Amazon is testing audio product summaries that make “AI shopping experts” available for interactive pre-purchase exploration, guiding customers through the retail experience by highlighting key product features and analyzing customer reviews. The feature — launching in the U.S. for select products — is designed to “make product research fun and convenient, like having helpful friends discuss potential purchases to make shopping easier,” the company says. The initial focus is on “products that typically require consideration before purchase,” saving time through focused discussion. Customers can tap the “Hear the Highlights” button on product detail pages in the Amazon Shopping app.

Engadget points out that “each audio summary will remind you that it was generated by AI, just before an introduction from the ‘expert’ hosts,” adding that it could be “a boon for those with visual impairment issues.”

This isn’t Amazon’s first AI shopping tool. As detailed in a blog post on Hear the Highlights, the company has been active in the category, adding the generative assistant Rufus in July 2024. It’s now something of shopping mascot, ubiquitously available to answer questions.

In October Amazon launched Shopping Guides, designed to make consumers category experts on over 100 product types while also providing recommendations. Interests debuted this year, inviting customers to describe an interest, with AI monitoring the subject to inform of products “that match your interests and passions.” It provides AI-abridged review highlights for a quick consensus.

Last month the company began beta testing Buy for Me, allowing customers to “complete purchases from other brand retailer websites if Amazon doesn’t sell the item directly, using agentic AI that doesn’t require human intervention.”

SmartTech Research CEO Mark Vena tells CNET that AI shopping is still in its infancy, saying that while it can already “personalize the entire customer journey — recommending products based on behavior, mood, or even real-time context like weather or location —  as AI gets smarter, it could evolve into real-time ‘shopping concierges’ that anticipate needs before customers even search.”

Even now, CNET notes generative assistance “has become an AI flood tide in online shopping,” listing Google’s AI Mode, which can “suggest, select and pay for items for you,” and Try On, which lets users upload a photo of themselves to virtually clothe in potential purchases.

Walmart is working on a bespoke AI shopping agent “to perform tasks such as placing reorders and filling online shopping baskets based on user suggestions,” CNET explains, also referencing Shopify’s Bluecore, which provides recommendations and answers questions, and Klarna’s comparison shopping feature.