Amazon is extending its internally developed AI shopping technology to the broader commercial market—transitioning from selling products to offering AI shopping assistant capabilities, aiming to become a supplier of AI shopping infrastructure.
According to reports, Amazon announced on Wednesday that it will license its AI shopping technology to third-party retailers through AWS, enabling merchants to build custom AI shopping assistants in as little as 60 days. This move follows the strategic logic Amazon employed two decades ago when it pioneered the cloud computing market with AWS: commercializing internal technology.
Currently, luxury fashion brand Kate Spade has already integrated the technology, launching a gift recommendation assistant. At the same time, giants like OpenAI, Google, and Perplexity are also deploying AI shopping tools, though some products face challenges due to technical issues or difficulties in merchant adoption. Amazon is positioning itself as a "technology provider" to secure a foothold in this emerging field.
Bringing internal technology to market, AWS once again serves as the commercialization vehicle. Amazon disclosed in a blog post that the licensed technology includes the architecture, foundational code, and operational experience of its shopping AI tool, "Alexa for Shopping." Merchants can build AI shopping assistants tailored to their brand, product catalog, and store style in as little as 60 days.
The service is provided through AWS channels. It is widely believed that this is a structural arrangement by Amazon to address long-standing concerns among retailers—who have been wary of sharing data with the e-commerce giant due to potential business risks.
This approach aligns closely with Amazon's historical expansion strategy. About two decades ago, it spun off its internal IT infrastructure capabilities into AWS, creating the cloud computing services market. Subsequently, it commercialized technologies like cashier-less checkout, warehousing, and supply chain services. The commercialization of AI shopping technology is the latest extension of this strategic logic.
Rejecting "middlemen," Amazon advocates for a vertical self-build approach. In Wednesday's blog post, Amazon explicitly recommended that retailers build their own AI tools rather than ceding control of the shopping experience to "middlemen." Amazon stated, "Retailers possess deep vertical knowledge of their products, customers, and categories, which no general-purpose AI can match."
This stance is consistent with Amazon's overall inward-looking AI strategy. Reports indicate that Amazon is cautious about integrating with competing AI platforms, focusing instead on internal tool development and imposing restrictions on external AI agents scraping data from its website.
Earlier this month, Amazon rebranded its e-commerce chatbot from "Rufus" to "Alexa for Shopping" and integrated it by default into the platform's search function. The technology now being licensed is based on the same system.
Competition in the AI shopping space intensifies, with merchant adoption challenges remaining. Amazon's entry into the B2B market comes as competition in the AI shopping sector heats up. OpenAI, Google, and Perplexity have already launched consumer-facing shopping research tools and agent applications. However, reports suggest that some products have faced delays due to technical flaws or complex merchant integration processes. Meanwhile, it remains uncertain whether consumers are willing to entrust full purchasing decisions to AI agents.
On the retailer side, platforms like Walmart, Target, Etsy, Gap, and eBay are pursuing multi-pronged strategies—developing their own AI tools while partnering with OpenAI and Google. Software companies like Salesforce have also introduced solutions for deploying chatbots or AI agents to retailers.
With its entry, Amazon leverages AWS's mature commercial ecosystem and customer network to compete directly with these software service providers, while also offering an alternative path for retailers relying on third-party AI platforms. In addition to Kate Spade, Amazon stated that more retailers are "currently in testing," though no specific names were disclosed.
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