Amazon Says Shoppers Can Now Text With AI Shopping Assistant Alexa For Shopping

Amazon has introduced a feature to its Alexa for Shopping service where users can text the AI shopping assistant directly. The move signals how text messaging is becoming a standard communication tool for agents. Meta’s Muse and Instinct both let users interact with them via text messages, while DoorDash recently introduced the capability for its restaurant meal delivery service.

Previously, Alexa for Shopping only lived on Amazon’s website and app. Amazon is competing with shopping agents in other ways – last year it launched its Shop Direct program, where Amazon surfaces products from other retailers, some of which shoppers can buy on Amazon’s site via an AI agent.

In the past six months, Amazon has more than doubled the number of products from rival retailers it displays, to 250 million. This week, Amazon also added a merchant workspace, a dedicated portal where retailers can upload details of product inventory to Amazon – previously retailers had little knowledge when their products showed up in Shop Direct, The Information reported.