Science & Tech · Big Tech & Internet · 1 hr ago
Amazon lets customers shop with Alexa by text
Amazon is introducing a way to shop with Alexa by text for select customers in the United States.
Users can ask Alexa in everyday language to find items, add them to a cart and buy them.
The service also lets shoppers compare products, track prices and check orders, and search for items similar to a picture they share.
It builds on Alexa’s recent shopping upgrades as Amazon develops its own AI shopping assistant.
The launch comes before the holiday shopping season, when many people shop for gifts.
Customers who are not invited can join a waitlist, and Amazon plans a broader rollout in the coming weeks.
Amazon is rolling out a feature that lets customers shop by texting its Alexa AI agent.
The agent can search for products, compare options and place orders after customer approval.
The feature began rolling out to a small group of U.S. customers by invitation on Friday, with broader access planned in the coming weeks.
Customers can send text requests or photos, track prices and orders, and reorder previous purchases.
Amazon says text conversations can continue in its app, on its website and through Alexa devices.
- Who
- Amazon and customers invited to use its Alexa shopping agent.
- What
- Amazon is rolling out text-message shopping through Alexa. The agent can find and compare products and place orders with customer approval.
- When
- The rollout began Friday, November 6, 2026. Wider access is planned in the coming weeks.
- Where
- The feature is being offered to customers in the United States.
- Why
- Amazon says the feature lets customers shop by messaging its AI agent. The sources also describe it as part of a wider move by technology companies to offer AI agents.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Amazon launched Alexa for Shopping, combining its Rufus shopping chatbot with Alexa+.
Amazon blocked Meta’s Muse from querying its site.
Amazon began rolling out text-based shopping with Alexa to selected U.S. customers.
- Initial rollout
- Small group of U.S. customers by invitation
- Wider access
- Planned for the coming weeks
- Agent name
- Alexa for Shopping
- Auto-buy
- Can purchase an item automatically when it reaches a customer’s target price
- Earlier launch
- Alexa for Shopping launched in May