Amazon adds text shopping to Alexa

Amazon has begun rolling out a new texting capability for Alexa for Shopping that allows U.S. customers to search for products and make purchases through text messages. Starting Nov. 6, a small group of invited users can text requests to Alexa, which then finds relevant products, builds shopping carts, and completes orders on their behalf. Amazon plans to extend the texting option to millions more customers across the United States in the coming weeks.

The new feature is positioned as an additional way to use Alexa for Shopping alongside the Amazon Shopping app, the Amazon.com website, and Alexa-enabled devices. It is designed for situations where texting is more convenient than opening the app or visiting the website, such as when customers quickly want to capture a shopping need from their phones.

Customers can text Alexa for Shopping descriptions of items they want to buy or send a photograph of a product. Alexa searches Amazon listings for matching items, replies with recommendations, and can place an order once the customer confirms. The contact appears in the user’s phone as “Amazon Alexa,” allowing a wide range of shopping-related messages through a familiar SMS interface.

The AI assistant supports tasks such as ordering weekly groceries, requesting gift ideas, and finding similar items to those shown in photos. It can research and compare products, track deals and price drops, and then auto-complete purchases when conditions such as a target price are met. Alexa for Shopping can also provide delivery updates, letting customers check on orders with a simple text asking where their package is.

Alexa for Shopping remembers customer preferences over time, taking into account information that users have shared. For example, it can tailor product suggestions based on dietary or other recurring preferences and can monitor both Amazon and the broader web for price changes or availability updates. Amazon states that more than 100 new capabilities have been added to Alexa for Shopping to make these interactions faster and easier.

The texting feature is integrated with the broader Alexa for Shopping experience so that conversations can move between channels. A request started over text can continue in the Amazon Shopping app, on Amazon.com, or on Alexa-enabled devices, and vice versa. This enables customers to, for example, start browsing gift options over text while away from home and later complete comparison and checkout from the app.

Beyond purchasing, customers can manage lists and to-do items by text, such as adding products to grocery lists or creating new gift lists. They can also review price history on items, with Alexa able to show up to a year of pricing data on certain products so customers can evaluate whether a current offer represents good value.

The rollout of text-based Alexa shopping follows recent steps by Amazon to limit how external AI shopping agents interact with its marketplace. Amazon blocked Meta (META)’s AI shopping agent, Muse, from accessing its online store, stating that the tool appeared to access the marketplace without authorization and store customer credentials.

Earlier in the year, Amazon also obtained a court order blocking Perplexity’s shopping agent, Comet, from operating, before a U.S. appeals court overturned that ban in August. The legal case involving Comet remains ongoing. Against this backdrop, Amazon is expanding its own AI-powered shopping assistant, emphasizing direct text-based access and tighter integration with its existing shopping ecosystem.