Amazon is expanding its AI-powered Shop Direct shopping experience by introducing third-party product feeds, allowing retailers and brands to surface their products to Amazon customers, even if they are not sold directly on its marketplace.
The update enables merchants to connect their product catalogues to Shop Direct through feed management platforms including Feedonomics, Salsify and CEDCommerce.
The move is reportedly designed to simplify onboarding and broaden participation in Shop Direct, which launched last year as part of Amazon’s push into AI-driven product discovery.
Bringing external retailers into Amazon’s search ecosystem
Shop Direct enables Amazon customers to discover products that are not currently sold on Amazon’s marketplace when searching for items on the platform.
If an item is available through a participating retailer, customers will see a listing labelled “Shop Direct” within search results.
They can then either click through to the merchant’s own website to complete the purchase, or select “Buy for Me”, an AI-powered checkout option where Amazon completes the transaction on the customer’s behalf.
Through the Buy for Me feature, Amazon’s AI agent securely uses a shopper’s stored payment details and delivery address to place the order directly on the retailer’s website.
Customers confirm order details within Amazon’s checkout interface before the AI completes the purchase externally.
Over 100 million products already available
According to Amazon, Shop Direct already features more than 100 million products from over 400,000 merchants, with tens of millions available through the Buy for Me function.
The company said it has referred customers “millions of times” to products hosted on retailers’ own websites since the feature launched.
Amanda Doerr, vice president of core shopping at Amazon, said the new feed integrations were designed to reduce barriers for brands wanting to participate.
“Product feeds give merchants a streamlined way to reach Amazon customers who are searching for their products,” she said.
“With feeds, merchants can easily sync their catalogue, pricing and inventory in real time and maintain their customer relationships, while the programme drives meaningful traffic and sales and gives customers access to even more selection.”
Real-time catalogue updates for merchants
By integrating product feeds, retailers can automatically sync inventory, pricing and product data with Amazon in real time.
Products connected through these feeds can appear in both traditional Amazon search results and responses generated by Rufus, Amazon’s AI-powered shopping assistant.
Listings will display the merchant’s store name so customers know who they are buying from.
If shoppers choose the Shop Direct option, they are redirected to the retailer’s website to complete their purchase and receive a notification that they are leaving Amazon.
For Buy for Me orders, the retailer receives the customer’s delivery details and manages fulfilment, customer service, returns and exchanges directly.
Amazon deepens push into AI-driven shopping
The expansion of Shop Direct reflects Amazon’s wider strategy to use AI to reshape how customers discover products across the web.
Rather than limiting results to items stocked directly in Amazon’s marketplace, the company aims to act as a broader product discovery engine.
“Our vision is that whenever a customer asks for a specific brand or product on Amazon, we can help them find it and buy it, even if that product is only available in another store,” the company said.
Amazon also confirmed that additional feed syndication partners and a dedicated merchant portal are currently in development.
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