Post Content Amazon says the goal is to recreate the feeling of talking to a helpful in-store assistant, making it easier for users to explore products in a more personal way. (Image: Amazon)
Amazon has introduced a new AI-powered feature that aims to make shopping feel more natural and hands-free. Announced on Tuesday, the update lets users ask questions about products and get real-time audio replies from what the company calls “AI-powered shopping experts.”
The feature, named ‘Join the Chat’, is designed to make browsing easier by cutting down the need to read long product descriptions or scroll through countless reviews. Instead, shoppers can ask simple, direct questions, like whether a coffee machine is suitable for beginners or if a piece of clothing is comfortable, and receive short, spoken answers. These responses combine product details with customer feedback and other useful information.
Unlike regular Q and A tools, this system is more interactive and flexible. Each follow-up question helps guide the conversation, allowing the AI to improve its responses and avoid repeating itself.
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Amazon says the goal is to recreate the feeling of talking to a helpful in-store assistant, making it easier for users to explore products in a more personal way.
“Customers can ask questions and actually steer where the conversation goes. Every question they ask influences what comes next, making the experience a conversation customers can join and customise,” the company said in a blog post.
The ‘Join the chat’ feature is part of a wider set of tools called ‘Hear the highlights’, which offers short audio summaries on product pages. First tested in May last year, this feature is now available across millions of listings in the Amazon Shopping app, although the audio summaries are currently limited to certain products.
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To use it, customers can open a product page and tap the ‘Hear the highlights’ button below the product image. From there, they can listen to a quick summary or switch to the interactive chat mode to ask more detailed questions using voice or text. The audio can continue playing in the background, so users can keep browsing without interruption.
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This rollout adds to Amazon’s growing range of AI-powered shopping tools. These include Rufus, a generative AI assistant for comparing products; Interests, which recommends items based on user preferences; and ‘Help me decide’, a feature that suggests products based on browsing and purchase history.
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