Amazon debuted its new AI-powered “Shopping Guide” feature on Wednesday. It will help inform online shoppers about the technical details and brand leaders of more than 100 types of products, from dog food to TVs.
The AI Shopping Guides are arriving Thursday on the U.S.-based iOS and Android apps, as well as the Amazon.com website. They’re designed to reduce the time you spend researching a potential purchase by summarizing key points and important information alongside product listings filtered for your specific needs. “Whether you’re looking for the right camping tent for your first backpacking trip, buying the best shoes for running in the rain, or the perfect new kitchen appliance, you can turn to AI Shopping Guides for help,” the company wrote in a Wednesday blog post.
The company is leveraging large language models, specifically Amazon’s Bedrock, to surface user reviews, helpful attributes, use cases, features, brands, and key terminology about its various product types. The system can also keep those details up to date as trends change and new products are released.
To access the shopping guides, you’ll need to search for a covered product, and the guide option will appear in the search autocomplete suggestions if available. The guides can also be accessed through the “Keep Shopping For” card on Amazon’s homepage. The company plans to expand the feature beyond the initial 100+ product types in the coming months, though there is not yet a firm timetable for that. There’s also no word yet on when or if the feature will be expanded beyond English-language searches.
AI shopping guides are just one of Amazon’s numerous AI-based initiatives. The company debuted Rufus, its AI shopping assistant, in February, followed by Maestro, its AI playlist generator, in April. Amazon also incorporated AI search results into its Fire TV UI in May.
