SEATTLE — Amazon has introduced Alexa for Shopping, an agentic AI assistant that combines deep product knowledge and powerful shopping capabilities with users’ personal preferences, shopping history, and conversations from across Amazon.com and Alexa.
Alexa for Shopping brings new and improved capabilities that make shopping even more convenient, Amazon said, and saves time and money for consumers.
Customers can use Alexa for Shopping to ask questions in the Amazon search bar, create personalized shopping guides, get category and product insights in search results and on product pages, generate dynamic product comparisons, and automate deal-finding, cart-building, and routine purchases based on personalized insights, Amazon said.
Alexa for Shopping rolls out in the U.S. over the next week. All Amazon customers can use the tool on the Amazon Shopping app and website, and no Prime membership or Echo device is required.
As part of the upgrade, owners of Amazon's Echo-brand smart speakers with screens will now be able to use the Amazon website.
The Alexa for Shopping tools have incorporated the functionality of Amazon's Rufus shopping assistant, which was introduced in 2024 and used by 300 milion consumers last year, according to Amazon.
The introduction of Alexa for Shopping reflects the tech giant’s broader push into agentic commerce and comes as shoppers increasingly rely on popular AI assistants like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini for product advice and purchases. Some rival platforms have teamed up with retailers, and Web search providers, including Alphabet Inc.’s dominant Google Search, have been incorporating AI-generated answers in response to queries.
In creating a more integrated AI shopping experience, Amazon intends to keep data on consumer behavior and the resulting purchases on its own platforms..
