Amazon launches AI-enabled Buy for Me and Shop Direct options for merchants
Amazon expands Buy for Me and Shop Direct through third-party feeds for increased catalogs and visibility.
Amazon continues to transform the online shopping experience by rolling out innovative updates to its "Buy for Me" and "Shop Direct" tools. These new options, integrated with artificial intelligence (AI), aim to enhance how merchants can showcase their products and interact with Amazon customers.
Third-party Feeds to Enrich Product Catalogs
Amazon now allows merchants to set up third-party feeds to power the "Shop Direct" and "Buy for Me" tools through provider solutions like Feedonomics, Salsify, and CEDCommerce. This feature offers merchants a streamlined way to synchronize their catalogs, prices, and inventories in real-time.
"Product feeds provide merchants with a streamlined way to reach Amazon customers looking for their products," said Amanda Doerr, Vice President of Core Shopping at Amazon. "With these feeds, merchants can easily synchronize their catalogs, prices, and inventories in real-time while maintaining their customer relationships, all while the program generates significant traffic and sales and gives customers access to even more choices."
An Expanded Range for Shoppers
Launched in 2025, the "Shop Direct" tool is designed to display relevant products to users, even if those products are not directly sold through Amazon. Meanwhile, the "Buy for Me" feature uses AI to enable shoppers to complete their transactions more quickly. With the new updates, Amazon aims to attract more merchants and enrich its product offerings.
According to Amazon, the "Shop Direct" program will now cover 100 million products offered by over 400,000 merchants. Additionally, the company claims that "tens of millions of products" can be purchased through the "Buy for Me" tool. These enhancements aim to provide users on Amazon.com, as well as shoppers using the Amazon mobile app, with a more diverse and seamless shopping experience.
A Strategy Centered on the Amazon Ecosystem
Unlike some of its competitors like Walmart, which directly integrate third-party AI platforms such as OpenAI's ChatGPT or Google's Gemini, Amazon prefers to develop its own artificial intelligence solutions. By enhancing its internal tools, including "Buy for Me" and "Shop Direct," Amazon strengthens its ecosystem while limiting third-party AI agents' access to its site and catalog.
This data will also feed into "Rufus," Amazon's AI assistant, which has already been integrated into several features to guide users in their purchasing decisions.
New Opportunities for Merchants
Amazon also plans to offer a dedicated portal for merchants with a "direct feed" to further facilitate catalog and sales management. These initiatives could transform interactions between merchants and consumers, expanding product visibility while modernizing purchasing processes to meet user expectations.
With these new advancements, Amazon solidifies its position at the top of the Digital Commerce 360 database, ranking number 1 in the Top 2000 largest online retailers in North America and number 3 in the global online marketplace database. This strategy reflects a clear intention to remain a key player in e-commerce while integrating cutting-edge technological solutions.
Geoffrey G.
