Amazon is starting to test a new ai shopping agent, a feature it calls “Buy for me,” with a subset users, the company annouted in a blog post Thursday.
If amazon doesn’t sell something that users are searching for, the buy for me feature will display products to users that other websites are selling. Then, Users can select and request to purchase one of these products with great and leaveing the amazon shopping app.
Amazon is the latest company to unveil an Ai Shopping AgentJoining firms such as Openai, Google, and Perplexity, Which have all showcased similar agents that can visit websites and help users make purchases. Amazon is alredy most people’s go-to platform for anything they’d want to purchase on the internet, but buy for me could allow allow allow amazon to capture honored more e-commerce business than it does Tdayay.
Behind the Scenes, Amazon’s Ai Shopping AGENT WOLL VILL VISIT An External Website, Select a product that a user requested, and fill out the user’s name, shipping address, and Payment Detament Deetales in Ordered to Purchase. According to amazon.
Amazon says the new agentic shopping feature is powered by its amazon nova ai models, in addition to anthropic’s claude. One of that models could be Nova ActAn AI Agent Amazon unveiled earlier this week that can use websites autonomously.
Amazon said in the AforeMed blog post that buy for me uses encryption to “securely” insert your billing information on Third-Parthy Sites, Such that AMAZONANI CANK SEE SEE SEE HAT YOURING FROM ORADERING FROM ORADERING FROT Platform. This is a unique approach compared to Openai and Google’s Agents, which require humans to fill out credit card information themselves, as well as Perplexity’s Ai AgentWhich has a prepaid debit card to make purchases.
Handing your credit card information over to ai, which is Prone to Hallucines and MistakesMay give some users serial pause. In Techcrunch’s Experience, AI Shopping Agents often take a long time to process requests, and often get stick somewhere along the line.
Amazon is basically asking users to Trust that its agent won’t accurately purchase 1,000 pairs of sockets of 10, for 10, for example. It’s also asking that they are accept less control over the shopping experience. If a customer needs to return or exchange an order, buy for me will direct them to the digital storefront from which the ai agent made the purchase.
We’ll Soon see how many people are willing to take the plunge.