Although you can get your hands on almost everything at Amazon, a new feature could see the retailer broadening its horizons even further.
Currently being trialled in the US, the ‘buy for me’ button allows customers to browse and purchase items from across the internet – even those Amazon doesn’t sell.
When searching for certain products, shoppers will be shown listings from other sites, with the option to buy the latter directly through Amazon.
Checkout will then be handled by an AI agent, which transfers over your saved payment and delivery details to process the order in just a few clicks.
In a statement, shopping director Oliver Messenger says the feature is designed to ‘make shopping even more convenient’, while ‘also giving brands increased exposure and seamless conversion.’
And if the beta test feedback is good, it may not be long before it’s available here on British shores.
Parcelhero’s head of consumer research, David Jinks M.I.L.T., welcomes a global rollout, claiming it could ‘revolutionise shopping’ and bring Amazon closer to its goal of being ‘the pipeline through which everything is bought’.
‘Ultimately, this is an innovative way of Amazon sucking more customers and sellers into its ecosphere and keeping them there,’ he adds.
‘If it does come through testing successfully and proves to be robust, it’s very likely to become a feature of everyday shopping on both sides of the Pond.’
When we can expect this to happen remains a mystery, but Metro has contacted Amazon UK for comment, and will update this piece as soon as we know more.
How Amazon ‘buy for me’ works
The ‘buy for me’ feature is integrated into Amazon’s app and website, and will show up on certain listings in a section of the search results marked ‘Shop brand sites directly.’
If a customer wants to purchase, Amazon’s announcement explains: ‘they tap on the Buy for Me button on the product detail page to request Amazon make the purchase from the brand retailer’s website on their behalf.
‘Customers are taken to an Amazon checkout page where they confirm order details, including preferred delivery address, applicable taxes and shipping fees, and payment method.
‘Using agentic AI capabilities, Amazon makes the purchase by securely providing the customer’s encrypted name, address, and payment details to complete the checkout process on the brand’s website. Amazon cannot see customers’ previous or separate orders from other brands’ sites.’
After this, shoppers will receive a confirmation email from the brand, but can track the order’s status through the Amazon app.
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