You can shop online on Amazon, but you can now let Amazon shop for you, too. Imagine an AI Assistant that can buy products from any online store. This is the latest feature called “Buy for Me”.
What is Amazon’s “Buy for Me”?
Amazon’s Buy for Me feature is an agentic AI feature that lets users complete purchases from other brand websites without having to leave the Amazon Shopping app.
This new capability is designed to make shopping easier, faster, and effortless for customers. When you search for a product on Amazon, there is a good chance that the item isn’t sold by an Amazon seller. In such cases, you will be shown a unique “Buy for Me” button from a trusted third-party brand.
Once you click on the button, you can quickly verify your shipping address and payment method, just like you do on their platform normally.
The delivery tracking will also happen on the Amazon app. Just the customer service is something that Amazon will not help with.
For brands, this can be a new way to get sales from the huge user base of Amazon. They have stated that it does not take a cut from purchases made through this feature, aiming to enhance customer convenience rather than generate additional revenue.
The mode uses Amazon’s powerful Nova AI model alongside Anthropic’s Claude.
The company has also mentioned that the personal details from Amazon to the brand website will be transferred using encryption. However, some critics still don’t like this idea of sharing information with other companies. That can be a big problem for some users.
“We’re always working to invent new ways to make shopping even more convenient, and we’ve created Buy For Me to help customers quickly and easily find and buy products from other brand stores if we don’t currently sell those items in our store.”
– Oliver Messenger, Shopping Director, Amazon
The Shopping Giants is very bullish on the AI integration. Recently, they introduced the ‘Interests’ feature for customers as well. It will help you find new products for you according to your preferences and prompts.
This is the Magic of Agentic AI
So, what makes Buy for Me truly special? It’s the concept of agentic AI. Unlike your run-of-the-mill recommendation engine, agentic AI can take action on your behalf.
Agentic AI refers to advanced artificial intelligence systems that operate autonomously, making decisions and executing tasks without human intervention. These systems are capable of understanding complex environments, planning multi-step processes, and adapting to changing conditions in real time.
“Buy for Me” feature leverages agentic AI to enhance the shopping experience by autonomously facilitating purchases from third-party brand websites directly within the Shopping app.
Since your details are already inside Amazon’s database and you are familiar with their user interface, the customers will love it. If you had to buy products from other websites, it can be a tedious process to enter the details again.
By tapping into a combination of proprietary data and up-to-date product details from various third-party sites, the system ensures that your purchase is both informed and executed swiftly.
Takeaways
Overall, Amazon’s goal is to provide all-in-one shopping with no interruption. You enjoy the ease of shopping on their app without the jarring shift to another website. The Buy for Me feature is a glimpse into the future of autonomous shopping powered by agentic AI.
It’s currently in beta and available only to a select group of U.S. customers on iOS and Android. They will begin testing with a limited number of brand stores, with plans to roll out to more stores based on feedback.
