Amazon Launches AI Shopping Assistant Rufus In The US

Date: February 02, 2024

Amazon, the largest eCommerce platform, has launched its latest AI shopping assistant, Rufus. The AI assistant is trained in the giant’s product catalog and web.

Amazon has been an eCommerce leader for the last decade, with 37.6% of the market in its control. The shopping app boasts a wide range of products for individuals and businesses, leaving little scope for others to match its portfolio. The vast catalog of products is now used to train a new AI-powered shopping assistant, Rufus. The beta version of Rufus has been launched by the tech giant in the US and will gradually expand its availability in more regions.

The company claims that the newly introduced shopping assistant will help users find the right products, compare them, and recommend what to buy based on their shopping behavior. Users can chat with the AI assistant on the app itself, and Rufus will start working instantly. Rufus has been trained on the product catalog, customer reviews, community Q&As, and related information from around the web. 

Its generative AI capabilities can help users at any shopping stage, from exploring available options to narrowing down choices. Amazon has built a new LLM specialized for the shopping assistant to empower the shopping experience. The company has not made any comment on whether the information is gathered from other retail websites available on the internet.

The launch of this AI shopping assistant comes with more AI capability introductions from Amazon across its service offerings, aimed at improving the overall experience and efficiency. The new AI offerings include helping customers find clothes that fit specific body types, product reviews with summaries, and customer sentiment analysis. More AI capabilities have been added to improve the performance of advertisers and sellers.

Rufus is the highlight AI product launched by Amazon and offers a range of custom assistance. Users can ask the AI shopping assistant questions like ‘What to buy for Valentine’s Day?’, ‘Are these durable?’, ‘what’s the difference between running shoes and gym shoes?’

Customers can also gain more product information not listed on the product pages by asking the AI. Rufus works similarly to OpenAI’s ChatGPT or Google’s Bard. The AI assistant gives output based on text prompts and customizes the answers based on its learnings. The introduction of a shopping assistant can elevate the brand stature of Amazon further, helping it sustain the leader stance in the global eCommerce market.