an order through its 7NOW delivery app via the voice-controlled Google Home and Amazon Echo systems.

Using a voice command, shoppers can instruct Google Assistant or Amazon's Alexa to open the 7NOW delivery app. Customers can choose from a wide variety of items by speaking them into their home system. Items that can be ordered include beverages, fresh and hot foods, snacks, cosmetics, home goods and thousands of other products available for purchase.

Once customers place and pay for a 7NOW voice order, the selected 7-Eleven items are delivered in about 30 minutes or less.

"We continuously challenge ourselves to find even more ways to offer convenience and value to our customers, when and where people need it most," said Raghu Mahadevan, 7-Eleven vice president of digital and delivery, in a statement. "7Voice takes 7NOW ordering from screen to voice, enabling customers to order in whatever way they prefer that is most convenient to them."

Voice ordering builds on the company's rapid digital ramp-up to better serve today's consumers. In the past two years, 7-Eleven has launched the 7NOW delivery app and added the 7NOW Pins option. These platforms have enabled the following capabilities:

• Delivery to hundreds of public places.
• Expanded its 7Rewards loyalty program to a points-based system.
• Introduced mobile checkout in select stores.
• Added various mobile payment options (Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay).
• Implemented AR (Augmented Reality) experiences in the 7-Eleven app.
• Rolled out in-store package pickup through the 1,100 Amazon Lockers located at participating 7-Eleven stores and more.

The 7NOW app auto-locates customer's location and places the order at the nearest participating 7-Eleven store. A courier will pick up the order and deliver it to the specified address in 30 minutes or less. Using real-time tracking, 7-Eleven can let customers know when to expect their orders.

The following are how to set up 7Voice:

Alexa Set-up

• Say "Alexa, enable 7NOW."
• Open the Alexa mobile app.
• Go to "Skills" > "7NOW skill" > "Settings" > "Link Account"
• Say "Alexa, open 7NOW."
• Start ordering.

Google Set-up

• Say "OK Google, talk to 7NOW" to open smart speaker.
• Open Google Assistant app on phone and follow steps to finish linking 7NOW account.
• Start ordering.
• No minimum order is required, and the service is available 24/7. Delivery for the first 7NOW order is free, and the regular delivery fee is $3.99.

"Whether customers are shopping in our stores or from their couch, we want every interaction with 7-Eleven to be easy and fast with a variety of options," Mahadevan said. "We are constantly researching and developing ways to take both in-store and at-home retail experiences to the next level."

7-Eleven introduced delivery in late 2017 when it began testing the app-based service at select stores in Dallas. 7NOW has made more than 1 million deliveries and is available in 34 major metropolitan areas, with more than 200 cities, serving more than 30 million households.

The 7NOW and 7-Eleven apps are available from the Apple App Store or Google Play.