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- Amazon is turning its in-house AI shopping technology into a service for retailers through AWS.
- Kate Spade is among the first brands to use the technology with an AI Gift Concierge for gift shopping.
- The launch reflects a wider shift from keyword-based product search to conversational, AI-powered shopping experiences.
Amazon is expanding its AI shopping technology beyond its own online store, offering retailers a new Agentic Shopping Assistant built on AWS. Kate Spade is among the first brands to adopt the technology, using it to support customers during the gift-shopping journey.
The new service allows retailers to build AI-powered shopping assistants for their own websites and apps. These assistants can be customised according to each retailer’s product catalogue, customer base, shopping environment, and brand voice.
According to Amazon, the service is based on technology originally developed for its own online store. The company is now packaging that experience into architecture guidance, starter code, and implementation support for other retailers through AWS.
From Amazon’s Store to Retailers’ Digital Channels
Amazon said more than 300 million customers used its AI shopping assistant last year, generating nearly US$12 billion in incremental sales during the same period.
By offering this technology through AWS, Amazon aims to help retailers deploy conversational shopping agents in weeks, instead of spending years building similar systems from scratch.
The offering includes architecture guidance, starter code, support from AWS experts, and assistance from system integrator partners.
Kate Spade Introduces an AI Gift Concierge
Kate Spade, owned by Tapestry, is one of the first brands to use Amazon’s Agentic Shopping Assistant. The brand has introduced an AI Gift Concierge designed to help shoppers find suitable gift options through a conversational interface.
The assistant focuses on gift buying, a shopping category where customers often need more guidance. Amazon cited its own data showing that 53% of shoppers report feeling stressed when purchasing gifts.
The AI Gift Concierge can recommend products based on the occasion and the customer’s inputs, helping shoppers narrow down their options more easily.
Fabio Luzzi, Tapestry’s chief data and analytics officer, told Digital Commerce 360 that the tool was developed after listening to consumers and identifying what they needed when shopping for gifts.
According to Amazon’s announcement, Tapestry tested the assistant for around two and a half months before making it available to consumers.
AWS Services Powering the Assistant
The system is built using several AWS services, including Amazon Bedrock, AgentCore, and OpenSearch.
Amazon Bedrock provides the foundation for generative AI applications, AgentCore supports the operation of AI agents, and OpenSearch enables search and retrieval capabilities.
Together, these tools allow retailers to create assistants that do more than answer basic questions. They can understand customer intent, retrieve relevant product information, and recommend options in a more personalised way.
Amazon said conversational shopping sessions generate conversion rates 3.5 times higher than traditional keyword-based product searches.
A Bigger Shift in Online Shopping
The launch follows Amazon’s rollout of Alexa for Shopping in the US in May. That feature allows users to type shopping-related questions into Amazon’s search bar and receive conversational answers instead of only traditional search results.
Alexa for Shopping brings together elements of Rufus, Amazon’s AI shopping assistant launched in 2024, and Alexa+.
With the Agentic Shopping Assistant on AWS, Amazon is not only improving shopping experiences inside its own ecosystem. It is also positioning AWS as a key technology provider for the next phase of AI-powered retail.
The move reflects a broader shift in e-commerce: customers are no longer expected to rely only on search bars and filters. Instead, retailers are moving toward conversational, personalised, and AI-assisted shopping journeys that can guide customers from discovery to purchase.
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