Amazon Lets You Shop Other Retailers on Its Site
▼ Summary
– Amazon is expanding its “Shop Direct” program, which allows U.S. customers to discover and buy products from third-party merchant websites directly through Amazon’s search and AI assistant.
– The program now integrates with third-party product feeds, giving Amazon real-time access to merchant inventory and pricing to direct shoppers externally.
– A key feature, “Buy for Me,” uses an AI agent to complete purchases on a merchant’s site on the customer’s behalf after they confirm order details.
– This initiative provides Amazon with valuable data on customer preferences and competing products, which it can use to improve its own business and partnerships.
– The program aims to establish Amazon as the primary starting point for online product searches, even for transactions that occur on other websites.
Amazon is broadening its marketplace by introducing a feature that connects shoppers directly with products from other online retailers. This initiative, known as Shop Direct, allows U.S. customers to find and purchase items not available in Amazon’s own inventory. The company now integrates third-party product feeds, giving it real-time access to merchant catalogs, pricing, and stock levels. This data enables Amazon to point shoppers toward a retailer’s own website through its standard search results or its AI shopping assistant, Rufus.
To power this expansion, Amazon has partnered with feed management platforms like Feedonomics, Salsify, and CEDCommerce. These integrations provide a continuous stream of product information from external merchants. The company plans to add more feed providers and is reportedly developing a dedicated merchant portal for direct data submission.
The foundation for Shop Direct was laid earlier this year with a beta test. When a customer’s search on Amazon came up empty, the platform began displaying relevant products from other websites. Shoppers could view key details on Amazon before clicking through to the retailer’s site for final pricing, delivery options, and purchase. Clear notifications were provided to ensure customers understood they were leaving Amazon’s domain to complete a transaction.
This program is open to a wide array of brands and is not exclusive to those enrolled in the Buy with Prime service. For participating merchants, the increased visibility on the world’s largest online marketplace can significantly boost traffic and sales potential. However, the arrangement also grants Amazon valuable insights into popular products, competitive pricing, and emerging shopping trends, which it could leverage to refine its own retail strategy and identify future partnership opportunities.
Concurrently, Amazon has expanded the capabilities of its AI-powered “Buy for Me” service to work on these third-party merchant sites. This feature uses an automated assistant to handle the entire checkout process on a customer’s behalf. After a user confirms their order details, such as shipping address and payment method, the AI completes the purchase directly on the retailer’s website. Customers can then monitor these external orders alongside their regular Amazon purchases within their account’s “Your Orders” section.
By aggregating products from across the web and streamlining the purchase journey even on external sites, Amazon strengthens its position as a primary destination for product discovery. The Shop Direct feature is currently active for U.S. shoppers on Amazon.com, within the mobile application, and through the Rufus AI assistant.
(Source: TechCrunch)
