Amazon Australia has secured a major partnership with HOYTS cinemas that will enable consumers to use Alexa to ask questions about movie show times.

The move comes amid a rush between some of Australia’s largest e-commerce companies to get in on the ground floor of an expected explosion in voice interaction locally.

HOYTS, one of the largest cinema businesses in Australia, launched the ‘skill’ on Thursday on Amazon’s Alexa phone application.

Customers will not be able to purchase tickets through Alexa, but the inquiry functionality will exist across Amazon’s broader range of Echo smart speaker devices when they begin being delivered to local customers in the coming weeks.

HOYTS is one of many partners Alexa has signed up in its early days in the Australian market, although shopping through Amazon Australia’s marketplace is still not available.

Hoyts CEO Damian Keogh said the partnership was an exciting innovation that would challenge the standard movie going experience in Australia.

“The launch of Alexa means we can provide HOYTS based content through voice for the first time for our guests,” he said.

Voice commands include “Alexa, ask HOYTS what’s on at Broadway next Tuesday?’, and “Alexa, ask HOYTS when is Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle showing”’.