Alexa Replaces Rufus as Amazon's AI Shopping Assistant

Rufus has gone to the kennel. Amazon is replacing its e-commerce AI assistant with Alexa for Shopping, which will be available to all US customers within a week.

The new feature will be available to customers using the Amazon Shopping app and website, as well as Echo Show devices. It's free to use when people sign in to their accounts, and consumers don't need a Prime membership.

On mobile, customers can update their Amazon shopping app and look for the Alexa icon in the bottom navigation bar. On desktop, customers can find Alexa for Shopping in the menu banner near the top of Amazon pages.

But Rufus -- named for a corgi who roamed the company's first warehouse in 1996 -- hasn't completely lost its bite. Amazon said Alexa for Shopping combines Rufus' product expertise with Alexa Plus' personalized knowledge and context.

Alexa Plus is Amazon's generative AI assistant, designed to be more conversational and have more capabilities than the more command-oriented Alexa. Alexa Plus, available on the app, Echo devices, Alexa.com and Amazon.com, can help people find good restaurants, schedule their week, manage smart homes and more.

Getting to know you

Amazon said data shared on all Alexa-enabled devices will be utilized to help Alexa Plus find products, compare items, track prices, reorder items and provide personalized recommendations.

Alexa customers can use the Alexa Privacy Dashboard, which you can find on desktop here or in the app under More > Alexa Privacy, to manage whether voice recordings are saved and for how long, listen to what Alexa has heard, and read through previous chats.

Alexa for Shopping will be akin to having a "personal shopper who already knows you and remembers your preferences, your past purchases, and your conversations ... you don't have to start over," Rajiv Mehta, vice president of conversational shopping at Amazon, said in a press release. 

Customers can also use Alexa for Shopping to set price alerts to let them know if the cost of a certain item dips below a set threshold.

Alexa for Shopping can set price alerts for products you specify.

Amazon

Alexa in the search bar

Amazon customers have mainly used the search bar on Amazon.com or in the app to look for items. Now, people can ask questions in the search bar or in a chat window to get help from Alexa for Shopping, the company said. 

Amazon said Alexa for Shopping can also help customers compare products side by side, view price histories for products over the past year, schedule recurring purchases and receive alerts when certain products are available.

The company said the new feature can help customers buy items from other online retailers. Customers can use the Buy for Me AI feature to purchase the item for you using your address and credit card. Typically, the Buy for Me feature finds products on other websites if they are not available on Amazon.

Many online retailers use AI shopping assistants, including Walmart's Sparky, eBay's ShopBot, Sephora and Home Depot with its Material List Builder tool.