Amazon’s AI shopping assistant can now edit your grocery lists and gift registries
Amazon is expanding Alexa for Shopping with tools to create and edit shopping lists and gift registries, including moving items between them. The update makes the assistant useful for managing more of the shopping process, as Amazon continues to develop its own AI service while resisting third-party shopping agents.
Customers can also use Alexa for Shopping to change delivery instructions, ask about unfamiliar charges or refunds, and pause or amend recurring deliveries. The assistant, available beside the search bar on Amazon’s app and website, can already compare products, set price alerts and automatically buy items when they fall below a chosen price. The new features are rolling out in the US.
In short
- Alexa for Shopping can now manage lists and gift registries.
- It can also help with delivery, billing and recurring orders.
- The new features are rolling out to US customers.
Explained simply
Amazon is an online retailer where customers can buy groceries, gifts and other goods. Alexa is the company’s virtual assistant, and Alexa for Shopping is a feature on Amazon’s app and website that helps people find and manage purchases.
Shopping lists help customers keep track of items they may want to buy, while gift registries let them collect suggestions for presents, often for an occasion such as a wedding or a new baby. Amazon is adding ways for its assistant to manage these alongside tasks such as checking orders and recurring deliveries.
The changes form part of Amazon’s wider effort to use AI in its shopping services. They also matter to other companies developing shopping assistants, as Amazon is building its own tools while limiting the role of outside agents on its store.