Amazon’s latest AI bet is about helping people ‘decide’ what to buy

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In case you were wondering what problem AI should solve next, Amazon has an answer: helping you decide what to buy next.

On Thursday, Amazon introduced a new AI-powered “Help Me Decide” button that recommends products based on shopper browsing history and preferences. Amazon said the idea is to offer a clear product recommendation with explanations.

The goal is to help shoppers save time and offer confidence in their purchase decisions, Daniel Lloyd, Amazon’s VP of personalization, said in a statement. The tool taps into AWS tech like Bedrock, SageMaker, and OpenSearch to make those calls.

Amazon is not the only company trying to fight decision fatigue. Google’s AI Mode recently upgraded its setup by giving users more visual options. Plus, existing Shopping Graph and Search Generative Experience suggest products based on intent and longer search queries.

Amazon’s Help Me Decide lives inside the Amazon Shopping app to recommend one product once consumers have viewed a few similar items. The button appears on the product page and the recommendation includes an explanation of why it’s the pick for the Amazon customer. Users can also see an “upgrade” or “budget” alternative before checking out.

“Amazon has created this situation of overwhelming shoppers with sponsored listings that don’t necessarily match what they’re looking for, and we see this especially with searches for specific brands or products that aren’t sold on Amazon,” Sky Canaves, principal analyst of retail and e-commerce at eMarketer, told Retail Brew.

Instead of seeing a “no results” message, they’re shown ads from sellers who paid for those keywords, she added: “This is now part of Amazon’s efforts to improve the shopping experience from one that has deteriorated over time as a result of the sponsored listings.”

Amazon’s AI-assistant, Rufus, which launched last year, also tries to refine the customer experience by providing a smaller set of recommendations, Canaves pointed out: “Rufus is aiming to provide a more curated experience for consumers, and I see this Help Me Decide feature as taking that one step further.”