Amazon began letting US customers text Alexa for Shopping, its AI shopping agent, starting with a small group it invited, while everyone else can join a waitlist ahead of a wider rollout in the coming weeks. Shoppers message a contact called “Alexa Shopping” to search and compare products, fill a cart, and check out, and they can also send it a photo to pull up similar items or tell it to buy something once the price drops. Amazon says over 400 million customers have tried Alexa for Shopping over the last 12 months, and CEO Andy Jassy said on its Q3 call that they spend 50% more than shoppers who don’t. The text replies will include sponsored product ads, but Amazon told Adweek it isn’t charging advertisers for those placements yet and will notify them before it starts.
