The Amazon App Isn’t Just for Amazon Anymore

I bargain astir of my worldly connected Amazon due to the fact that of the convenience, but there's inactive a fewer scenarios wherever I inactive privation to bargain nonstop from a brand's store—whether it's deals oregon simply availability. Now, Amazon besides wants to bargain disconnected those shops for you.

Amazon is presently investigating a new, AI-driven diagnostic wrong its mobile exertion called "Buy for Me," designed to facilitate purchases for users straight from outer marque websites. The mode it works is erstwhile a idiosyncratic searches for an point associated with a circumstantial brand, they whitethorn find themselves looking astatine a chiseled conception labeled "Shop marque sites directly." This conception appears separately from the modular listings offered by Amazon and its third-party sellers.

Within this caller section, definite products mightiness show a "Buy for Me" button, which does precisely what you deliberation it does—it'll bring you to a merchandise listing wrong Amazon, and erstwhile you deed bargain there, Amazon volition usage agentic AI (AI that tin execute tasks autonomously without requiring nonstop quality involution astatine each step) to spell to that store's website, participate your outgo details, your address, and acquisition the merchandise for you.

This, of course, raises immense privateness concerns, but Amazon says that the user's idiosyncratic and outgo details are encrypted during this process. In theory, your outgo details shouldn't mysteriously amusement up successful idiosyncratic else's acquisition by doing this, but we'd person to hold and see. Furthermore, the institution asserts that it volition not person visibility into the customer's past oregon aboriginal bid past straight with the brand's website accessed via this feature.

While Amazon handles the acquisition execution connected the outer site, the authoritative bid confirmation email volition beryllium sent straight from the marque whose website the acquisition was made on. So functionally, it shouldn't beryllium overmuch antithetic from buying thing disconnected that website yourself—the full schtick of this is that you tin bid products connected those websites with a akin grade of convenience arsenic doing it with Amazon's pre-saved details. However, users volition clasp the quality to show the shipment's advancement wrong Amazon nonetheless. A caller "Buy for Me Orders" tab is being added to the "Your Orders" conception of the Amazon app specifically for tracking these outer purchases.

Amazon has not officially disclosed whether it receives a committee oregon interest from brands for income facilitated done the "Buy for Me" feature. But honestly, I don't deliberation Amazon is lone doing this for the involvement of being bully to people—the institution is astir apt getting thing backmost from this. The diagnostic astir apt involves partnerships with the existent websites the institution is buying from, to curate the selections successful hunt results and besides to guarantee the agentic AI knows its mode astir the website—I tin ideate it could get confused with customers that, for example, mightiness person a billing code that's antithetic from the shipping address. As we've seen with ChatGPT Pro's agentic feature, it's inactive an experimental diagnostic that sometimes messes up, truthful it could precise good mistype thing portion buying.

Currently, "Buy for Me" is successful a beta investigating signifier with precise restricted availability. The diagnostic is accessible lone to a constricted subset of Amazon customers located successful the United States who are utilizing the Amazon mobile app connected iOS oregon Android devices. The archetypal trial besides involves a curated enactment of participating brands and products. There is nary definitive timeline for a wider rollout conscionable yet, but if this goes well, we mightiness spot it get for everyone wrong a fewer months.

Source: Amazon via Engadget