While not every product makes its way to Amazon’s online store, the retailer’s new “Buy For Me” feature will let you buy from other brands without ever needing to leave Amazon.
“Buy For Me” Uses AI to Keep You on Amazon Longer
Say you’re shopping for a pair of sneakers, but the brand isn’t normally available on Amazon. Instead, it may now appear in an entirely new section underShop brand sites directly.
From there, you can find the sneakers you’re looking for, tap theBuy For Mebutton, and Amazon will purchase those shoes directly from the brand’s website. It’ll use your payment details, name, address, and contact information to make the purchase.
Right now, it’s still in beta on Android and iPhone, as well as being limited to the US. However, there’s no guarantee you’ll have access to it, even if you are in the US.
Amazon’s “Buy For Me” works by utilizing AI, just like it does withits surprisingly useful AI chatbot Rufus. This more advanced artificial intelligence can solve more complex problems—like buying products for you.
“Buy For Me” Still Has Some Quirks
“Buy For Me” is as straightforward as it gets, but it runs into a few snags.
For starters, it doesn’t activate any promo codes for you, even if you have one. You’ll have to visit brand sites yourself to use those. That said, it still issues discounts.
Amazon’s AI-Powered Search Actually Sounds Like a Good Way to Shop
The retailing giant wants to help you find more products to buy.
Secondly, the price you see during checkout may not reflect the actual price. It could be as much as $10 more, with Amazon stepping in for confirmation if it ends up being more than that.
Lastly, refunds and returns are handled by the brand, not Amazon itself. That includes terms and policies, though you’ll still be able to track the status of your order from Amazon.
I’m Not Sold on Amazon’s “Buy For Me” Feature
Beyond the quirks, I still have many questions that go unanswered, and my initial reaction is to distrust something so automatic. Is convenience really worth the risk of paying more for a product? To me, $10 could be the difference between buying and not. It’s trading control for convenience.
Further, I’m not comfortable letting AI handle my credit card information—whether the information is encrypted or not. That’s only introducing one more point of failure.Amazon has suffered a data leakbefore, too.
My biggest question is: what does Amazon stand to gain from this? There’s no monetary value here, given that the “Buy For Me” feature doesn’t cost anything to use. It’s not even locked behind Amazon Prime. The likely gain is user data and traffic.
