Amazon adds Alexa for Shopping to Amazon.com and replaces Rufus

In short: Amazon is rolling out a new built-in shopping helper called Alexa for Shopping across Amazon.com and the Amazon app in the US.

What happened

Amazon says that starting today, the search bar on Amazon.com and in the Amazon app can work more like a chat. If you type a normal product search like “toilet paper,” you will still see the usual list of items. But if you type a question like “What’s a good skincare routine for men” or “When did I last order AA batteries,” Amazon says Alexa for Shopping will answer directly.

Alexa for Shopping is powered by Alexa Plus, Amazon’s newer version of Alexa that uses an LLM (a large language model, which is a system trained on lots of text so it can write and answer questions). Amazon says this new assistant is replacing Rufus, its earlier AI shopping assistant. Unlike Rufus, Amazon says Alexa for Shopping will be “front and center” across the site and app, with a dedicated chat window as well.

At launch, Amazon says the assistant can set price alerts, compare items, and reorder products. It can also auto-buy based on rules you set, for example adding an item to your cart if the price drops below a certain amount. Amazon also says it can shop on other websites through its “Buy for Me” feature, and it can track up to a year of price history for a product.

Why it matters

For shoppers, this changes Amazon search from typing keywords to asking for help in plain language, more like talking to a store employee. It could save time, but it also means the system may use more information about you, like past purchases, to give personalized answers.

Source: The Verge AI