Amazon devised its own AI-powered shopping assistant called Rufus that has been available in the U.S., U.K., and India, and it’s now in Canada. The AI assistant is trained specifically on Amazon’s product catalogue and with information from multiple sources to help answer customer questions, compare products, make product recommendations, and facilitate product discovery. It’s launching today in beta to a subset of customers in Amazon’s mobile app, and will progressively roll out to additional customers in Canada in the coming weeks.
Amazon says Rufus is an extension of the AI features the company has already been implementing to improve customer experiences. This includes conversational capabilities with Alexa and generative AI in product listings that help selling partners write more engaging titles and product descriptions.
You can start with inquiries like broad research at the start of a shopping journey like asking Rufus “What are different types of running shoes?” or “What are the differences between face wash and face cleansing oil?” You can then drill down to more specific questions like “Are these durable?”
You can learn what to look for while shopping product categories, and conduct more general product research on Amazon, with queries like “Types of headphones” or “Types of coffee machines.” You can search for items based on activity, event, or purpose by asking questions like “What do I need for climbing?” or “I want to start an indoor garden.” Rufus then suggests shoppable product categories, including items like safety harnesses, climbing shoes, and gloves to seed starters, potting mix, and grow lights. It will also present related questions that you can click on for more specific searches. Rufus can also answer questions not directly related to shopping as well, like “What do I need for making smoothies?”
You can also ask Rufus to compare product category features by asking questions like “What’s the difference between lip gloss and lip oil?” or “Can you compare drip to pour-over coffee makers” so you can find the type of product that best suits your needs.
With recommendations, ask things like “What are good holiday gifts for kids?” or “Best games for rainy days with a five-year-old.” Rufus generates results tailored to the specific question and presents more refined results.
Rufus is now being made available to select customers when you next update the Amazon Shopping app. To use Rufus, customers in the beta can click on the icon in the bottom righthand corner on Amazon’s mobile app and a Rufus chat box will appear on their screen. Customers can expand the chat box to see answers to their questions, tap on suggested questions, and ask follow-up questions. Customers can dismiss Rufus to return to their traditional search results at any time by swiping down to close the chat box.
Rufus generates answers using relevant information from across Amazon and other sources to help customers make better, more informed shopping decisions. Amazon says it will keep improving its AI models and fine-tuning responses to continuously make Rufus more helpful over time. Customers are encouraged to leave feedback by rating their answers with a thumbs up or thumbs down, and they have the option to provide freeform feedback as well.
Naturally, Rufus is specific to Amazon so the answers you get will relate to products, brands, or categories that are being sold on Amazon. The good news is that this includes a wide range of millions of items. But if there’s something you need or want that isn’t on Amazon, this information could be excluded from the results. That might relate to a specific brand, for example. What’s more, it’s possible that results will skew towards specific items or categories Amazon is looking to promote or sell, or that are popular on the site. With that said, AI can be helpful but it’s always best to look to impartial, outside expert sources directly to get the most helpful comparisons, recommendations, and explanations. AI is a tool but it’s not the only tool you should use. But Rufus can provide some helpful assistance through your Amazon shopping journey.