Amazon customers have noticed that order confirmation emails have become vague, listing only broad product categories such as "Beauty" or "Hardware" instead of naming the specific item purchased. The change, which appears to have begun in July, has left some shoppers confused and complaining that the stripped-down emails are harder to use for tracking purchases and even resemble spam or phishing attempts.

The Verge suggests artificial intelligence is likely a contributing factor, pointing to a broader industry shift towards AI "agents" that shop and manage tasks on users' behalf, mining email data such as order and ticket confirmations. Google has been pushing such AI-powered shopping tools, including a cross-merchant cart integrated into Gmail, with retailers like Walmart, Target and Wayfair signing on; Amazon, notably, has not, having previously sued Perplexity over a rival AI shopping agent, suggesting it may be limiting the detail in its emails partly to protect its direct relationship with customers and their data.