Amazon lets customers shop with Alexa through text messages

Amazon is introducing a text-based shopping feature for its Alexa AI assistant. Selected customers in the United States will receive a message inviting them to activate the service ahead of the holiday shopping season. Once enabled, users can send Alexa natural-language requests to find products, add them to a cart and complete purchases.

The text assistant extends Alexa’s recent shopping capabilities. It can manage lists, monitor prices, search for products across the web, compare items and provide order-status updates. Customers can also send a photo of a product or of someone wearing an outfit, allowing Alexa to look for similar listings on Amazon. The company said the assistant may eventually learn individual preferences and use them when suggesting products.

Customers who are not invited can join a waiting list. Amazon said the feature will become available more broadly in the coming weeks, reaching millions of users. The launch follows the company’s decision in September to block Meta’s Muse from querying its website, as technology companies develop their own text-based AI agents.