Amazon has unveiled ‘Alexa for Shopping,’ a generative AI-powered shopping assistant that combines the company’s Alexa+ conversational AI system with the product expertise of Rufus, Amazon’s shopping chatbot, in a bid to make online shopping more personalized and automated.
The feature will roll out to U.S. customers over the coming week through the Amazon Shopping app, Amazon.com and Echo Show devices, according to a company blog. Update your Amazon Shopping app and tap the Alexa icon at the bottom for mobile, or at the top on desktop.
Amazon said the assistant can recommend products based on past conversations and purchases, compare items, track price drops and schedule recurring purchases. For example, a consumer can say, “Add this sunscreen to my cart if the product drops to $10 and I haven’t purchased it in the last two months.” Alexa will notify you for review and checkout.
Alexa for Shopping can even buy products from other retailers across the web using an agentic AI capability called ‘Buy for Me.’ Through ‘Shop Direct,’ consumers can buy eligible products through an AI agent that handles the entire purchase for them using their main address and credit card.
Amazon is positioning the tool as a more proactive shopping assistant that remembers user preferences across devices and interactions. “Alexa for Shopping is like having an expert personal shopper who already knows you,” Rajiv Mehta, Amazon vice president of conversational shopping, said in the blog. “Whether you’re comparing products, tracking a price drop, or continuing research you started yesterday, you don’t have to start over.”
The launch reflects a broader industry push to integrate generative and agentic AI into consumer commerce. Amazon said users will be able to ask questions directly in the Amazon search bar, receive AI-generated product overviews, review price histories spanning up to a year and automate purchases based on conditions such as price thresholds.
Amazon said the service will be free for all signed-in Amazon customers, without requiring a Prime membership.