Amazon launches AI agent ‘Alexa for Shopping’

Amazon has released a new feature, Alexa for Shopping, serving as an artificial intelligence (AI) agent — combining its Rufus and Alexa+ offerings. Rufus is an AI assistant that Amazon released in 2024, later updating it with new features ahead of the 2025 holiday season.

Meanwhile, Alexa+ is an upgraded version of Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant, incorporating generative AI, that the company launched in February 2025. Amazon said its customers already use Alexa+ across hundreds of millions of devices, Alexa. com and the Alexa app to answer questions.

Additionally, it said Rufus helped more than 300 million customers in 2025 to research, compare and buy products on the Amazon shopping app and website. Among its features, the company said Alexa for Shopping can create a custom guide for big purchases that compares features, prices and reviews across Amazon and other websites.

“By bringing together Rufus’s product expertise and Amazon shopping history with the personalized knowledge and context of Alexa+, Alexa for Shopping delivers a more personal, helpful shopping experience across a wide range of surfaces and devices,” according to Amazon. Initially, non-Prime members had to pay a $19. 99-per-month fee to use Alexa+.

Amazon said the new Alexa for Shopping service is free for all customers signed into their account. They do not have to have an Echo device, the Alexa app or a Prime membership, Amazon said. Amazon displays where to find its new ‘Alexa for Shopping’ feature, which combines Alexa+ and Rufus, on mobile and desktop experiences.

| Image credit: Amazon press release Amazon ranks No. 1 in Digital Commerce 360’s Top 2000 Database. The database is how Digital Commerce 360 tracks the largest North American online retailers by their annual ecommerce sales. Amazon is also No. 3 in Digital Commerce 360’s Global Online Marketplaces Database.

That database ranks the 100 largest such marketplaces by third-party gross merchandise value (GMV). Charts & Data Amazon sales maintain growth in Q1 amid same-day delivery expansion Abbas Haleem | Apr 30, 2026 How does Amazon’s ‘Alexa for Shopping’ work? Amazon said customers using Alexa for Shopping can browse the Amazon store using voice, touch or both.

“What you share with Alexa on your Echo and other Alexa-enabled devices informs your shopping experience on Amazon, and your conversations, browsing, and purchases on Amazon make Alexa more helpful across all your experiences, including on Amazon. com,” the company said in its May 13 announcement.

“Your conversations and preferences flow in both directions, making Alexa for Shopping more personal and more helpful over time.” It added that Alexa for Shopping “uses what it knows about you” along with product knowledge to make discovery and purchases “more convenient.”

Amazon said Alexa for Shopping can help users: Find products Compare categories and items Provide personalized recommendations and guidance Track prices Buy items at a target price Reorder essentials Manage a cart Shop from other online stores across the web “Alexa for Shopping is like having an expert personal shopper who already knows you and remembers your preferences, your past purchases, and your conversations, and carries that knowledge and understanding of you across your phone, laptop, and Echo devices,” said Rajiv Mehta, vice president of conversational shopping at Amazon, in a statement.

“Whether you’re comparing products, tracking a price drop, or continuing research you started yesterday, you don’t have to start over.” News Amazon launches Amazon Now in U. S.

for 30-minute delivery Abbas Haleem | May 12, 2026 Alexa for Shopping AI agent’s features Amazon said Alexa for Shopping introduces new features, as well as improvements from Alexa+ and Rufus. In Amazon’s shopping app, users can ask Alexa for Shopping questions in the search bar. Alternatively, they can use the dedicated Alexa for Shopping chat window.

Consumers can also select multiple products within their search results, and Alexa for Shopping will compare them side by side. Alexa for Shopping displays AI-generated overviews at the top of search results in Amazon’s shopping app. Consumers can also find AI overviews on product detail pages, a feature Amazon said is rolling out to all U. S. shoppers.

Amazon displays a “price history” button on product detail pages. Alternatively, consumers can ask Alexa for Shopping for the price history to see how it has changed throughout the past year. Consumers can create scheduled actions by tapping the “+” button near the message bar.

Amazon gave examples of scheduled actions, such as: Adding items to a cart each month. Restocking regular household items. Alerting users when an author releases a new book. Getting gift ideas before birthdays and holidays.

“You can also get more specific with prompts like, ‘Add this sunscreen to my cart if the price drops to $10 and I haven’t purchased it in the last 2 months.’ Alexa for Shopping handles the product researc